Actual Usage
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Learn moreActual usage is the real amount of stock – ingredients, drinks, consumables – that a restaurant has physically gone through over a given period. It’s measured from what’s actually left on the shelf, not from what the recipes say should have been used. Compared against theoretical usage, the gap between the two is where waste, over-portioning, and shrinkage show up.
On its own, actual usage is just a stock number. What makes it useful is what you compare it against. Here’s how it’s calculated, why the gap with theoretical usage is the number that actually matters, and what’s usually behind it.
How is actual usage calculated?
The formula is straightforward:
Actual usage = Opening stock + Purchases − Closing stock
Say you started the week with 40kg of chicken, took delivery of 60kg during the week, and counted 15kg left at the end. Actual usage for that week is 85kg – regardless of how many portions your recipes say that should have covered.
How does actual usage differ from theoretical usage?
This is the comparison that matters. Theoretical usage is what your recipes and covers say should have been used – portion size multiplied by number of dishes sold. Actual usage is what physically left the stockroom.
If theoretical usage for that same 85kg of chicken should have covered 340 portions at 250g each, but you only sold 300 portions, something ate the other 40 portions’ worth of stock – waste, over-portioning, spoilage, or shrinkage. The variance between actual and theoretical usage is where that answer lives, not in either number alone.
Why does the actual vs theoretical usage gap matter?
A small, consistent gap is normal – some trim, some spillage, some staff meals. A gap that’s growing or inconsistent across sites is a signal worth chasing before it shows up as a margin problem at month-end. It’s one of the reasons good inventory management matters more in segments running thin margins already – a fine dining kitchen working with high-cost ingredients has far less room to absorb an unexplained variance than a QSR does.
Most independent stock checks still happen manually, which is exactly where the gap tends to widen – a count that’s a week old is already out of date by the time anyone acts on it.
Related terms
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
Add your opening stock to purchases made during the period, then subtract closing stock. The result is your actual usage for that period, in whatever unit you’re tracking — kilograms, litres, or units.
The usual suspects are over-portioning, spoilage, prep waste, staff meals that aren’t logged, and occasionally theft. A consistent small variance is normal; a growing or erratic one is worth investigating.
Weekly is common for high-value or fast-moving stock. Monthly checks are more typical for slower-moving items, but by then a developing variance has usually had a month to compound before anyone notices.
Yes. A small, stable gap reflects normal trim, spillage, and testing. The number to watch isn’t the gap itself but whether it’s growing or fluctuating without an obvious cause.
Manual counts are accurate but slow, and the gap between counts is where problems hide. Tenzo pulls stock movement directly from POS and supplier data so actual vs theoretical usage updates automatically instead of waiting for the next physical count.
