Forecast - Menu Item Sales Forecast

The Menu item sales forecast report predicts how many of each menu item your store will sell today and on each of the next three days. It looks at what you sold on similar days in the last month, matched by day of the week and by how close they were to payday, and colours every forecast by how reliable it is. Use it to plan prep, staff and stock for the next three days.

Updated Thu 29 Oct 2026

Running the report

Open Reports for your store and choose Menu Item Sales under Forecast.

Check What day of the month is payday? (see Report options). Most stores leave it on the 25th.

Run the report. There are no dates to choose: it always forecasts today and the next three days. The first page explains how the forecast was made and which past dates were used, then the menu items follow, grouped by menu category.

TipTo see the stock items these sales will use, run the Stock item forecast report. It starts from exactly the same menu item forecast.

New storesThe store needs at least one full month of trading before the report can forecast anything. Until then it shows a message asking you to try again after you have traded for a full month.

Report options

What day of the month is payday?

The day most of your customers get paid. Sales are usually busiest in the week after payday and quietest in the week before it, so the report uses payday to find past dates that are in the same position in the month as today. Choose the day that matches your area. If payday falls on a weekend, still choose the calendar day (for example the 25th). If you choose the 29th, 30th or 31st and the month is shorter, the report uses the last day of that month.

25th

1st

2nd

… every day of the month up to the 31st

The report at a glance

Bob's Burgers Times Square

Menu item sales forecast report

Tue 20 Oct 2026 to Fri 23 Oct 2026

The date line is always today to three days from today: the four days being forecast. The report is not run for a date range.

Forecasting method: how the forecast is worked out, in four steps (first page only).
Dates analysed: the four past dates used for each forecast day, and how much each one counts.
Confidence rating: the colour key for the four forecast columns.
Menu item forecast: one line per menu item, grouped by menu category, with the four forecasts.

The footer of every page shows when the report was run and by whom, your store ID and the page number.

Forecasting method

The top of the first page explains the forecast in four steps:

Analyse historical sales: the report looks at what you sold of each menu item on four past dates on the same day of the week (see Dates analysed).
Weight the sales: the date last month that sat in the same position relative to payday counts the most.
Clean the data: dates without any sales are left out and their weight is shared between the other dates. Fractions are rounded up to a whole item.
Assign a confidence score: each forecast gets a colour showing how steady the past sales were (see Confidence rating).

Next to the green information icon is a reminder that menu changes, promotions, public holidays, special events and the weather can all push sales away from the forecast. Use your own judgement on those days.

Dates analysed

For each forecast day the report looks at four past dates on the same day of the week. The first is the date last month that sat in the same position relative to payday; the other three are the same weekday one, two and three weeks after it.

Today: Date	Weighting	Tomorrow: Date	Weighting	Day after tomorrow: Date	Weighting	In 3 days: Date	Weighting
Tue 22 Sep 2026 1	40.0%	Wed 23 Sep 2026	40.0%	Thu 24 Sep 2026	46.7%	Fri 18 Sep 2026	40.0%
Tue 29 Sep 2026	20.0%	Wed 30 Sep 2026	20.0%	Thu 01 Oct 2026	Store closed 2	Fri 25 Sep 2026	20.0%
Tue 06 Oct 2026	20.0%	Wed 07 Oct 2026	20.0%	Thu 08 Oct 2026	26.7%	Fri 02 Oct 2026	20.0%
Tue 13 Oct 2026	20.0%	Wed 14 Oct 2026	20.0%	Thu 15 Oct 2026	26.7%	Fri 09 Oct 2026	20.0%

1 The equivalent day last month

With payday on the 25th, today (Tue 20 Oct 2026) is the last Tuesday before payday. Last month the matching day was Tue 22 Sep 2026, the last Tuesday before payday in September. It counts for 40.0% of the forecast and the following three Tuesdays count for 20.0% each.

2 Store closed

If the store had no sales on one of the dates (closed, or not trading yet), that date shows Store closed and its weighting is shared equally between the other dates. Here the 20.0% for Thu 01 Oct 2026 was split three ways, so the others went up by 6.7% each.

Confidence rating

The coloured bar under the dates is the key to the shading in the four forecast columns.

Confidence rating:

Highest confidenceMedium confidenceLowest confidence

Every forecast gets a confidence score from 0 to 100, based on how far the item's sales on the four dates analysed were from the forecast. The colour blends smoothly from green through yellow to red, so most forecasts land somewhere in between. The Menu item sales forecast and Stock item forecast reports use the same scale, so a colour always means the same thing:

Colour	Score	Sales on the four dates	What to do
Green	80 to 100	Steady: within about a quarter of the forecast	Trust the forecast
Yellow	around 50	Moved by about half the forecast	Use it as a guide
Red	20 or less	Moved by the whole forecast or more	Check against your own experience

Closed days lower the scoreEach date that shows Store closed leaves less to go on, so the score drops. If only one of the four dates had sales, the best a forecast can score is 50 (yellow), even if nothing varied.

