Core Concepts

Before you start using Butter, it's helpful to understand these key concepts. Don't worry — they're simpler than they might seem!

Outlets

An outlet is a location in your business. There are two types:

Store

A physical store where you sell to customers. This is where the magic happens!

Warehouse

An internal location used as a distribution warehouse or central kitchen.

Stores can order supplies from external suppliers, and they can also order from warehouse outlets (like your central kitchen).

Outlets in Butter showing Store and Warehouse types

Inventory Items

Inventory items are all the things you need to make the products you sell. There are two types:

Purchased Items

Things you buy directly from suppliers:

Raw materials like flour, sugar, eggs
Ready-to-sell items like cans of Coca-Cola
Packaging materials

Produced Items

Things you make yourself using purchased items:

Pizza doughballs
Cinnamon roll icing
Pre-prepared sauces

Think of it this way: You buy flour (purchased item), and you use it to make pizza doughballs (produced item), which you then use to make pizzas (products).

Inventory item types in Butter

Storage Locations

Storage locations are the specific places in your outlet where you keep inventory items:

Walk-in freezer
Dry storage room
Under-counter refrigerator
Display case

Each inventory item is assigned to one or more storage locations. This helps you:

Know exactly where to find things
Organize your stock counts by area
Keep items in their proper place when received

Storage locations list in Butter

Stock Counts

A stock count (sometimes called "stock opname") is when you physically count the inventory items at your outlet.

Stock counts are done per storage location. For example:

Count everything in the walk-in freezer
Count everything in dry storage
Count everything in the refrigerator

This keeps the task manageable and ensures accuracy.

Stock count screen in Outlet Manager

Suppliers

Suppliers are the companies you order inventory items from. There are two types:

External Suppliers — Outside companies that deliver products to you
Internal Suppliers — Your own warehouses or central kitchen

When you need to order supplies, you'll choose which supplier to order from based on what items you need.

Suppliers list in Butter

Purchase Orders

A purchase order (PO) is a request to order inventory items from a supplier.

When you create a PO:

Select which supplier you're ordering from
Choose the items you need and quantities
Submit the order

The supplier then receives your order and prepares to deliver it.

Creating a purchase order in Butter

Receiving Orders

When a supplier delivers your purchase order, you need to receive it in Butter.

This process:

Confirms what was actually delivered
Notes any differences from what was ordered
Automatically updates your inventory levels

Always receive orders promptly so your stock levels stay accurate!

Receiving an order in Outlet Manager

Production Logs

A production log records when you make produced items at your outlet.

For example, if your team makes 20 pizza doughballs in the morning:

Create a production log
Select "Pizza Doughball" as the item
Enter quantity: 20

This increases your inventory of pizza doughballs so the system knows they're available to use.

Creating a production log in Outlet Manager

Waste Logs

A waste log is the opposite of a production log. It records when inventory is lost due to:

Food waste (expired, spoiled)
Damaged products
Spills or accidents

Recording waste helps you:

Keep inventory accurate
Track patterns in waste
Identify areas for improvement

Creating a waste log in Outlet Manager

Products

Products are the finished items you sell to customers:

Box of 2 Cinnamon Rolls
Pepperoni Pizza
Crunchy Chicken Taco
Large Coffee

Each product has a recipe attached to it, so Butter knows which inventory items to deduct when the product is sold.

Product list in Butter

Modifiers

Modifiers are add-ons or changes that customers can make to products:

Extra cheese on a pizza
No onions on a burger
Add whipped cream to a drink

Modifiers also have recipes, so when a customer orders "Extra Cheese," Butter knows how much cheese to deduct from inventory.

The key difference: Products can be ordered directly, but modifiers can only be added to a product.

Product with modifier options

Recipes

Recipes tell Butter which inventory items (and how much) are used to make each product or modifier.

For example, a Cheese Pizza recipe might include:

1 pizza doughball
100g tomato sauce
150g mozzarella cheese

When a customer orders a Cheese Pizza, Butter automatically deducts these amounts from your inventory.

Recipes are crucial! Every product and modifier needs a recipe for the inventory system to work correctly. Please note that outlet managers are not responsible for managing and maintaining recipes. The recipe setup and management will be handled by the backoffice team.

Key recipe concepts:

Sub-recipes — A recipe can include other recipes (we'll cover this in person)
Produced item recipes — Recipes for items you make, like doughballs
Simple recipes — For items sold as-is, like a can of Coca-Cola

Recipe details in Butter