Purchase units and consumption units: getting conversions right
How to set the conversion between the unit you buy in (case, crate, keg) and the unit you consume in (gram, litre, piece) so stock and food cost stay accurate.
Almost every stock and food cost error starts with a wrong conversion: the supplier invoices a case, the kitchen uses grams. In the product card you set once how much a purchase unit is worth in consumption units, and from then on receipts, recipes and inventories all speak the same language.
The two units on a product card
The purchase unit is the one printed on the supplier document (case, crate, keg, pack). The consumption unit is the one used in the kitchen and in recipes (gram, millilitre, piece). The conversion factor states how many consumption units one purchase unit contains.
- Purchase unit: how you buy
- Consumption unit: how you use
- Conversion factor: consumption units per purchase unit
- Unit price: calculated by Klyra on the consumption unit
How it affects stock value
When you confirm a receipt, Klyra converts the purchased quantity into consumption units and updates stock. If the factor is wrong, stock ends up ten or a thousand times off and every later report inherits the error.
Net weight and gross weight
For products sold by weight, always enter the usable net weight, not the packaging weight. If a 6 kg case holds 5.4 kg of drained product, that is the figure that makes food cost believable.
Changing the conversion with open stock
Changing the factor on a product that already has active batches changes how future quantities are converted, but does not rewrite history. If the conversion was wrong, fix the factor and then realign stock with a stock count or a recorded adjustment.
What this guide covers
- purchase unit
- consumption unit
- conversion factor
- net weight
- food cost
- wrong stock level
Steps
- Open the product catalogue and the product card
- Set the purchase unit shown by the supplier
- Set the consumption unit used in recipes
- Enter how many consumption units one purchase unit contains
- Check the unit price calculated after saving
- Record a test receipt and check the resulting stock
Common issues
- Stock is a thousand times too high → grams were entered where kilograms were needed → fix the consumption unit and adjust stock
- A recipe's food cost is tiny → the conversion factor is too large → recheck how many consumption units a pack really holds
- The unit price does not match the invoice → the supplier changed pack format → update the factor before the next receipt
- Two similar products give different costs → one uses gross and one uses net weight → apply the same rule across the catalogue
Frequently asked questions
Can I use different units for the same product in different recipes?
No: a recipe always uses the consumption unit from the product card. If you need another measure, express it in that same consumption unit.
What happens if I change the conversion factor?
Future conversions use the new value; movements already recorded stay as they are. Realign stock with a count or an adjustment.
The supplier delivers variable weights, what should I do?
Set the consumption unit by weight and enter the actual delivered weight on the receipt instead of a fixed number of packs.
Should I enter net weight or packaged weight?
Always the usable net weight: it is the only one that keeps recipe costing reliable.
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