The short answer: Choose inventory software by testing it against how your sites actually run. Check live stock and transfers across sites, supplier and predictive ordering, recipe costing that updates from invoices, central-kitchen production, invoice matching, POS and accounting integrations, and clear pricing. Ask every vendor to show each one working on your data.
This guide is for UK ops directors and finance leads with a shortlist. It won't pick a logo for you. It gives you the criteria that matter across several sites and the questions that separate a good demo from a good fit.
What should be on your inventory software evaluation checklist?
Use this as a scorecard in every demo. If a vendor can't show an item live, mark it as unproven.
- Live stock by site, with transfers that update both ends
- Supplier ordering with cut-offs, minimum order values and approvals
- Predictive or suggested ordering that a manager approves
- Recipe costs that update when supplier prices change
- Actual vs theoretical COGS by product and by site
- Production planning and central-kitchen dispatch, if you run a hub
- Invoice matching against purchase orders and deliveries, with credit notes
- Integrations with your POS, rota and accounting tools
- Reporting that compares sites and answers follow-up questions
- A clear onboarding plan and published or clearly quoted pricing
Which criteria matter most when comparing restaurant inventory software?
1. Can you see stock across every site, and move it between them?
Multi-site stock control is a different job from single-site counting. You need to see what each site holds, move stock without double-counting, and trust the figure between stocktakes.
Questions to ask the vendor:
- What updates the live stock figure: deliveries, sales, waste, transfers, production?
- When Site A sends stock to Site B, does stock and cost move at both ends?
- Can I compare stock value and movement across sites in one view?
2. How does supplier ordering work, and is predictive ordering any good?
Good ordering software turns a GM's weekly order into a review, not a blank form.
Questions to ask the vendor:
- Can a site build one basket across several suppliers, with cut-offs and minimum order values?
- What data drives suggested quantities: sales history, stock on hand, par levels, forecasts?
- Who approves the order before it goes, and can area managers set approval rules?
3. Does recipe costing keep GP and COGS honest?
Recipe costs go stale the moment a supplier changes a price. If someone has to update them by hand, your GP figures are already out of date. We go deeper on this in our guide to recipe costing and COGS for multi-site restaurants.
Questions to ask the vendor:
- When an invoice price changes, which recipe costs update, and how quickly?
- Can I see actual vs theoretical COGS by product and by site?
- Can I see menu profitability by item, per site?
4. Can it plan production and run a central kitchen?
If you prep centrally or run hub and spoke, software that stops at the stockroom door leaves a gap. Production is where waste and overprep start.
Questions to ask the vendor:
- Does it generate prep sheets from demand, or do we type them in?
- How do spokes order from the hub, and when do plans lock?
- When finished goods move from hub to spoke, how are stock and cost recorded?
5. How does it handle invoice matching and credit notes?
Three-way matching compares each invoice with the purchase order and goods received note, so you only pay for what you ordered and received.
Questions to ask the vendor:
- Does it match invoice to PO to delivery note, line by line?
- When a delivery is short or damaged, is a credit request raised at the door?
- Is invoice processing priced per scan, or included?
6. Will it connect to your POS, rota and accounting stack?
Theoretical usage depends on POS sales matched to recipes, and approved invoices need to reach your accounts without re-keying. Integrations decide whether the system saves admin or creates it.
Questions to ask the vendor:
- Do you integrate with our POS today, and who maps POS items to recipes?
- Which accounting systems do you sync with, and what exactly syncs: POs, invoices, credit notes?
- Is there an open API, and on which plan?
7. Does the AI recommend, while a person approves?
AI is useful when it does the reading and the maths, and risky when it acts unchecked. For ordering, you want suggestions a GM can question and approve.
Questions to ask the vendor:
- Exactly what does the AI do: suggest, alert, answer questions or act on its own?
- Can it explain what a suggestion is based on?
- Can every automated action be reviewed and overridden?
8. Will reporting show you which site needs attention?
A group total hides the site that's drifting. You want site-by-site comparison and follow-up questions without a spreadsheet export. Our post on how AI helps multi-site restaurants see issues fast covers which numbers to watch, and how AI reporting improves restaurant stock control covers variance.
