How to Use a Restaurant Inventory Order Sheet

Inventory order sheets, also known as product order sheets or just order sheets, are used to keep track of ordering at your restaurant and are often a critical component of successful restaurant inventory management. 

There are two main types of order sheets – those used internally and those used by vendors. Today we will look at each type of restaurant inventory order sheet and how to use them. 

1. Internal restaurant inventory order sheet 

An inventory order sheet lets you know how much of each item you need to order. While the layout of the form will depend on the form you’re using, at a minimum, every inventory order sheet should include:  

• Product name – Something that makes it easy to identify the exact product that needs to be ordered. Having the vendor item code can also be a good idea but is not required, especially if you use multiple vendors. 
• PAR Level – PAR level is the minimum amount that should be on hand to meet demand plus a safety stock in case of unexpected increases in demand.
• Count – The physical amount you have in your bar or restaurant of a given item. 
• How much needs to be ordered – This is how much you need to order based on your PAR level and how much you currently have in stock in your restaurant. 

Here is an example of how an internal restaurant order sheet would typically look.

The purpose of this sheet is to help you keep track of the items you need to include on your next order. Once the items are received, you can compare the amounts received to the amounts ordered to verify you received the correct amount. 

While many restaurants do this manually on paper or spreadsheets, the most efficient way to manage an inventory order sheet is through the use of a restaurant inventory management system.

2. Vendor restaurant inventory order sheet

Sometimes vendors will require your restaurant to fill out their own order sheet. There are two common layouts for these forms. The first is similar to the above form but will include: 

• Product number
• Product description
• Unit price 
• Quantity 

The second type of vendor inventory order sheet will list all their products and pricing, with a space beside each item to list the requested order amount. The purpose of this form is to help vendors ensure that orders are properly documented, recorded and filled. 

How to use an inventory order sheet 

Using an order sheet is fairly straightforward if you have the data needed to fill it out. The problem is, not all restaurants collect and store the necessary information. 

To make the best ordering decisions when filling out an order sheet, you should know: 

1. PAR Level – Minimum amount that should be on hand to meet demand plus a safety stock in case of unexpected increases in demand. The demand for some items will be constant while others will depend on seasonality and other promotions that are going on at the time. 
2. Physical count – You need to know exactly how much you have in stock, which often means taking a physical count if these are not already done regularly to ensure your inventory records are correct. 

Once you have this information, your order amount will be the difference between the two numbers. The internal order sheet can be especially helpful when organizing this information, especially if you’re doing inventory manually. 

Bar and restaurant inventory management software can simplify the process further by providing the data and reports you need to fill out your inventory order sheet based on the inventory information it collects through integrations, data entry and physical counts. 

In fact, the most effective inventory management systems will automate this entire process for you. Interested in learning more? Get in touch with the sculpture Hospitality team of inventory management experts today.