Requirements checklist
What to ask for when choosing software for bakeries.
A checklist built from how bakeries work, to print or save as a PDF and bring to any supplier meeting.
What the software should cover
Tick each one that matters to your business.
- Cake order book with design notes
- Daily production plan
- Counter billing with tax
- Batch, shelf life and wastage
- Raw material stock and recipes
- Early and late shift roster
Roles that need their own access
Who logs in, and what each person may see or change.
- For owners
- For head bakers
- For counter staff
- For store and purchase teams
Reports to ask for
Ask to see each one with your own sample data.
- Sales by product, by outlet and by hour of the day
- Wastage and unsold stock by product and by day
- Custom cake orders due today and this week
- Café, hotel and canteen dues outstanding
- Ingredient use against bake quantities
- Supplier deliveries that arrived short or late
- Batch log by date, product and baker
Systems it may need to connect to
Note which ones you already run.
- Accounting export
- SMS
- Payment links and gateways
Questions for any vendor
Put these to every supplier you are comparing.
- Can it plan tomorrow’s production from orders?
- How does it handle custom cake orders?
- Can we see wastage and the margin on each product?
- Does it take food-delivery app orders, or print a kitchen order ticket?
- What happens at the counter if the internet goes down?
- What batch and food-safety records does it keep?
- Does it connect to our accounting software?
- What happens to our item list and wholesale customers?
- Who owns the sales and customer data?
- What does it cost?
- How soon can the ovens and counter run on it?
- What does the bakery need to have ready first?
Where the work usually breaks today
Circle the ones you recognise. They set the order of the project.
- Custom cake orders are missed
- Production is planned by estimate
- Wastage is not counted
- Raw material runs out mid-bake
Prefer to talk it through? See the bakeries page.