Questions to ask the vendor:
- Can I compare GP, COGS, waste and variance across sites side by side?
- Can I ask questions in plain English, or does every new question need a report?
- Will it alert me when something is out of line, or do I have to go looking?
9. How long until it's useful?
Time to value matters more than feature count. Most rollout work is your data: suppliers, products, recipes, POS mapping and a first stocktake.
Questions to ask the vendor:
- Who does the setup: your team or ours? Sites, menus, users?
- What do you need from us, and in what format?
- What does a realistic first month look like for a group our size?
10. Is the pricing clear before you talk to sales?
You should be able to estimate cost for all your sites, now and at double the size.
Questions to ask the vendor:
- Is pricing published? What's included in each plan?
- Are AI features, invoice scanning or central kitchen tools add-ons?
- How does cost change as we add sites?
How does Edify approach multi-site inventory?
Edify is an operating intelligence platform for multi-site cafés, coffee chains, QSR and restaurant groups, launched in 2024 by Ed Barry, who built the London coffee chain Over Under and exited to Blank Street Coffee in 2022. The aim is to handle the operational complexity so teams can stay on the floor.
Against the criteria above, here's how Edify works:
- Stock: live stock levels by site that move as deliveries are accepted, stock is transferred, waste is logged, products are sold and production is completed.
- Ordering: Edify suggests orders based on sales history, stock and par levels, with the GM approving. Sites build one basket across suppliers, with cut-offs, minimum order values and recurring orders.
- Recipes and COGS: recipes costed, yielded and allergen-tagged. Set a supplier to update prices automatically and recipe costs follow wherever that product is used. Actual vs theoretical variance is tracked by product.
- Production: production runs, bench planning, hot production slots, prep sheets and hub-and-spoke planning with cut-offs.
- Invoices: Edify helps you match invoices against purchase orders and deliveries, line by line, and raises credit requests at delivery.
- Ask Edify: ask questions about your operation in plain English and get answers instantly, across sales, margin, COGS, site performance and waste, with your sites side by side.
- Reporting: Custom AI Insights land on your dashboard and in your inbox, and Edify connects to tools like Claude and ChatGPT via MCP.
- Integrations: connects to POS systems including Square, Toast and Lightspeed, rota tools and Xero. See the partners page for the current list.
- Pricing: Starter from £199 per site per month, Growth from £299 per site per month, and custom Enterprise pricing with open API access. See pricing for what each plan includes.
Edify is web-based rather than a native app, and it doesn't run payroll or scheduling; it connects to the tools you already use. See our features page.
Comparing platforms? Our side-by-side pages are based on each vendor's public information and say where the other platform may fit better: Edify vs Nory, Edify vs Supy, Edify vs Apicbase, Edify vs MarketMan, or all platform comparisons.
Frequently asked questions
What is multi-site restaurant inventory software?
It's software that tracks stock, ordering, recipes and costs across several sites in one system. It shows what each site holds, handles transfers, links usage to POS sales and recipes, and compares sites so you can see where margin is lost.
What features should a multi-site restaurant group look for in inventory software?
Look for live stock by site, transfers, supplier and predictive ordering, recipe costing that updates from invoice prices, actual vs theoretical COGS, production and central-kitchen planning, invoice matching with credit notes, POS and accounting integrations, and reporting that compares sites.
What is three-way invoice matching?
Three-way invoice matching checks a supplier invoice against the purchase order and the goods received note, line by line. It flags differences in quantity or price before the invoice is approved, so you only pay for what you ordered and actually received.
Should AI place supplier orders automatically?
AI should do the maths and suggest quantities, and a person should approve. Edify suggests orders based on sales history, stock and par levels, with the GM approving.
How long does it take to set up restaurant inventory software?
It depends on how ready your data is. The main tasks are importing suppliers and products, building recipes, mapping POS items and a first stocktake. Ask each vendor who does the setup.
How much does Edify cost?
Edify publishes its pricing. The Starter plan is from £199 per site per month, the Growth plan is from £299 per site per month, and Enterprise pricing is custom. See edifysystems.io/pricing for what each plan includes.
Want to test Edify against this checklist? Book a chat with the Edify team and we'll walk through it with your own sites.
