Prep lists workflow

A prep list is a planned prep shift — a batch of recipes you intend to make at a specific time, with Rinvy's recommendations for how much of each. The list moves through three states.

The three states

DRAFT

A manager creates the prep list. For every recipe on it, Rinvy computes:

• Current stock of the output product.
• Burn rate over the lookback window (default 30 days, configurable per list).
• Target stock — what you want to have on hand after prep.
• Recommended batches — (target stock − current stock) ÷ yield per batch, rounded up.

The manager can adjust quantities, add or remove recipes, add free-form task lines, reorder items, change the lookback window, and add notes. A DRAFT can be edited freely.

APPROVED

When the manager is happy with the plan, they approve it. The list is now visible to staff for execution but its planned batches are locked — staff can only record what they actually made.

COMPLETED

Once every item on the list has actual-batches-completed recorded (or been explicitly skipped), the list moves to COMPLETED. Each completed item:

• Creates a prep log entry under the executing user.
• Deducts ingredient quantities for the actual batches.
• Adds output product stock for the actual batches.

COMPLETED lists are read-only — they're a historical record.

Creating a draft

1. Go to Prep.

2. Tap New prep list and set the prep date (typically tomorrow's morning shift).
3. Pick the recipes you want included. Rinvy auto-fills recommended batches.
4. Review the recommendations. Adjust quantities where you know better than the math.
5. Tap Approve list when ready.

You can keep several lists open at once — one per prep day. The Prep page lists every open (DRAFT or APPROVED) list grouped by day, and New prep list lets you pick the day the list is for, so Tuesday's and Wednesday's prep can both be planned in advance. If you pick a day that already has an open list, Rinvy warns you before creating a second one.

Tasks — items that aren't recipes

Not everything on a prep list is a batch of something. Add item → Task puts a free-form checklist line on the list — "thaw the butter", "label containers", "wipe the walk-in shelves" — with an optional note. Tasks ride the same list as recipe items:

• On the approved list, a task checks off with a single tap — there are no batches or yield to confirm, so no execute sheet opens. Mis-tapped? Tap the checked task again to un-check it.
• Checking a task off records who did it and when, but creates no prep log and moves no inventory — it's a checklist line, not production.
• A task survives approval even though it has no batch count (only zero-batch recipes are pruned when you approve).

Saved templates — reuse a plan you like

If your prep is stable week to week, stop rebuilding the same list. A template stores the plan — recipes with batch counts, tasks, notes, and their order — under a name, and starting a day from it is one tap:

• Save one from a list you like. Any prep list (draft, approved, or completed) has a Save as template action — a finished shift that went well is the natural moment.
• Or build one by hand. On the Prep page, From template → Manage templates opens the catalog at Prep templates, where owners and managers can create, rename, edit, reorder, and delete templates.
• Start a prep list from it. Pick a template (and the day it's for) from From template on the Prep page, the generator page, or the template itself. The template supplies the plan; stock levels, burn rates, and recommendations are recomputed fresh at that moment — your saved batch counts stay in charge, with the fresh recommendation shown alongside.

A template doesn't freeze the kitchen: if a recipe on it can no longer be prepped (its output product was removed or archived), starting from the template skips that line and tells you which recipes were skipped. Template names are unique per kitchen.

Reordering items

Items appear in the order the recommendation engine ranked them, but the kitchen's order of operations wins: tap Reorder on a draft or approved list, drag rows into the order you'll work them, then Done reordering. Staff can reorder the approved list they're working; drafts are manager-only. The saved order carries into the printed PDF too.

Adjusting the lookback window

The default 30-day lookback works for most kitchens, but you can change it per list:

• Shorter (7–14 days) — if your demand has changed recently (new menu, new season, post-holiday).
• Longer (60–90 days) — for items with slow, steady burn where you want a smoother average.

Burn rate is computed from prep logs, sales, and inventory changes inside the window — so a longer window includes more data but is slower to react to change.

Executing as staff

1. Open the day's prep list from Prep.

2. For each item, record how many batches you actually completed.
3. If you skip an item entirely, mark it skipped (with a reason if helpful).
4. Once every item is recorded or skipped, the list auto-completes.

Staff (and managers, and owners) can execute prep list items. Any role with canExecuteRecipes can record completion.

Printing a prep list

Need a paper copy for the line? Print any non-empty prep list to PDF — both an open list opened from the Prep page and any list opened from prep history. The Print action is available to anyone who can execute recipes.

1. Open the prep list and tap Print.
2. Choose your options in the Print prep list dialog (below).

3. Tap Generate PDF. On the web the file downloads; on the iOS/Android app it opens the system share sheet so you can AirPrint or save it.

Three toggles control the document:

• Expand sub-recipes (off by default) — include the full detail of made-in-house ingredients, nested up to two levels. Leave off for a flat shopping-style list; turn on when cooks need to make the sub-components too.
• Include stock & recommendation context (on by default) — show current stock, burn rate, and recommended batches for each recipe. Turn off for a clean cook's sheet without the planning math.
• One recipe per page (off by default) — start each recipe on its own page, handy for splitting work across cooks.

Each recipe block carries its scaled ingredients, instructions, and a checkbox (or completion status for a COMPLETED list).

Forecast-based prep

By default, batch recommendations use burn rate from inventory and prep history. If your restaurant uses demand forecasting (Pro tier), prep lists can switch to using forecasted sales instead — converting per-menu-item sales predictions back into ingredient-level prep needs through recipe explosion.

This is a separate mode set per prep list. See forecast-based prep.

What ends up in your data

Each executed prep list item creates one prep log. Those prep logs appear in:

• Activity history (orange-coded).
• Burn rate calculations for future prep list recommendations.
• Variance and product reports as actual consumption events.

A skipped item creates no prep log and doesn't deduct anything.

Related

• Prep overview
• Forecast-based prep
• Recipes overview