Production and inventory for food manufacturers
A small food producer buys flour, butter and jars, turns them into batches and sells the result by the case to shops and by the jar at markets. SeroPOS keeps the recipe, the batch, the lot and the invoice in one place, so you know what each case cost and where it went.
Food manufacturers in SeroPOS
Recipes and bills of materials
List ingredients with quantities and units, in groups or production steps, with waste and extra costs.
Production runs
Record a batch that uses up ingredients and adds finished goods to stock at the computed cost.
Cost-based pricing
Update selling prices from recipe cost, one product at a time or in bulk.
Lots and expiry
Record lot numbers and expiry dates on ingredients you buy and stock you hold.
Wholesale invoicing
Invoice shops and cafés on terms with their own price group.
Manufacturing Report
Total production, production cost and the stock of manufactured products.
Recipes that know what things cost
Recipes and production are on the Pro plan. Choose the finished product, or copy an existing recipe, and list its ingredients with quantities in their units or sub-units, such as 25 kg of flour bought by the sack and used by the gram. Group ingredients or split them into production steps with a name and description, so the recipe reads the way the batch is made.
Add a waste percentage, an extra cost as a percentage of ingredients for packaging or energy, the total output quantity and instructions. SeroPOS works out the cost from your latest ingredient purchase prices, and you can update the product's selling price from the recipe cost, singly or in bulk, when your supplier's prices move.
- Ingredients with units and sub-units
- Groups or production steps
- Waste % and extra cost %
- Update prices from recipe cost
Production runs that move the stock
When you make a batch, record a production run with the location, the product, a reference and the manufacturing date. The ingredients come from the recipe and can be adjusted for this batch, unless you lock them in settings, and wasted quantity is recorded. The production cost is worked out per unit or in total.
Finalise the run and SeroPOS takes the ingredients out of stock and adds the finished goods at their production cost, optionally updating the product's purchase price. The Manufacturing Report shows total production, production cost and current stock of manufactured products, and the production cost feeds the Profit / Loss Report.
Lots and dates from ingredient to case
Turn on lot numbers and product expiry, and purchase lines record each ingredient's lot with its manufacturing and expiry dates. Opening stock can carry lots too. Set On product expiry to stop selling a set number of days before the date, and the dashboard's Stock Expiry Alert shows what is close.
The Lot Report lists each lot's stock, units sold and units adjusted, and the Stock Expiry Report shows which lots to write off with a stock adjustment. Labels printed from the back office can show the lot, expiry date and packing date with the barcode, which suits cases and jars going out to shops.
Selling to shops, cafés and markets
Wholesale customers can have a selling price group with their case prices, a credit limit and a pay term. Create Invoice in the back office takes the customer, their prices and addresses, the lines and any shipping charge, and saves it as an invoice, a quotation or a pro-forma. Shipping status, the packing list PDF and Receive Payment cover the rest.
For farmers' markets or a factory shop, the SeroPOS till runs on a phone, tablet or PC and sells the same stock by the jar. Both channels draw on the same inventory, and the Profit / Loss Report breaks results down by product, customer and location. Reward points and customer profiles work for market regulars as they do in any shop.
Frequently asked questions
Is SeroPOS food manufacturing software?
It covers what a small food producer needs: recipes as bills of materials, production runs that consume ingredients and add finished stock at cost, lot and expiry tracking, wholesale invoicing and a POS for direct sales. Recipes and production are on the Pro plan at $50 a month.
How does batch costing work?
The recipe lists ingredients and quantities, waste and extra costs. SeroPOS prices each ingredient from your purchases to get a batch cost. When you finalise a production run, finished goods are added to stock at that cost, and the Manufacturing Report totals production cost.
Can I trace a lot back to the ingredients?
Lots are recorded on each ingredient purchase and on stock you hold, and the Lot Report shows stock and sales by lot. Production runs record the date and ingredients used, so you can match a finished batch to the ingredient lots in stock on that date.
Can I sell wholesale and retail from one system?
Yes. Wholesale customers get their own price group, terms and invoices from the back office, while the till handles retail and market sales. Both draw on the same stock, and reports can be filtered by customer group and location, so you can compare the two sides of the business.
Can I update prices when ingredient costs rise?
Yes. Recipes calculate cost from your latest ingredient purchase prices, and you can update a product's selling price from its recipe cost, one at a time or in bulk. Production can also update the product's purchase price from the actual batch cost.