Log waste
Log waste records the food you throw out, with a reason for each item, and by default takes it out of stock. Spoiled, broken or dropped stock never shows up on a receipt or a prep log. Without a waste entry, that loss appears as unexplained shrinkage in your reports instead of in the waste report.
The cart workflow
The Log waste screen is cart-based — add items incrementally, review, submit:
Go to Log waste.
Pick a product, enter a quantity in the product's counting unit, and pick a reason. Tap Add to waste log.
- Repeat for as many items as you need to log.
- Review the cart. Adjust or remove rows.
- Tap Log N items to record the entire batch as one waste log.
One waste log can contain multiple line items, all dated together. Use one log per "waste event" — the morning spoilage walk, the broken dish, the over-baked tray.
Waste reasons
Each line item picks one reason:
| Reason | Use for |
|---|---|
| Expired | Past expiration date, found during spoilage walk |
| Spoiled | Spoiled before expiration (bad batch, fridge failure) |
| Damaged | Crushed, broken, contaminated container |
| Overprep | Prep that didn't get served and can't be saved |
| Dropped | Physical accidents on the line |
| Contaminated | Cross-contamination, allergen exposure, hair |
| Other | Anything else — be specific in the notes field |
The reason drives the waste analysis report (Standard+) — picking the right reason makes the report useful. Every role can open that report, Staff included, from Reports or from View full report on the waste history page. Knowing why food goes in the bin is where cutting waste starts: the EPA's Wasted Food Scale puts preventing wasted food in its most preferred tier, with donation and upcycling.
Prepped food past the discard date on its label goes under Expired. Health departments use the FDA Food Code as a model for their own rules, including date marking for ready-to-eat food.
Should I deduct the waste or log it as record only?
Deduct the waste when the loss happened after your last count. Log it as record only when a count taken since then already shows the loss. By default, logging waste deducts the quantity from inventory. There's a toggle to disable that.
Use record only when:
- You're logging historical waste after the deduction already happened — for example, you forgot to log waste a week ago and have since taken a new inventory count. The new count already reflects the loss; logging deduction now would double-count it.
- You're documenting waste for paperwork (insurance, compliance) without wanting Rinvy to touch stock.
Use the default (deduct) for waste that's happening right now — the count was taken yesterday, you saw spoilage today, and you want today's stock to reflect it.
Products stored in more than one place
If a product has extra places, the line shows Taken from. Pick the place where the waste came from. If you leave the picker on the home storage area, Rinvy takes the waste from there. A record-only log does not show the picker, because it does not change stock.
Optional fields
- Logged on (defaults to today). Override if you're back-dating. It can't be a future date. A back-dated log takes the waste out of the stock you had on that date, and every later entry moves down with it until the next count after that date.
- Notes — useful for "Other" reasons and for audit trails.
What happens after submit
- A waste log is created with all the line items.
- For each item with deduction enabled, an inventory transaction is recorded.
- Waste appears on the activity feed (red-coded), in the waste history, and in the waste analysis report.
- Each line keeps the product's cost at the moment you logged it. The waste report prices the loss at that cost, so a later price change never reprices old waste.
Rinvy refuses a deducting log that takes more than the stock on hand on the waste date, with a message such as "Ground Beef only has 20 in stock." Lines for the same product are added together for this check. A record-only log skips it. Products tracked by status (OK, Low, Out) can't be logged as waste at all.
Common mistakes
Picking the wrong reason
"Other" should be a last resort. If you can't distinguish between Expired and Spoiled, pick whichever is closer — the waste analysis report uses these to surface patterns.
Entering the quantity in the wrong unit
The quantity is always in the product's counting unit, which shows beside the box. You can't change it on this screen. If a product is counted by the case and you threw out 2 lb, don't enter 2 — that removes 2 whole cases. Enter the part of a case you lost instead, for example 0.1 for 2 lb of a 20 lb case.
Forgetting record-only for historical waste
If you've already counted since the waste happened, you must use record-only — otherwise the deduction is applied to current stock, which is already correct. Current stock then ends up below what is on the shelf, which can trigger false low-stock alerts.
Logging a supplier credit or short as waste
You didn't spoil it — the supplier never delivered it, or took it back. Record it as a Short, Credit, or Return line on a receipt instead, so the money lands on your purchases rather than your waste line.
Logging spoilage walks as one big 'Other'
The spoilage walk usually surfaces a mix — some expired, some spoiled, maybe a damaged container. Break them into separate line items with the right reason. The report can't help if everything is labeled "Other".