Slow sellers are less predictableAn item you sell two or three of a day naturally jumps around more than one you sell forty of, so slow sellers usually show yellow to red. Keep a little extra on hand for them rather than prepping exactly the forecast.

Menu item forecast

One line per menu item sold on the dates analysed, grouped by menu category (A to Z) and sorted by item name.

Plu code	Menu item name	Forecast today Tue 20 Oct 2026	Forecast tomorrow Wed 21 Oct 2026	Forecast day after tomorrow Thu 22 Oct 2026	Forecast in 3 days Fri 23 Oct 2026
Burgers
B02	Cheese Burger	21	23	29	31
B03	Chicken Burger	15 2	14	17	18
B01	Classic Burger	40 1	43	56	60
Drinks
D01	Coke 330ml	29	32	39	41
Sides
S01	Chips	52	57	69	72
S02	Onion Rings	12	10	14 3	15

1 How a forecast is worked out

Bob's Burgers Times Square sold 42, 35, 38 and 40 Classic Burgers on the four Tuesdays analysed. The first date counts 40% and the others 20% each: 42 × 40% + 35 × 20% + 38 × 20% + 40 × 20% = 16.8 + 7 + 7.6 + 8 = 39.4, rounded up to 40. Sales on those days stayed within a few burgers of the forecast, so it scores 98 and is green.

2 A yellow forecast

Chicken Burger sales on the same four Tuesdays were 16, 5, 24 and 10: 16 × 40% + 5 × 20% + 24 × 20% + 10 × 20% = 14.2, rounded up to 15. They swung by about half the forecast, so it scores about 50 and is yellow: plan for it, but keep an eye on it during the day.

3 Forecast with a closed day

Thu 01 Oct 2026 shows Store closed, so the day after tomorrow is forecast from the other three Thursdays only, with their weightings raised to make up the difference (see Dates analysed).

Plu code: The menu item's code on the till, as rung up on the dates analysed.

Watch the video

A short walkthrough of the Menu item sales forecast report and how to read the forecasts and colours.

Can't see the video? Watch it on YouTube.

Frequently asked questions

Why is a menu item missing?

The report only lists items that sold on at least one of the dates analysed and have a forecast above zero on at least one of the four days. A new item, or one you only sell occasionally, may not appear yet.

Why do I see options such as "Well done" or "Extra cheese"?

Options and extras rung up with a menu item are sold as their own lines on the till, so the report forecasts them too. They are useful for prep (for example how many extra cheese portions to have ready).

Why does the same item appear twice?

Items are listed by their name, code and category exactly as they were rung up. If an item was renamed, given a new code or moved to another category during the dates analysed, the old and new versions show as separate lines, each with part of the history.

Why is the forecast so different from what I expect on a public holiday?

The report only knows what happened on the same weekday in the last month. It does not know about public holidays, promotions, events or the weather, so adjust the forecast yourself on those days.

Are voided or cancelled sales included?

No. Only completed sales are used. Voided invoices are left out, and so are items that were voided from an invoice that was still paid.

Why do the stock item forecast totals not match this report times the recipe?

This report rounds each menu item up to a whole item. The Stock item forecast works from the forecast before rounding, then rounds each stock item up once, so it does not over-forecast stock by rounding twice.

Why is a forecast yellow when the sales look steady?

Check Dates analysed. If the store was closed on some of the four dates there is less to go on, so the score is lowered. With only one date that had sales, the best a forecast can score is 50, which is yellow.

Why are my slow-selling items yellow or red?

Selling 1, 0, 3 and 1 of something is a big swing compared with a forecast of 2, even though it is only a few items. Slow sellers are naturally harder to predict, so keep a little extra on hand for them.

Why do the dates look a day behind early in the morning?

The report works out today from the AuraPOS server's clock, not your store's clock. For the first couple of hours after midnight it can still treat the previous day as today, so the first forecast column is really yesterday. Run it later in the morning for the correct three days.

Glossary

Confidence rating: A score from 0 to 100 for how steady the past sales were on the four dates analysed, shown as a colour that blends from green (steady) through yellow to red (jumped around a lot).
Dates analysed: The four past dates on the same weekday used to forecast each day.
Equivalent day last month: The date last month on the same weekday and in the same position relative to payday as the day being forecast.
Forecast: The number of each menu item you are likely to sell on the day, rounded up to a whole item.
Payday: The day of the month most customers are paid. Used to line up busy and quiet days from month to month.
Plu code: The menu item's code on the till.
Store closed: A date analysed that had no sales. Its weighting is shared between the other dates.
Weighting: How much each date analysed counts towards the forecast. The equivalent day last month counts 40% and the other three dates 20% each.