Excel vs. BarBrain – Which Solution Is Better for Your Inventory?

Excel turns inventory into a DIY project: you can configure many things, but you are responsible for every step yourself. BarBrain takes this work off the hospitality operator – from data capture to evaluation. The comparison shows that BarBrain scores particularly in terms of user-friendliness and reliability, whilst Excel may not incur software costs but brings inherent inefficiencies.

Practical Comparison: From Excel Chaos to Smart Inventory

Let us look at two real-world situations:

• Inventory with Excel: A restaurant without a dedicated inventory system has developed an extensive Excel spreadsheet over the years. It contains multiple worksheets: one for beverages, one for food, one for consumables. On inventory day, the manager prints all Excel lists so the team can carry out the count – nobody wants to take expensive laptops into a damp cellar, and using Excel on a tablet is cumbersome. Everyone writes their results on paper to transfer them later into the file. After all numbers have been painstakingly typed in, the manager notices something must be wrong: the sum formula shows a negative stock level. The search begins – perhaps a typo? After some time, a duplicate entry is found and corrected. A staff member suggests counting directly on the tablet next time to skip the typing. Said and done – but it turns out that working in parallel is difficult: only one person can edit the spreadsheet at a time to avoid conflicts. So it comes down to counting one after the other rather than in parallel. Eventually an inventory list is produced with considerable effort. Further evaluations (e.g. shrinkage compared to theoretical usage based on sales) are either not included in the Excel template or outdated because nobody maintains the complex formulas. The insight gained from the inventory remains minimal, apart from an absolute stock list.
  
  
• Inventory with BarBrain: That it can be done differently is shown by the introduction of BarBrain in this restaurant. The entire Excel product catalogue was transferred once to the app by the BarBrain team, including all items and units. On the day of the inventory, the manager and two staff members open the BarBrain app on their devices. Each selects a storage area (bar, kitchen, stockroom) and begins capturing simultaneously. Nobody needs to worry about formulas or spreadsheet structure – the app guides them through the process. While the manager scans the spirits shelf and enters fill levels via the slider, the chef counts the pantry. Data flows into a single inventory list in real time. When the last shelf has been counted, the manager taps “Complete inventory”. Immediately, BarBrain generates a comprehensive report: he can now see not only the current stock levels but also the changes since the last inventory. The stock valuation is also available at the press of a button, making life easier for the financial accountant. The manager’s conclusion: inventory has shrunk from an Excel “monster” to a lean routine. The time the team needs has noticeably decreased, and the figures are trustworthy.
  
  

“Since introducing BarBrain, our inventories have become not only faster but also more accurate.” Particularly the precise capture of opened bottles, which was always guesswork in Excel, has significantly improved stock control.