Blog
Insights on running your cafe on your own numbers.
A Real Coffee Shop Inventory Count Sheet Template
A count sheet built for a real 60-item cafe: beans, milk, matcha, pastries, in walk order. Plus the one thing it will never track, and how to fix it.
Jul 24, 2026·6 min read
Why Your Coffee Shop Inventory Doesn't Match
You counted, and the number is off. In a cafe the mismatch usually hides in the milk swaps your register never subtracted, not in theft or bad counts.
Jul 24, 2026·6 min read
How Much Milk Does a Coffee Shop Use? Find Yours
The gallons-per-week averages you find online describe a cafe that isn't yours. Your real milk number lives in your Square sales, split by drink and by day.
Jul 24, 2026·6 min read
How Far Ahead to Order Matcha for Your Cafe
Matcha is long-lead and loses its color once opened. Order too early and it goes dull; too late and you are out for a week. Here is the timing rule.
Jul 24, 2026·6 min read
How to Stop Over-Ordering at Your Coffee Shop
Over-ordering is not a discipline problem. You pad your orders because the register shows what sold, not what you used. Here is how to shrink the pad.
Jul 24, 2026·6 min read
Can Square Track Coffee Shop Ingredient Inventory?
Square tells you what sold, not what you used. What its inventory can and cannot track for a cafe, what the add-ons cost, and what an ingredient layer needs.
Jul 23, 2026·5 min read
Cafe Seasonal Inventory: Prep Before Iced Season
The first warm Saturday, I ran out of cold cups by noon. Here is how I run cafe seasonal inventory now, three weeks ahead of the iced rush, not scrambling.
Apr 22, 2026·8 min read
Stop Guessing, Start Counting: A Practical Guide to Cafe Inventory
Most cafes guess their way through inventory. Here's how a simple counting routine cuts waste, prevents stockouts, and saves hours every week.
Feb 20, 2026·5 min read
The Ordering Playbook: Order From Your Count, Not Your Gut
Running out of a key ingredient during Saturday rush is preventable. Here is the playbook that makes it impossible.
Feb 19, 2026·6 min read
Coffee Shop Par Levels: How to Set Reorder Points
A par level tells you when to reorder, not how much. Here is how to set coffee shop par levels from two weeks of your own counts, with worked examples.
Feb 18, 2026·5 min read
Your Morning Routine Should Not Include Panic Ordering
If your first hour involves frantically checking stock and rushing supplier orders, the problem is not the morning. It is the system.
Feb 17, 2026·6 min read
How to Track Cafe Food Waste With Your Data
Waste hides in the gap between what your Square sold and what your shelves actually lost. Here is how to track it, count by count, and close it.
Feb 16, 2026·7 min read
The Coffee Shop Supplier Ordering Schedule
Every supplier runs on a different clock. How to build one weekly ordering schedule around your cutoffs, lead times, and delivery days, then trust it.
Feb 10, 2026·6 min read