Menu - Menu Item Recipe History
Updated Mon 2 Nov 2026
Running the report
Report options
Select a menu
The menu whose items you want to look at. The list shows up to ten of your store's most recent menus, newest first, each with its status and date. The menu decides which items are on the report and the price shown next to each item. It does not decide which recipes are shown: recipe revisions are shared by your whole brand.
Category filter
Limits the report to one menu category. The first choice is All categories (many pages - might take long), followed by your categories A to Z. Pick one category for a short, quick report.
Both choices are repeated at the top of every page under Selected parameters.
The report at a glance
There is no date line. Instead, each recipe revision on the report carries the date and time it came into effect, in your store's local time. The logo and the Explain this report link under it open this guide.
- The summary boxes: how many ingredients were added or changed in the newest recipe revisions.
- Menu items and recipe revisions: each menu item with its recipe for every revision shown.
- Recipe lines and colours: the quantities, and what green and orange mean.
- Cost price and GP: your store's recipe cost and gross profit for each revision.
The summary boxes
At the top of the first page two boxes count what changed. They add up every menu item on the report, not just the item you are looking at.
| Draft recipe summary 1 | Active recipe summary 2 |
|---|---|
| 6 ingredients were added to the draft recipe revision (shown in green). | 2 ingredients were added to the active recipe revision (shown in green). |
| 3 ingredients were changed in the draft recipe revision (shown in orange). | 1 ingredient was changed in the active recipe revision (shown in orange). |
1 Draft recipe summary (or Upcoming recipe summary)
The left box is about your newest recipe revision. If you have a draft, it is the Draft recipe summary. If the newest revision is scheduled to start in the future, it is the Upcoming recipe summary. It tells you how many ingredients were added and how many were changed compared with the revision before it.
2 Active recipe summary
The right box is about the recipe revision that is in use right now, compared with the revision before it.
Below the boxes a note reminds you that menu items without a recipe are left out, and that GP % uses your store's most recent unit costs. Both boxes count ingredient lines: an ingredient used in five menu items counts five times.
Menu items and recipe revisions
Items are grouped by category. Each menu item shows its recipe once for every recipe revision on the report, newest at the top. Here is one item with its draft and its active recipe:
| Burgers 1 | |||||
| Base recipe | Sit down recipe | Take away recipe | Store's recipe cost sit down (excl) | Store's recipe cost take away (excl) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Classic burger (BG01) [R80.00 excl] 2 | |||||
| Draft recipe - Current Draft 3 | |||||
| Stock Items 4 | |||||
| Beef patty (PAT01) - each: 5 | 1.000 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 18.00 | 18.00 |
| Burger bun (BUN01) - each: | 1.000 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 4.50 | 4.50 |
| Lettuce (LET01) - kg: | 0.030 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 0.84 | 0.84 |
| Pickles (PIC01) - kg: | 0.010 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 0.36 | 0.36 |
| Burger box (BOX01) - each: | 0.000 | 0.000 | 1.000 | 0.00 | 3.20 |
| Napkin (NAP01) - each: | 0.000 | 2.000 | 0.000 | 0.30 | 0.00 |
| 1 x Burger sauce sub-recipe exploded | |||||
| Mayonnaise (MAY01) - kg: | 0.020 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 0.90 | 0.90 |
| Mustard (MUS01) - kg: | 0.005 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 0.15 | 0.15 |
| Classic burger cost price (excl): 6 | 25.05 | 27.95 | |||
| GP: | 68.7% | 65.1% | |||
| Active recipe - Effective from Mon 05 Oct 2026 at 08:00 | |||||
| Stock Items | |||||
| Beef patty (PAT01) - each: | 1.000 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 18.00 | 18.00 |
| Burger bun (BUN01) - each: | 1.000 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 4.50 | 4.50 |
| Lettuce (LET01) - kg: | 0.025 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 0.70 | 0.70 |
| Burger box (BOX01) - each: | 0.000 | 0.000 | 1.000 | 0.00 | 3.20 |
| Napkin (NAP01) - each: | 0.000 | 2.000 | 0.000 | 0.30 | 0.00 |
| 1 x Burger sauce sub-recipe exploded | |||||
| Mayonnaise (MAY01) - kg: | 0.020 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 0.90 | 0.90 |
| Mustard (MUS01) - kg: | 0.005 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 0.15 | 0.15 |
| Classic burger cost price (excl): | 24.55 | 27.45 | |||
| GP: | 69.3% | 65.7% | |||
1 Category and column headings
The category name sits above the column headings, which repeat on every page. Base recipe is used for every order. Sit down recipe only applies to sit down orders and Take away recipe only to take away orders (for example takeaway packaging). The last two columns are your store's cost for a sit down order and for a take away order.
2 Menu item heading
The item's name, its PLU code in brackets if it has one, and its selling price before tax. Hover over the heading to see the item's description. The price is your brand's default sales channel price on the menu you chose.
3 Recipe revision heading
Each revision has a label and a colour. Draft recipe (orange) is the working copy that has not gone live. Upcoming recipe (purple) starts at a future date. Active recipe (green) is in use now. Previous recipe (grey) is an older one. Revisions other than the draft also show Effective from and the date and time they started.
