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How to Track Expenses and Inventory

HandyCafe Server includes tools for recording business expenses, managing your supplier directory, and tracking inventory purchases. This guide covers each of these workflows step by step.

How to Record a Business Expense

Expenses represent any cost your business incurs. Track rent, utilities, equipment purchases, software subscriptions, and any other outgoing payments.

What you will need

  • HandyCafe Server running.
  • Admin or owner-level access.
  • The expense details: title, amount, vendor name, and due date.

Steps

  1. Click Expenses in the left sidebar of the HandyCafe Server application.
  2. Click the Add button to create a new expense record.
  3. Enter a Title that clearly describes the expense. For example: "Electricity Bill - April 2026."
  4. Enter the Amount in your local currency.
  5. Enter the Vendor name. For example: "City Power Company." This is the business or person you owe the payment to.
  6. Set the Due Date for when the payment is due. Optionally, if the expense is already paid, check the Paid toggle and enter the Paid Date. Click Save.

Expected result

The expense appears in the expense list. Unpaid expenses are highlighted so you can quickly see what is outstanding. The total expense amount is included in your financial reporting.

Common mistakes

  • Not entering a clear, descriptive title. "Miscellaneous" tells you nothing when reviewing expenses months later. Be specific.
  • Forgetting to update the paid status after making a payment. Your unpaid balance will appear higher than it actually is.

How to View Unpaid Expenses

Quickly filter to see only the expenses that have not been paid yet.

What you will need

  • At least one expense recorded in the system.

Steps

  1. Navigate to the Expenses page.
  2. Click the Unpaid filter tab at the top of the expense list.
  3. The list now shows only expenses where the paid status is unchecked.

Expected result

A filtered view showing exclusively unpaid expenses. Use this to prioritize upcoming payments and ensure nothing falls through the cracks.

How to Mark an Expense as Paid

When you make a payment, update the record to reflect it.

What you will need

  • An existing unpaid expense in the system.

Steps

  1. Navigate to the Expenses page.
  2. Locate the expense you have paid. Click on it to open the detail view.
  3. Click the Mark Paid button or toggle the paid status to on.
  4. The paid date is set automatically to today. Adjust it if the actual payment was made on a different date.
  5. Save the changes.

Expected result

The expense moves from the Unpaid filter to the Paid filter. Your unpaid balance decreases by the marked amount.

How to Add a Supplier

Suppliers are the businesses you purchase goods and services from. Maintaining a supplier directory lets you quickly associate purchases with the right vendor.

What you will need

  • Supplier contact information: name, phone, email, address.
  • Optional: payment terms, tax ID.

Steps

  1. Click Stock in the left sidebar and switch to the Suppliers tab.
  2. Click the New Supplier button to create a new supplier record.
  3. Enter the Name of the supplier. For example: "TechParts Wholesale."
  4. Enter the Contact Person name if you have a specific point of contact at the supplier.
  5. Fill in the Phone Number and Email Address.
  6. Enter the Address for the supplier's business location.
  7. Optionally enter Payment Terms (such as "Net 30" or "Due on receipt") and the supplier's Tax ID for your accounting records.
  8. Click Save.

Expected result

The supplier appears in your supplier directory. You can now reference this supplier when recording inventory purchases.

Common mistakes

  • Creating duplicate supplier entries with slightly different names (for example "TechParts" and "Tech Parts Wholesale"). Search the existing list before adding a new supplier.
  • Leaving the contact fields empty. When you need to reorder or dispute an invoice, you will need this information.

How to Record an Inventory Purchase

Inventory purchases track what you buy for the cafe. This includes food and drinks for the snack bar, computer peripherals, cleaning supplies, and any physical goods.

What you will need

  • A supplier already added to the system (or you can add one during this process).
  • The invoice or receipt from the purchase.

Steps

  1. Click Stock in the left sidebar and switch to the Stock Receipt tab.
  2. Select or type the Supplier. If the supplier is not in the list, you can add them from the Suppliers tab first (see the supplier section above).
  3. Enter the Invoice No and the Invoice Date from the supplier's invoice. This links the receipt to a specific purchase document.
  4. Click Add line for each item on the invoice.
  5. Scan or type the Barcode or pick the Product by name. An item that is not in the catalog yet can be added as a new product directly from the line.
  6. Enter the Quantity purchased and the Purchase price for a single unit. Optionally enter a Discount and the VAT rate from the invoice.
  7. Repeat for every line, then review the subtotal, discount, VAT and grand total.
  8. Click Save.

Expected result

The receipt is recorded with the totals calculated automatically. Stock levels of every product on the receipt increase by the received quantities. A purchase movement appears in each product's movement history. The receipt appears in Receipt history.

Common mistakes

  • Entering the total cost in the purchase price field instead of the per-unit price. If you bought 24 cans for $36 total, the purchase price should be $1.50, not $36.
  • Skipping the invoice number. The receipt cannot be saved without it and you would lose the trace back to the original purchase document.

How to Track Product Stock Levels

Stock levels change as you sell items through the order system and add new inventory.

What you will need

  • Products configured in the Products page.
  • Orders being processed through the system.

How stock changes work

  • Automatic decrement on sale: When a cashier processes an order that includes a product, the system automatically reduces the stock count for that product by the sold quantity.
  • Automatic increment on receipt: Saving a stock receipt increases the stock of every product on it by the received quantity. No separate update step is needed.
  • Manual adjustment: For spoilage, breakage or corrections, use the Fix stock, Waste and Count actions on the Stock Status tab of the Stock page. Every change lands in the product's movement history.

Steps to check current stock levels

  1. Click Stock in the left sidebar and switch to the Stock Status tab.
  2. Review the list. Each product shows its stock, threshold, last movement and stock value.
  3. Use the Critical only filter to see products at or below their threshold. Set thresholds with Edit threshold.
  4. Open any product's movement history to see the date, reason, change, resulting level and cashier for every stock change.

Expected result

A clear view of what is in stock and what needs reordering. Products that have been sold down to low levels are easy to spot.

Common mistakes

  • Not recording waste or breakage. If a can of soda is dropped and cannot be sold, record it with the Waste action. Otherwise your actual count will not match the system count.
  • Forgetting to enter a stock receipt after receiving a shipment. The system only knows about inventory that is entered. Physical stock on your shelf that is not recorded in the system creates a mismatch.
  • Relying solely on automatic tracking without periodic physical counts. Even the best tracking system drifts over time. Do a physical count weekly and record it with the Count action on the Stock Status tab.