When to use this
Use the Ordering Guide Template when you’re tired of clicking through vendor PDFs, guessing order quantities, or writing the same items on legal pads every truck day. Most operators rebuild or tune their ordering guide any time they change vendors, add a new menu, or clean up PARs.
Inputs — what goes where
- Category — Dry, Refrigerated, Frozen, Bar, Paper, Chemicals, etc.
- Storage Location — where the item actually lives (Walk-in, Freezer 1, Dry Rack A).
- Vendor — main supplier for this item (broadliner, specialty, club store).
- Item # — vendor item number from your order guide or invoice.
- Item Description — the name your team and vendor both recognize.
- Brand — optional, but helpful when you have similar products.
- Pack Size — “6x1 gal”, “4x5 lb”, “12x750 ml”, etc.
- Units/Case — the number of saleable units in one case (6, 12, 200, etc.).
- Unit Size & UOM — “1 gal”, “5 lb”, “750 ml”, “9 inch”, etc.
- Case Price ($) — your current net case cost from the invoice.
- Unit Price ($) — calculated field; cost per unit you actually use in recipes.
- Build-To (Units) — PAR level in units, usually fed in from your Build-To (PAR) sheet.
- On Hand (Units) — physical count from your most recent inventory.
- Order Qty (Cases) — how many cases to order this truck based on Build-To and On Hand.
- Par Notes — notes like “double for patio season” or “only order full cases.”
- Last Order Date — when you last placed an order for this item.
- Notes — brand swaps, pack changes, or reminders for the ordering manager.
Formulas — exactly what the sheet does
-
Unit Price ($) =
Case Price ($) ÷ Units/Case
Cost per unit you actually plug into recipes and portion costs. -
Order Quantity (units) =
MAX( 0, Build-To (Units) − On Hand (Units) )
If On Hand is above your Build-To, the sheet will show zero units to order. -
Order Qty (Cases) =
Order Quantity (units) ÷ Units/Case
Usually rounded to the nearest whole or half case when you actually place the order. - Optional extended cost columns can multiply Order Qty (Cases) × Case Price ($) to show spend per item and per vendor.
- Sort and filter by Category, Storage Location, or Vendor so line cooks can walk the building in the same order every truck day.
Goal: one clean ordering sheet per vendor that already knows your PARs so the person doing the order just counts, types a few numbers, and hits send.
Walk-through example
Say you buy a refrigerated sauce that comes 6x1 gal per case at a $84.00 case price. Units/Case = 6. Your Build-To (Units) from the PAR sheet is 10 gallons. On Hand today is 4 gallons.
- Unit Price ($) = $84.00 ÷ 6 = $14.00 per gal
- Order Quantity (units) = 10 − 4 = 6 gallons to order
- Order Qty (Cases) = 6 ÷ 6 = 1 case
- Extended Cost (optional) = 1 × $84.00 = $84.00 on this line
On the live template, this math happens for each row. You just keep the Build-To, Units/Case, and Case Price current, then update On Hand each truck day.
Common pitfalls
- Mixing cases and units in the same column (counting some items as cases, others as units).
- Letting Case Price go stale — not updating after increases or vendor switches.
- Leaving Build-To (Units) blank and trying to use the sheet as a pure inventory list.
- Copy-pasting vendor pack sizes without fixing Units/Case to match how you order.
- Letting “Storage Location” drift so the walking order no longer matches the building.