This is version 1.0 of the inventory model, and it's published: these weights are final. The table below is generated from the model itself, so its weights are always the ones we use.
We score what a restaurant gets out of the tool every week:
- Cost for one restaurant. What the cheapest plan that both counts inventory and costs recipes costs one location over a year, plus the charges every restaurant pays (setup, connecting the POS). Optional extras, like a second user or a scale, are shown, not added, and a price that isn't published counts as missing, never as zero. A cheaper plan that only reads invoices isn't used, because it doesn't do the same job.
- What it does. Inventory counts, recipe costing, comparing actual with theoretical food cost, capturing supplier invoices (and whether scanning has a monthly cap), purchase orders, paying suppliers and bar inventory by weight or pour.
- POS and accounting. Which POS systems the vendor itself lists as integrated, whether it only works with one POS, and which accounting systems it exports to.
- Size. The smallest number of locations the vendor sells to. It's shown and weighs little; it never takes a vendor out of the catalog.
- Contract and support. The initial term, what leaving early costs, the notice to avoid a renewal, the live support channels and whether setup help is included. Every vendor gets the same contract template, and being billed monthly isn't the same as committing month to month.
In the Spanish edition of this site, the Spanish-language criteria count too: the app or dashboard, support, the help center and the website in Spanish. In this English edition they aren't part of the score.
Invoice and accounts payable tools and supplier ordering apps are listed, not scored. Third-party ratings, promotions and anything commercial never count toward the score. A tool needs enough verified data before it enters any ranking.
Criteria and weights
Spanish-language criteria count only in the Spanish edition
These criteria count only in the Spanish edition of this site: app or dashboard in Spanish, support in Spanish, help center in Spanish, and website in Spanish for the US. In this English edition they aren't part of the score, and the weights in the table add up to 100% without them. So an inventory tool can have a different RTC Score in each edition.
Listed, not scored
Invoices and accounts payable and Ordering from suppliers: we list these products with the same template and sources, but we don't score them. They're bought differently, usually by quote, or they serve other platforms.
| Criterion | Pillar | Weight | What we measure | How it's scored |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12-month software cost (reference restaurant) | Cost | 24% | 12-month software cost | 12-month software cost of the reference restaurant: full score at $1,500, zero at $6,000 |
| POS integrations | POS and accounting | 8% | POS integrations | By option: Toast → 1.4/10; Square → 1.4/10; Clover → 1.4/10; Shift4 POS → 1.4/10; Lightspeed → 1.4/10; SpotOn → 1.4/10; Heartland (Genius) → 1.4/10; TouchBistro → 0/10; PAR → 0/10; Others → 0/10 |
| Inventory counts | What it does | 7% | Inventory counts | By option: Included → 10/10; On a higher plan or add-on → 4/10; Not offered → 0/10 |
| Recipe costing | What it does | 7% | Recipe costing | By option: Included → 10/10; On a higher plan or add-on → 4/10; Not offered → 0/10 |
| Actual vs. theoretical food cost | What it does | 7% | Actual vs. theoretical food cost | By option: Included → 10/10; On a higher plan or add-on → 4/10; Not offered → 0/10 |
| Supplier invoice capture | What it does | 7% | Supplier invoice capture | By option: Scanning included without a published cap → 10/10; Scanning with a monthly cap → 7/10; On a higher plan or add-on → 4/10; Manual entry only → 2/10; Not offered → 0/10 |
| Published pricing | Cost | 6% | Published pricing | By option: Published → 10/10; Partly published → 5/10; Quote only → 0/10 |
| Initial term | Contract and exit | 6% | Initial term | By steps: Up to 11 months → 10/10; 12–23 months → 6/10; 24–35 months → 3/10; 36 months or more → 0/10 |
| Sells to a single location | Size and users | 4% | Minimum locations | By steps: Up to 1 → 10/10; 2 → 5/10; 3–4 → 2.5/10; 5 or more → 0/10 |
| Live support channels | Setup and support | 4% | Live support channels | By option: Phone → 4/10; Chat → 4/10; Email or tickets → 2/10 |