4 Stock Items and sub-recipes
Under each revision the ingredients are split into Stock Items (stock items added straight onto the menu item) and one heading for every named sub-recipe the item uses, such as 1 x Burger sauce sub-recipe exploded. The number in front is how many of that sub-recipe go into one item. Sub-recipes are opened up so you see their ingredients, already multiplied by that number.
Recipe lines and colours
Every line is one stock item with its unit, then its quantity in the three recipe columns and its cost. A quantity that is not used shows 0.000. The faint trailing zeros are deliberate: they keep the decimal points and the units, tens and hundreds lined up in a column without cluttering the page.
- Green quantity (New)
- The ingredient was not in the revision before this one, or that column had no quantity before. In the example, pickles are new in the draft and the burger box is new in the active recipe.
- Orange quantity (Changed)
- The ingredient was already there but the quantity is different from the revision before. In the example, the lettuce went from 0.025 to 0.03 kg in the draft.
- Black quantity
- Nothing changed compared with the revision before.
5 Cost of a line
The cost is the quantity multiplied by your store's cost for that stock item. Store's recipe cost sit down (excl) uses the base quantity plus the sit down quantity. Store's recipe cost take away (excl) uses the base quantity plus the take away quantity. Hover over a cost to see the unit cost that was used.
Which revisions are shown
The report looks at your four most recent recipe revisions, the draft counting as one. It shows the newest three and uses the fourth only as the starting point to work out what changed in the oldest one you can see. If you have fewer than four revisions, all of them are shown, and the oldest one has nothing to compare with, so none of its lines are coloured.
Cost price and GP
At the end of each revision the report adds up the lines to give the cost of one menu item, and works out the gross profit.
6 Cost price (excl) and GP
Cost price (excl) is the total of all the lines above it, for sit down and for take away, using your store's costs before tax. GP is the share of the selling price that is left after that cost: one minus the cost divided by the price, shown as a percentage with one decimal. For the draft above, a sit down cost of 25.05 on a price of R80.00 leaves a GP of 68.7%. Because each revision has its own cost and GP, you can compare them straight away and see what a recipe change does to your margin.
Watch the video
A short walkthrough of the report: choosing a menu, reading the revisions and what the colours mean.
Can't see the video? Watch it on YouTube.
Frequently asked questions
A menu item I expected is not on the report. Why?
Menu items that have no recipe are left out. The item must also be on the menu you chose, not archived, and in the category you chose. To see every menu item, including those without a recipe, use the Menu Item Prices report.
Why do I only see three recipe revisions?
The report uses your four most recent revisions and shows the newest three. The fourth is used behind the scenes so the oldest one you can see can still show what changed. Older revisions are not shown.
What is the difference between the Draft, Upcoming, Active and Previous recipes?
The Draft recipe is the working copy that has not been approved to go live. An Upcoming recipe is approved but starts at a future date. The Active recipe is the one in use now. A Previous recipe was in use before and has been replaced.
An ingredient I removed is not shown. Where did it go?
Removed ingredients are not listed in the revision where they were removed. Look at the older revision underneath: it still shows the ingredient with its quantity.
Why does GP show n/a?
The item has no selling price on the menu you chose, or its price is R0.00, so a percentage cannot be worked out. Set a price on the menu and run the report again.
Why is the cost of an ingredient 0.00?
Your store has no cost set for that stock item, which counts as zero. The recipe cost for the item can then look lower than it should, and the GP higher. Capture the cost for the stock item and run the report again.
Why does a draft recipe show costs when it has not gone live?
The report costs every revision, including the draft, so you can see the effect of a recipe change on your margin before you approve it.
Why is the summary count bigger than the changes I can see?
The summary boxes count ingredient lines for every menu item on the report. If you filtered by category, the counts still cover only the items on the report, but an ingredient used in several items is counted once for each item.
Why do the costs not match the Gross Profit or the GP Per Menu Item reports?
This report uses your store's own costs and costs every revision with today's unit costs. The GP Per Menu Item report is brand level and uses model costs, and the Gross Profit reports work from your sales and stock takes over a period of dates.
Glossary
- Active recipe
- The recipe revision in use right now: the latest approved revision whose effective date has passed.
- Base recipe
- The ingredients used for every order of a menu item, whether it is sit down or take away.
- Changed
- An ingredient whose quantity is different from the revision before. Shown in orange.
- Draft recipe
- The working copy of your recipes (named Current Draft) that has not gone live yet.
- GP
- Gross profit: the share of the selling price before tax that is left after your store's recipe cost.
- New
- An ingredient that was not in the revision before, or that column had no quantity before. Shown in green.
- Previous recipe
- An older recipe revision that has been replaced by a newer one.
- Recipe revision
- A saved version of your brand's recipes with a date from which it applies. Revisions apply to the whole brand.
- Sit down recipe
- The extra ingredients that only apply to sit down orders.
- Stock item
- An ingredient or consumable that you buy and count, such as a burger bun or a takeaway box.
- Store's recipe cost
- The cost of the recipe at your store's own unit costs, before tax.
- Sub-recipe
- A named recipe, such as a sauce, that is used inside other recipes. The report opens it up and shows its ingredients.
- Take away recipe
- The extra ingredients that only apply to take away orders, such as packaging.
- Upcoming recipe
- An approved recipe revision that starts at a future date.