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Inventory and food cost software review

Yellow Dog Inventory

Inventory, recipe costing and actual vs. theoretical food cost for food and beverage operations, with a published single-restaurant plan at $295 a month on a two-year contract that includes setup, one POS connector and unlimited scanned invoices.

By Yellow Dog Software

RTC SCORE

7.4

#6 of 11 with enough data

Our verdict

A complete food cost system with a published single-restaurant price that includes setup and invoice scanning. You commit for two years, and the contract terms for leaving early are not public.

What we like

  • Published price for one restaurant: $295 a month with implementation, one POS connector and unlimited scanned invoices included.
  • Inventory counts, recipe costing and actual vs. theoretical food cost, with purchase orders, transfers and commissary tools.
  • Long list of POS connectors, including Toast, Square, Clover, Shift4 POS, Lightspeed and PAR Brink.
  • Unlimited users and free mobile apps; bar scale integrations for counting liquor.

What to watch

  • The single-restaurant plan carries a two-year contract, and the software agreement (renewal, notice and early exit) is not public.
  • Restaurant POS connectors are 1-way, and only one is included in the published plan.
  • Live help desk is weekdays only, 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Eastern; nights and weekends are emergency support.

How the score breaks down

RTC Score7.4out of 10

Methodology v1.0.0

Data completeness94%

We could verify 94% of the scoring data

Strongest points
12-month software cost (reference restaurant), Inventory counts, Recipe costing
Weakest point
12-month software cost (reference restaurant)

Score by criterion

  • 12-month software cost (reference restaurant)Weight 24%StrongestWeakest5.5 out of 10

    $3,540 over 12 months

  • POS integrationsWeight 8%7.1 out of 10
  • Inventory countsWeight 7%Strongest10.0 out of 10
  • Recipe costingWeight 7%Strongest10.0 out of 10
  • Actual vs. theoretical food costWeight 7%10.0 out of 10
  • Supplier invoice captureWeight 7%10.0 out of 10
  • Published pricingWeight 6%5.0 out of 10
  • Initial termWeight 6%3.0 out of 10
  • Sells to a single locationWeight 4%10.0 out of 10
  • Live support channelsWeight 4%10.0 out of 10
  • Purchase orders to suppliersWeight 3%10.0 out of 10
  • Works with more than one POSWeight 3%10.0 out of 10
  • Accounting integrationsWeight 3%10.0 out of 10
  • Leaving earlyWeight 3%No data
  • Notice to avoid renewalWeight 3%No data
  • Paying suppliers (AP)Weight 2%0.0 out of 10
  • Setup help includedWeight 2%10.0 out of 10
  • Bar inventory by weight or pourWeight 1%10.0 out of 10

All the data, with sources

Each value links to its source. "Not published" means the vendor doesn't disclose it; "Unconfirmed" means we looked and couldn't confirm it. Data points we have for fewer than four vendors are left out until we can compare them.

