List ingredients the way you buy them: the pack price off the invoice, the pack size in the unit you use in recipes, and the usable yield after trimming. Each recipe card takes quantities per batch or per portion and shows the portion cost, the food cost percent at your menu price, and the price that would put it on your own target. Packaging such as cups, lids and boxes is costed but kept out of the food cost percent.

When a supplier raises a price, change it once and every card that uses that ingredient reprices. A status reads "Above target" when a dish runs over the target you set. Each card prints for the binder. The example costs seven recipes from a restaurant and coffee bar, from soup to a bought-in muffin.