Visit the Compeat Support
Website for additional information on this topic and more.A prep item is an ingredient used in a menu item or other prep item. You can consider these to be inventory items that are made, rather than purchased (except possibly from another one of your entities).
An enterprise-wide list of defined prep items is kept, but cost information for prep items is entity-specific.
Because you make prep items rather than buy them, the Produce Prep Items screen must be used in order to update their quantities and costs.
Prep items can be assigned to stations, including a primary or production station, and then given a relative position within the station, for ease-of-counting purposes, on the Prep Item Station Positions screen.
You can predict how much of the current day's scheduled prep items you need to produce, based on past experience and a count of on-hand amounts, using Compeat's prep-to-shelf features.
Visit the Compeat Support
Website for additional information on this topic and more.
The following steps outline the general process:
Enter shelf life and estimated labor in the Prep Items screen. The shelf life is necessary for the Prep-to-Shelf calculations; estimated labor is included in the Prep Item Production Worksheet, but optional.
Assign a Station to the prep item on the Stations tab of the Prep Items screen.
Define each prep item's weekly schedule using the Schedule tab of its Prep Items screen. Days that are checked on this tab indicate the initiation of the shelf life of a batch.
Review and edit the production schedule of multiple prep items at once using the Prep-to-Shelf Production Schedule screen. Modifications you make here affect each prep item's Schedule tab.
Print out a worksheet from the Prep-to-Shelf Worksheet screen while leaving its "Use Prep-to-Shelf Counts" box unchecked— the worksheet will show the average usage in the past month of each scheduled prep item, both for that weekday and for the item's shelf life span, with a blank column called "Qty On Hand" where stock will be subtracted. Take a count, writing down the amounts of today's scheduled prep items that are on-hand and not expired according to its shelf life.
Record the count amounts on the Prep-to-Shelf Counts screen, save, and then click the Print button. The Prep-to-Shelf Worksheet screen appears again. This time, check "Use Prep-to-Shelf Counts." If you preview the worksheet, you'll see that the scheduled prep item production amounts have been reduced by the count amounts, and that the remainder is the quantity of each prep item that needs to be produced today. You can check these for accuracy at this point.
Post Prep-to-Shelf Counts, once you have confirmed everything is correct on the Prep-to-Shelf Worksheet. When posted, the suggested prep amounts from the Prep-to-Shelf Worksheet will populate the Prep Item Production Worksheet, which would typically be given to the prep chef.
The prep chef will typically use the Prep Item Production Worksheet to produce prep items and record the actual quantities of each prep item made (which may differ from the suggested amounts). Once prep items have been produced and amounts recorded on the worksheet, you can adjust the inventory in the following final steps:
Update the amounts on the Produce Prep Items screen (only necessary if different from suggested amounts).
Post the Produce Prep Items to adjust inventories. (Ingredients will decrease and prep items increase.) After posting, you will be taken to the Prep Item Production Register, where you can print a report on the production. You can generate a report on the resulting inventory changes using Inventory Count Variance report.
This section includes the following screens:
Prep Items Define the prep items used in your restaurant.
Copy Prep Items Copy prep item definitions to other entities.
Unapproved Prep Items Define prep items without making them available for use until approved.
Prep Item Station Positions Specify relative positions of prep items within their defined location. This facilitates prep-to-shelf counting.
Copy Prep Item Station Positions Use the Copy Prep Item Station Positions screen to selectively copy the station lists for specific items from a particular restaurant.
Prep-to-Shelf Production Schedule Review and adjust scheduling for multiple prep items at the same time.
Prep-to-Shelf Worksheet Print out a worksheet to record your counts of prep item shelf amounts; then, after entering the counts, you can view how average usage quantities that inform your production amounts are reduced by the counts.
Prep-to-Shelf Counts Enter counted shelf amounts of prep items, then print the Prep-to-Shelf Worksheet to view production amounts, and finally post the counts to send production amounts to the Produce Prep Items screen.
Recalculate All Prep Item Costs Prep Item costs are updated automatically by Compeat when you open either the Prep Items, Produce Prep Items, or Valuation Counts screen. You can manually update these costs using this tool.
Prep Item Production Worksheet Print out a worksheet for the prep chef to record what prep items have been made.
Produce Prep Items Enter the prep item production data, including yields, in order for theoretical costing to be accurate.
Prep Item Production Register View or print the posted prep item production entries.