Short answer: file every supplier invoice as it arrives, compare unit prices to the last order, and flag any rise the same week. Then decide: absorb, substitute or reprice. Most venues find two or three rises a month they didn't know about.
Why it hides
Invoices go to the bookkeeper's folder. The total looks normal because volume moved. The unit price of milk, coffee or chicken went up 6 percent and nobody compared.
The flag
Supplier invoices filed by the inbox module or by hand; unit prices compared to the last invoice from the same supplier; rises listed with the annualised cost at your volume; menu items that use the line flagged for a price review.
The decision
Absorb it (rarely), substitute the product, negotiate with the supplier (the history is now in front of you), or reprice the menu item. The morning check carries the flag; you make the call.
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Written by Christian Stewart, Stewart Systems, Wollongong. Published 2026-09-29. Records and flags, not legal, WHS or insurance advice; rules change, check the regulator for the current one.