# Articles on collective catering management

Practical guides on purchasing, stock, recipe sheets, menus, production, meal counts, COGS and profitability in collective catering.

- [How to calculate purchasing needs from the menu](https://www.mepo.so/en/conteudos/como-calcular-necessidade-de-compras-a-partir-do-cardapio): How to work out how much to buy from the menu. Book balance, open orders and available stock are different numbers.
- [Forecast, produced, served and billed: why the numbers differ](https://www.mepo.so/en/conteudos/previsto-produzido-servido-e-faturado): Each quantity records a different fact. Mixing them erases discrepancies that operations need to explain and that the contract needs to reconcile.
- [How to calculate and interpret COGS in an industrial kitchen](https://www.mepo.so/en/conteudos/como-calcular-e-interpretar-o-cmv): Buying is not consuming. To calculate COGS you need the stock movements, a costing method, the accounting period and the revenue for the same period.
- [How to organize recipe sheets across multiple Units](https://www.mepo.so/en/conteudos/como-organizar-fichas-tecnicas-em-varias-uans): The corporate recipe sheet is the reference. When a Unit needs a different composition, record the difference as a version of the sheet, not as a loose copy.
- [How to control losses, leftovers and food returned to stock](https://www.mepo.so/en/conteudos/como-controlar-perdas-sobras-e-retornos): Loss, clean leftovers, service-line leftovers and plate waste are different facts. Each needs its own record, destination and analysis.
- [How to organize menu approval and versioning](https://www.mepo.so/en/conteudos/como-organizar-aprovacao-e-versionamento-de-cardapios): An approved menu needs to remain a reference. Later changes should create another version and record what was actually served.
- [How to compare costs and profitability across Units](https://www.mepo.so/en/conteudos/como-comparar-custos-e-rentabilidade-entre-uans): A fair comparison needs the same period, cost policy, scope and denominator. A lower cost on its own does not mean a better operation.
- [Stock control in an industrial kitchen: receipts, issues, counts and average cost](https://www.mepo.so/en/conteudos/controle-de-estoque-em-cozinha-industrial): The stock balance, the count and the cost should be explained by the receipts, issues and adjustments that were recorded.
- [Spreadsheet or system for managing a catering unit: when it makes sense to migrate](https://www.mepo.so/en/conteudos/planilha-ou-sistema-para-gestao-de-uan): A spreadsheet works for small, stable processes. A system makes more sense when users, Units, approvals and histories need to work together.
- [How measurement and billing work in collective catering contracts](https://www.mepo.so/en/conteudos/medicao-e-faturamento-em-contratos-de-alimentacao-coletiva): The contract defines which quantity can be billed. Planning, production, service, measurement and billing need to stay separate.

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