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Margins that update themselves.

The moment a supplier invoice lands, every dish using that ingredient recalculates. No month-end reconciliation, no manually updated spreadsheet — just current plate costs, across every dish, every service.

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From month-end surprises to daily signals.

Running food cost on a spreadsheet means you find out about margin problems after they have happened. Live costing moves that knowledge inside the shift, so a price rise or a portioning problem surfaces the day it starts — not at the close of month.

Spreadsheet costing

You find out at month-end.

  • Plate costs reflect what you paid last time you updated the file
  • A supplier price rise in week one affects every dish for the whole month before you catch it
  • Substitution decisions are made from memory, not comparison
  • Category GP is a guess until the P&L comes back

Live costing with Equimise

You see it the day it moves.

  • Every invoice updates every dish that uses the affected ingredient
  • Margin compression flagged the day the invoice lands, not 30 days later
  • Substitution suggestions come from ingredients you already buy
  • GP tracked per dish, per category, per service — not at month-end

A dish's margin, broken down to the cent.

The plate cost view shows you what every component is contributing to total cost — and how it has moved over time. When a line item jumps, you can see exactly which invoice caused it and what that has done to your GP percentage.

Duck breast up $0.60/kg since last invoice — GP still above target

Dish cost — Duck breast, 200g Plate cost history · Last 90 days
  • Duck breast 200g (yield 82%) $5.10 / portion
  • Pommes sarladaises (sub-recipe) $1.44 / portion
  • Seasonal jus (sub-recipe) $0.88 / portion
  • Micro herbs and plating $0.34 / portion
  • Total plate cost $7.76
  • GP at $34 sell price 77.2% — target 72%

One invoice. Every dish that touches it, updated.

When a supplier puts their prices up, you should not have to touch anything. Here is what happens in Equimise when a new invoice lands.

  1. Invoice scanned or entered

    An AI invoice scan or a manual line entry records the new price for an ingredient — duck breast up $0.60 per kilogram, for example.

  2. Every recipe using that ingredient recalculates

    All dishes referencing duck breast — including those that call a sub-recipe containing it — update their plate cost automatically. No manual trigger.

  3. GP flag raised if a target is breached

    If any dish drops below your category GP target, it is flagged immediately. You see the affected dishes, the new cost and the margin gap.

  4. Substitution surfaces if one is available

    If you stock an alternative ingredient with a comparable specification, Equimise shows you the side-by-side cost comparison so you can decide quickly.

  5. Decision logged

    Whether you reprice, reformulate or hold, the decision is recorded against the dish with a timestamp. The next time you review margins, the history is there.

  • 2–4% food cost reduction for most venues directional — depends on current variance
  • Same day margin visibility when a supplier price changes
  • Per dish breakdown — not just category averages
  • Zero manual recalculations when a price moves

What operators ask before switching.

  • How does it know the current price of an ingredient?

    Prices come from your invoices — either scanned automatically through AI invoice scanning or entered manually when goods arrive. Every purchase creates a price record. The costing engine always uses the most recent purchase price for each ingredient.

  • What if I have multiple suppliers for the same ingredient?

    Each supplier has its own price record. You can set a preferred supplier per ingredient, or let Equimise flag when an alternative supplier is consistently cheaper for the same item.

  • Can I set different GP targets for different menu categories?

    Yes. Set a target for each category — mains at 72%, desserts at 68%, beverages at 80% — and Equimise tracks them separately. Alerts only fire when the dish that moves falls below its own category target.

  • Does it work if my recipes are not in Equimise yet?

    You get the most from live costing when your recipes are in the system — that is what makes per-dish calculations possible. Importing existing recipes takes less time than most people expect, and you can start with your highest-cost dishes first.

Know your margins before service, not after month-end.

Book a 30-minute walkthrough. Bring your current menu and a recent supplier invoice — we'll show you live plate costs within the session.

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