| Purchase orders to suppliers | What it does | 3% | Purchase orders to suppliers | By option: Included → 10/10; On a higher plan or add-on → 4/10; Not offered → 0/10 |
| Works with more than one POS | POS and accounting | 3% | Works with | By option: Several POS systems → 10/10; Only its own POS → 3/10; No POS connection → 0/10 |
| Accounting integrations | POS and accounting | 3% | Accounting integrations | By option: QuickBooks Online → 10/10; Xero → 10/10; Sage Intacct → 10/10; NetSuite → 10/10; Restaurant365 → 10/10; Its own accounting → 10/10; Others → 10/10 |
| Leaving early | Contract and exit | 3% | Leaving early | By option: Nothing more to pay → 10/10; A fixed amount → 5/10; Fees left in the term → 2.5/10; Another formula → 2.5/10 |
| Notice to avoid renewal | Contract and exit | 3% | Notice to avoid renewal | Linear: full score at 30 days, zero at 90 days |
| Paying suppliers (AP) | What it does | 2% | Paying suppliers (AP) | By option: Included → 10/10; On a higher plan or add-on → 4/10; Not offered → 0/10 |
| Setup help included | Setup and support | 2% | Setup help included | By option: Included → 10/10; You set it up yourself → 5/10; Paid separately → 3/10 |
| Bar inventory by weight or pour | What it does | 1% | Bar inventory by weight or pour | Yes = 10/10, No = 0/10 |
The formula
Each criterion gives a partial score from 0 to 1. The RTC Score is 10 × the weighted average of the criteria we could verify, reduced when data is missing: × (1 − 0.5 × (1 − completeness)). Completeness is the share of the total weight we could verify.
Below 60% completeness, an inventory tool is marked as not having enough data and isn't ranked. That check always uses the base weights, so a ranking by type of restaurant never includes a tool the overall ranking leaves out. A price the vendor doesn't publish counts as missing: it lowers completeness, and with too little data the tool isn't ranked.
Reference profile for cost
Reference: one restaurant, one person with an account, 12 months: 1 location(s), 1 people with an account and 0 screen(s) per location, over 12 months.
Assumptions behind the cost criteria
- The cost adds the cheapest plan that covers the reference restaurant (priced per account, location, user or screen), the monthly and yearly fees, usage fees (per guest, text message or invoice) and one-time setup and hardware.
- Optional add-ons are shown on each pricing page but not added. A module the reference restaurant always needs is added.
- A price the provider doesn't publish never counts as $0: the estimate stays incomplete and the cost criterion counts as missing.
- Promotions, like free months, are never taken off the cost and never count in the score.
Weights by type of restaurant
Rankings by type of restaurant multiply some weights. The overall ranking always uses the base weights.
| Type of restaurant | Adjustments |
|---|---|
| Independent restaurants | 12-month software cost (reference restaurant) ×1.25 · Initial term ×1.25 · Sells to a single location ×2 · Setup help included ×1.5 · Purchase orders to suppliers ×0.75 · Paying suppliers (AP) ×0.5 |
| Bars and nightclubs | Bar inventory by weight or pour ×6 · Actual vs. theoretical food cost ×1.25 · Recipe costing ×0.75 |
| Multi-location | 12-month software cost (reference restaurant) ×0.75 · Sells to a single location ×0 · Purchase orders to suppliers ×2 · Paying suppliers (AP) ×2 · Accounting integrations ×2 |
What never affects a score
Commissions, affiliate deals, sponsorships and price requests. The scoring engine has no access to them, and every vendor gets the same rubric.
Changelog
v1.0.0 ·
Published version. The weights of the 0.1.0 draft are now final, so no score changes with this version. This section is no longer a draft.
v0.1.0 ·
First draft for food cost and inventory software. The score covers the 12-month software cost for one restaurant (30%), what the tool does: inventory counts, recipe costing, actual vs. theoretical food cost, invoice capture, purchase orders and supplier payments (34%), POS and accounting integrations (14%), the minimum number of locations (4%), contract terms (12%) and setup and support (6%). In the Spanish edition, Spanish-language criteria (app, support, help center and website in Spanish) count for 10% and every other weight is scaled by 0.9. Invoice-only and supplier ordering tools are listed, not scored. Third-party ratings and promotions don't count toward the score. Weights are pending external validation.