Pricing
Data pointValue
Monthly price (full food cost)$295/moSource: Yellow Dog Software (opens in a new tab)Plan for a single food and beverage restaurant. Groups and larger operations are priced by quote, by number of outlets and items.
Charged perLocationSource: Yellow Dog Software (opens in a new tab)
Billing optionsMonthlySource: Yellow Dog Software (opens in a new tab)Billed monthly, but with a two-year commitment.
Invoice-only planN/ASource: Yellow Dog Software (opens in a new tab)Yellow Dog does not sell an invoice-only plan; invoice scanning comes in the restaurant plan.
Published pricingPartly publishedSource: Yellow Dog Software (opens in a new tab)The single-restaurant plan has a published price; everything else is by quote.
Setup or onboarding fee$0 one-timeSource: Yellow Dog Software (opens in a new tab)Implementation and installation are included in the single-restaurant plan.
POS connection fee$0/moSource: Yellow Dog Software (opens in a new tab)One 1-way POS connector is included. Yellow Dog says some POS partners may require you to buy the software through their app marketplace.
Other chargesOptional data services (invoice processing, item setup, recipe setup) at $25 an hour in 15-minute increments ($50 an hour for rush work), with a $100 initial invoice to start them. Bar scales and handhelds are sold separately.Source: Yellow Dog Software (opens in a new tab)
What it does
Data pointValue
Main jobInventory, recipes and invoicesSource: Yellow Dog Software (opens in a new tab)Counts, recipes, purchasing and supplier invoices (EDI and scanned) in one system.
Inventory countsIncludedSource: Yellow Dog Software (opens in a new tab)
Recipe costingIncludedSource: Yellow Dog Software (opens in a new tab)
Actual vs. theoretical food costIncludedSource: Yellow Dog Software (opens in a new tab)
Supplier invoice captureScanning included without a published capSource: Yellow Dog Software (opens in a new tab)Unlimited scanned invoices (Retriever) in the single-restaurant plan, plus electronic invoices from EDI vendors.
Paying suppliers (AP)Not offeredSource: Yellow Dog Software (opens in a new tab)Yellow Dog exports invoices to your accounting system or to Ottimate, a separate AP partner; it does not pay suppliers itself.
Purchase orders to suppliersIncludedSource: Yellow Dog Software (opens in a new tab)
Bar inventory by weight or pourYesSource: Yellow Dog Software (opens in a new tab)Through bar scale integrations (Barventory, Freepour); the scales are separate products.
POS and accounting
Data pointValue
Works withSeveral POS systemsSource: Yellow Dog Software (opens in a new tab)
POS integrationsToast, Square, Clover, Shift4 POS, Lightspeed, PAR, OthersSource: Yellow Dog Software (opens in a new tab)Restaurant (F&B) connectors are 1-way; Clover and Square also appear as 2-way. Shift4 POS, PAR Brink, NCR Aloha, Heartland Restaurant, Revel, Oracle Micros and many others are listed. Yellow Dog asks you to confirm current compatibility with its sales team.
Accounting integrationsQuickBooks Online, NetSuite, Sage Intacct, OthersSource: Yellow Dog Software Help Site (opens in a new tab)File exports for QuickBooks Online and Desktop, Oracle NetSuite, Sage Intacct, Microsoft Dynamics, SAP and others, plus an API and a custom export tool.
Size and users
Data pointValue
Minimum locations1Source: Yellow Dog Software (opens in a new tab)
Users on the planUnlimitedSource: Yellow Dog Software (opens in a new tab)
Contract and exit
Data pointValue
Initial term24 monthsSource: Yellow Dog Software (opens in a new tab)Two-year contract for the single-restaurant plan, billed monthly.
Automatic renewalUnconfirmedSource: Yellow Dog Software (opens in a new tab)We looked on its pricing page, legal pages and help site; the software agreement is not public.
Notice to avoid renewalUnconfirmedSource: Yellow Dog Software (opens in a new tab)We looked on its pricing page, legal pages and help site; the software agreement is not public.
Leaving earlyUnconfirmedSource: Yellow Dog Software (opens in a new tab)We looked on its pricing page, legal pages and help site; Yellow Dog does not publish its software agreement, so what you owe if you leave before the two years is not public.
Early termination clauseUnconfirmedSource: Yellow Dog Software (opens in a new tab)We looked on its pricing page, legal pages and help site; Yellow Dog does not publish what you owe if you leave before the two-year term ends.
Right to raise pricesUnconfirmedSource: Yellow Dog Software (opens in a new tab)We looked on its pricing page, legal pages and help site; the software agreement is not public.
Your data when you leaveUnconfirmedSource: Yellow Dog Software (opens in a new tab)We looked on its pricing page, support pages and help site. Reports export to PDF, Excel and CSV while you are a customer; what happens to your data after you leave is not published.
Setup and support
Data pointValue
Setup help includedIncludedSource: Yellow Dog Software (opens in a new tab)
Live support channelsPhone, Chat, Email or ticketsSource: Yellow Dog Software (opens in a new tab)Phone support at 757-663-7514, plus tickets and chat in the customer portal.
Live support hours a week55Source: Yellow Dog Software (opens in a new tab)Help desk from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Eastern time, Monday to Friday; outside those hours there is emergency support only.
Language
Data pointValue
App or dashboard in SpanishNoSource: Yellow Dog Software (opens in a new tab)The feature list documents localization of dates, times and currency only; we found no Spanish interface on its site or help site.
Help center in SpanishNoSource: Yellow Dog Software Help Site (opens in a new tab)The help site is in English, with no Spanish version.
Support in SpanishNot publishedSource: Yellow Dog Software (opens in a new tab)Its support page does not mention support in Spanish.
Website in Spanish for the USNoSource: Yellow Dog Software (opens in a new tab)Its sitemap has no Spanish-language pages.

More about Yellow Dog Inventory

How we score