Bakery Software
It is the age of computers, and even if all you are making is muffins, you probably need bakery software. Here are the most popular bakery software packages available, how much they cost and what features they have. You should get ready for a bit of sticker shock, though... even simple bakery software can run $1700 or more.
Low Cost Bakery Management Software
Because full-fledged bakery software is so expensive, unless you have $30,000 in capital to set up your new bakery, you may want to skip bakery-specific software entirely. There is a cheaper solution. You get yourself a copy of Quickbooks software, which is used by tens of thousands of businesses across the US and the world, and then you get yourself a copy of Tasty Profits: Guide to QuickBooks for Restaurants.
There used to be a Quickbooks version for bakeries, but it is no longer available. This book will show you how to customize Quickbooks for a small bakery. Quickbooks itself costs about $130 to $240 depending on which version you get. Mac users may be so unhappy with Quickbooks, though that they decide to look elsewhere.. the Mac version is a sad shadow of the PC edition.
The problem with using Quickbooks, though it is so affordable, and so widely supported and used by accountants and CPAs (they will roll their eyes at you if you aren't using Quickbooks), is that there are some fundamental bakery functions and realities that the software does not account for. Like the concept of waste in production, which all bakeries have to deal with and, if possible, should be tracking. There is also no concept of byproducts in Quickbooks, so, for example, breadcrumbs made from day-old bread are hard to set up in the system.
Tracking by recipe is also a real headache, because Quickbooks is not setup to understand and accomodate for one recipe creating multiple items. So you have to track inventory by setting up the recipe volumes for one item. For example, a recipe that makes a baker's dozen of muffins would have to be recorded with each ingredient being 1/13th of what the actual recipe calls for. How to you really measure and track one thirteenth of pinch? Many people just skip the production calculations altogether and simply track inventory and cost of goods sold.
If you are truly broke, and even spending $130 for Quickbooks is out of the question, you can get by with just using Microsoft Excel spreadsheets. The nice thing about them is that you get to design your whole tracking system, and if you have even modest Excel skills you can create pretty effective inventory systems for tracking. Its nothing near even a Quickbooks solution, but if you are a no budget to a low budget startup, just use Excel for now. You won't be the first new bakery owner to get by with just Excel for the first year of business.
No Cost Bakery Management Software
If you are so totally broke that you don't even have a copy of Excel, there is a free option. Go to Google Docs and get a free account. Then you can use the free Google Docs spreadsheet software, which is basically a slimmed down version of Excel. There's an added benefit to Google Docs, too: You can have a second or a third user for each spreadsheet. So if your partner or store manager needs to access a file and they can't get into your computer, you can give them access to the spreadsheet, and then they can make and save changes. And its all completely free. All you need is an internet connection and a computer in your bakery.
Continue reading about bakery software, specifically the real, higher-priced bakery management software packages.
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Startup Costs for a Home Bakery
Startup Costs for a Retail Bakery
Licenses and Permits Required to Start a Bakery
Create a Great Bakery Storefront
Developing a Bakery Brand Identity
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