Inventory management is very important to any business, but when you are running a catering business and have to deal with a number of perishable foods, good inventory control is absolutely essential. Having too much of certain ingredients means that they might go bad before you get a chance to use them, while not having enough means that you could have difficulty getting what you need before the event. Plus, you have too much to worry about in the first place, so software to manage this will simplify your life! You can make use of catering software to help keep watch on your inventory, ensuring that you don't order so much that you have spoiled food while also making sure that you don't suffer from shortages at the worst possible times.

One of the first ways that catering software can help with inventory management is the fact that it can be used to generate lists of exactly what you will need for each specific event based on the menu. You will be able to compare these lists to the stock that you have on hand, removing any unnecessary items that you already have in stock and easily making an inventory adjustment. This will let you be much more accurate with your ordering, ensuring that you aren't going to have food sitting on the shelves for weeks until you have a need for it again, while also making sure that you have enough for your event.

In addition to letting you have more control over your inventory in regards to a single event, your catering software will also help you to keep track of exactly which events you have coming up and what will be needed for each. You can look at the needed ingredients for several events that occur close together in order to create a master ingredient list, ordering for all of the events at once to help you save money by buying in bulk. A bulk order such as this will still take into account the stock that you have on hand, ensuring that it is used first and then using the remainder of your bulk order for the next events on your schedule. Since you will still be ordering based on specific amounts you won't have to worry about having excess ingredients left over after a cluster of events. The software helps simplify the overall ordering process and saves you time, especially if you currently determine everything with a pen and paper.

If you do have certain ingredients in stock that you wish to use before they have a chance to go bad, you can also structure your menus around them so that they will be used up quickly. Menu generation with catering software is quick and easy, letting you create multiple menu options in the time that it might normally take for you to create a single menu. This will let you try out different menu setups and present them to your clients, letting them choose the one that they like All while ensuring that your overstocked ingredients will be needed for whichever one they decide on. Multiple ingredients can be easily included in each menu, letting you offer a wide range of dining options while keeping your stock free of spoiled foods.