Getting Started with KitchenSync
What the module covers, the order to set it up in, and where each screen lives.
KitchenSync is the kitchen and catering side of CeremonySync. It hangs off events you already have: a catering order belongs to a wedding or an EventSync inquiry, takes its date and guest count from there, and becomes the container for the menu, the prep, the costs and the day-of screens.
The screens
| Screen | What it is for |
|---|---|
| Dashboard | What is coming and what you are short of |
| Catering Orders | One record per event's food |
| Menus | Menu library and the menu builder |
| Recipes | Recipe library with ingredients, yield and cost |
| Inventory | Kitchen stock with par levels |
| Bar | The same stock model, filtered to drink |
| Purchasing | Purchase orders and suppliers |
| Run Sheet | The printable page for one day |
| Display Board | The live screen for service |
| Tastings | Tasting appointments |
| Compliance | HACCP plans, incidents, cleaning, exclusions |
| Reports | Revenue, food cost, recipes, inventory value |
Set it up in this order
The module has its own Getting Started page that tracks these five and ticks each one off as you do it. The order is not arbitrary — each step is what makes the next one work.
- Add your first recipe. Everything reads from recipes: cost per serving, scaling to a guest count, and the prep tasks a kitchen works from. Without one there is nothing to generate.
- Build a menu. A menu is what gets attached to an event and priced per person. An order without one cannot generate prep.
- Stock your inventory. Par levels are what turn a shelf into a low-stock alert, and what prep deducts from when an order is finalized.
- Add a supplier. A low-stock alert tells you what you are short of; a supplier on the item tells you who to call about it.
- Create a catering order. It links a wedding or event to a menu and a guest count, and is where prep is generated and dietary requirements land.
Do them out of order and you will hit the same wall each time: a menu with no recipes prices nothing, and an order with no menu generates no prep.
How a week actually runs
Before the event — the order gets its menu, the client approves it, and you generate the prep plan. Prep scales to the guest count, so a late RSVP change means regenerating rather than recalculating by hand.
The morning of — print the Run Sheet for the day. It lists each event with its menu, guest count and prep status, plus course timing, staffing, tastings, and every item below its reorder threshold. That last part shows whether or not there are events, so the run sheet doubles as the morning stock check.
During service — open the Display Board on a screen in the kitchen. It shows one event's courses and prep tasks, updates itself every 30 seconds, and marking a course served stamps the time it actually went out.
After — finalize the prep plan to deduct stock, and generate the invoice from the order's Admin tab. Revenue in Reports comes from invoices once they are paid, so raising one is not enough to make it count.
Where the money comes from
Two numbers do most of the work, and both depend on data you enter:
- Cost per serving is calculated from ingredient costs and yield when you save a recipe. One ingredient with no cost makes the dish look cheaper than it is.
- Avg Food Cost % in Reports needs an order with both a paid invoice and a recorded food cost. Until one exists it shows a dash rather than a misleading zero.
What KitchenSync does not do
No temperature logging — the Compliance page holds plans, incidents, cleaning schedules and staff exclusions, but nothing that would satisfy an inspector asking for a temperature log. No automatic reordering from low stock. No supplier ordering integration. No per-dish selling price, so no per-dish margin.
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