Recipes, portions and batch costing

Every recipe in Menu Costing declares how many portions it makes, and every cost, margin and price figure is shown per portion — because that's the number that decides whether a dish makes money. The whole-batch cost is always shown alongside.

The financial panel

At the top of every recipe page you'll see:

• Profit per portion, with the gross profit percentage.
• Cost per portion, with the batch cost and an arrow showing how it has moved.
• Food cost %, with a "pts" chip showing the change in percentage points — going from a 30% to a 35% food cost shows as "+5 pts".
• A target bar showing your current food-cost % against your target, with a status chip like "On target · 2 pts under" or "Over target · 4 pts over".

Expand the panel for the detail: sell price including and excluding GST, target sell price, and the target cost per portion (what you can spend and still hit your target percentage). Suggested prices are always shown GST-inclusive so they're directly comparable to your printed menu.

The Costs band

Below the panel, two buttons open deeper views:

• Cost over time — a chart of the dish's cost history (30 days, 90 days or 6 months), plus a "What if…" simulator that lets you drag a price and watch the margin move without saving anything.
• Where the cost goes — the plate cost broken down by ingredient, biggest driver first. Click any ingredient row to see its recent price changes — when, which direction, old and new price, and where the change came from.

Charts need at least two recorded cost points before they draw — a brand-new recipe shows an empty chart until its first price change is recorded. That's expected.

Sub-recipes

A sub-recipe (a house sauce, a stock, a spice mix) declares its own yield — "this batch makes 2.5 L". A dish that uses 200 ml of it is charged exactly that share of the batch cost. Sub-recipes keep a simpler cost panel of their own; the full financial panel is for the dishes on your menu.