The Accounted Waste Dashboard brings together multiple perspectives on waste management:
KPI cards summarize your overall performance.
Reason-based charts explain why waste occurs.
Ingredient and category views reveal what’s being wasted.
Leaderboards show who’s recording it.
By analyzing these together, you can:
Identify high-value waste sources.
Detect operational patterns across teams or sites.
Implement targeted interventions that reduce costs and improve efficiency.
KPI Cards Overview
At the top of the dashboard, you’ll see three key performance indicators (KPIs):
1. Total Sales
This value represents the total amount of sales made during the selected date range.
It reflects all recorded sales transactions across all locations (unless a specific location filter is applied).
2. Total Accounted Waste
This figure shows the total value of recorded waste for the same date range.
Accounted waste includes any items or ingredients that have been marked as wasted through proper recording processes - such as damaged goods, expired stock, or prep waste.
3. % Accounted Waste vs. Sales
This percentage helps you understand the scale of your waste relative to sales.
It is calculated using the formula:
(Total Accounted Waste ÷ Total Sales) × 100
For example, if your total sales are £14,807.79 and your total accounted waste is £65.28, your waste-to-sales ratio is 0.44%.
This metric gives a quick, intuitive sense of efficiency - lower percentages indicate tighter stock management and reduced waste.
Date Selection and Reporting Logic
One of the most important details to understand is how the Accounted Waste dashboard handles dates.
The Accounted Waste dashboard always reflects the exact date range you select.
It is not linked to stock count dates.
This means that for the same date selection, your Accounted Waste and Inventory dashboards might display different values or reporting dates.
Why This Happens
The Inventory dashboard uses data from reconciliation reports generated after a stock take.
In contrast, the Accounted Waste dashboard pulls data directly from the waste entries recorded during the selected time period - not from stock take snapshots.
So, if you notice that the two dashboards don’t align perfectly, that’s expected. They serve different reporting purposes:
Inventory: based on post-stock-take reconciliation data.
Accounted Waste: based on live, date-specific waste entries.
♻️ Waste by Reason
The Waste by Reason section helps you understand why waste is occurring across your business. It provides both volume-based and value-based insights, allowing you to identify key areas where you can reduce losses.
1. Waste by Reason Trend
This chart displays how waste reasons change over time, helping you spot patterns in specific waste types - for example, recurring “End of day” disposals or “Broken” items.
Each colored line represents a different waste reason, and the horizontal axis shows the days within your selected date range.
In the example above, End of day waste (blue line) occurred mostly on Monday, while Broken waste (green line) was logged once at the start of the week.
If you see spikes on specific days, it could indicate process issues (e.g., over-prepping on certain days) or recurring operational challenges (e.g., equipment damage).
Below the graph, a summary table lists each reason along with the number of times it was logged, providing a quick numerical breakdown.
2. Waste by Reason Value
This chart shifts focus from frequency to financial impact.
It shows the total cost of waste associated with each reason within the selected date range.
The height of each bar represents the total £ value of waste for that reason.
In the example, “End of day” waste (£9.65) has a much higher financial impact than “Broken” waste (£0.62), even though both occurred during the same week.
The accompanying table ranks waste reasons by total amount, helping you prioritize where to take action first.
For instance, reducing “End of day” waste might yield higher savings than focusing on breakages.
How to Use This Data
Identify recurring waste reasons: Track trends over time to understand whether waste is seasonal, operational, or due to specific events.
Take targeted action: Use high-value waste categories to focus staff training or process reviews.
Combine with Accounted Waste KPIs: Relate waste reasons back to the overall % Accounted Waste vs. Sales to see which issues have the biggest business impact.
Filter by location or time period: Compare reasons across stores or weeks to spot outliers or consistent problem areas.
🧩 Waste by Ingredient Category
The Waste by Ingredient Category chart breaks down your total waste value by product category - such as Meat, Dairy, Ingredients, or Batch.
This view helps you understand which categories contribute most to waste, allowing you to pinpoint where to focus on improving efficiency or portion control.
How to Read It
The donut chart visually represents the proportion of waste per category.
The table below lists each Item Category, its percentage of total waste, and its waste value (£).
For example:
Meat represents 14.82% of total waste (£1.52).
Dairy represents 8.44% (£0.87).
Batch accounts for the largest waste share (£4.20), indicating that batch preparation or overproduction could be a key area to review.
Why It Matters
Understanding waste by category allows you to:
Identify which ingredient groups are driving costs.
Adjust procurement or preparation volumes accordingly.
Monitor progress over time as reduction strategies are implemented.
Waste by Ingredient Type
The Waste by Ingredient Type chart gives a higher-level breakdown, grouping waste into Food and Beverage types.
Food Waste (93.95%) – £9.65
Beverage Waste (6.05%) – £0.62
This provides a quick snapshot of which side of your operations (kitchen vs. bar) contributes most to waste value.
If Food consistently makes up a high proportion, it may signal opportunities to refine menu prep quantities, storage, or portioning. Conversely, high Beverage waste could highlight spillage, expired drinks, or mis-measured pours.
Waste Logs Leaderboard
The Waste Logs Leaderboard helps track who is recording waste, providing accountability and transparency in your team’s waste management process.
Each row displays:
The team member who logged waste.
The number of waste entries recorded.
The total logged waste value (£).
For example, in the sample data:
A former employee logged 14 waste entries, with a total recorded value of £10.28.
Why It’s Useful
This leaderboard is an operational insight tool — it encourages accurate waste tracking and highlights engagement levels among staff.
You can use it to:
Recognize diligent record-keeping.
Identify training needs if some staff members log waste inconsistently.
Maintain accountability across shifts or locations.
🍗 Waste by Item Breakdown
The Waste by Item Breakdown table provides a granular view of waste at the individual ingredient or product level.
It’s designed to help you pinpoint exactly which items are contributing most to waste - both in quantity and in value.
How to Use This View
Spot high-cost waste items: Sort by Value or % of Sales to identify which ingredients have the biggest financial impact.
Understand recurring reasons: Use the Top Reason by Value column to detect patterns (e.g., frequent “End of day” waste may point to over-preparation).
Target reduction efforts: Once you identify waste-heavy items, you can take focused actions - such as adjusting batch sizes, reviewing shelf-life policies, or tightening prep forecasts.
Track improvements: Over time, monitor whether changes in production processes lead to lower waste values for specific items.