A stock transfer between sites only works when one record moves the stock out of the sending site and into the receiving site at the same time, at an agreed cost, with both managers signing it off. Spreadsheets, WhatsApp messages and paper notes rarely manage that. They capture one end, late, at a guessed value.
The result is more than messy admin. It means wrong GP% at site level, stocktake variances nobody can explain, and managers coached on numbers that were never theirs. This guide sets out a four-step process any UK multi-site group can run, and shows where software removes the manual work.
A stock transfer is any movement of stock between two locations you own. It is not a purchase and it is not a sale. A pub lends a keg to a sister venue before a big match. A flagship sends prepped sauces to a newer site. A group moves slow-selling wine to the venue where it actually sells.
Each of these changes the stock value at two sites. If only one side is recorded, both sites' figures stay wrong until the next stocktake exposes the gap. Transfers from a central production unit follow the same logic but add production and yield. We cover that model in our guide to commissary kitchen stock control.
Group GP% can look healthy while every individual site figure is wrong. Unrecorded transfers are one of the most common causes.
Illustrative example (figures are hypothetical). Site A sends £180 of salmon to Site B on a Friday. Nobody updates the shared sheet, and Site B never logs the delivery. Site A takes £20,000 in food sales against £6,000 of true cost of sales, a 70.0% GP. The salmon simply vanished from its stockroom, so its recorded cost rises to £6,180 and GP falls to 69.1%.
Site B takes £18,000 against £5,400 of true cost, also 70.0% GP. It used salmon it never paid for, so its recorded cost drops to £5,220 and GP rises to 71.0%. The group total is unchanged. Yet one manager now looks like a waste problem and the other looks like a star. Neither is true.
Repeat that every week across five or ten sites and your site league table stops meaning anything. You end up coaching the wrong manager and missing the real leak.
The cost goes beyond distorted reports. When sites cannot see each other's stock, one venue buys an item that another venue is about to bin. According to WRAP (hospitality and food service sector guidance, accessed September 2026), food waste costs the UK hospitality and food service sector £3.2 billion a year, an average of around £10,000 per outlet.
Transfers do not explain all of that. But surplus that could have moved to a sister site, and spoils instead, is one of the most avoidable parts. There is a time cost too. Someone at head office spends hours each period chasing transfer notes, matching them to stocktakes and arguing about who owns a variance.
For a quick baseline, run a few of your highest-volume dishes through our free food cost calculator for each site. Large GP% gaps on the same dish often signal that transfers, or portioning, are not being recorded consistently.
The SEND Transfer Loop is a four-step standard for every movement of stock between your sites: Specify, Endorse, Note on arrival, Dual-post. Each step closes a gap that spreadsheets leave open. If a transfer skips a step, it is not finished.
The receiving site raises the request, not the sender. It names the item, the quantity and the unit used at stocktake. "Two boxes of chicken" is not a specification. "10 kg diced chicken thigh, counted in kg" is. Matching the stocktake unit prevents the case-versus-each errors that create phantom variance.
The sending site's manager approves the request before anything leaves the building. Approval stops a busy site giving away stock it needs for tonight's service. It also creates accountability, because every transfer has a named requester and a named approver.
The receiving site checks the goods in and confirms the quantity that arrived, not the quantity requested. Short or damaged items are recorded there and then. Most manual processes skip this step, and it is where most transfer variance hides.
Once accepted, the transfer must leave one site's stock and enter the other's in a single action, at one agreed cost. Agree the costing rule with finance once, for example the sending site's latest purchase price, and apply it to every transfer. Consistency matters more than the method you choose.
The difference is not effort. It is whether each control point in the SEND Transfer Loop happens by design or by luck.
|
Control point |
Spreadsheet or messaging |
System-recorded transfer |
|
Request |
Verbal, text or WhatsApp, often with no record |
Raised in the system with item, quantity and unit |
|
Approval |
Rarely formal, depends on who is on shift |
Approved at one location before stock moves |
|
Receipt |
Often assumed, not checked |
Accepted at the receiving location |
|
Stock update |
Two files updated by hand, often only one |
Deducted at one site and added at the other automatically |
|
Timing |
Logged hours or days later |
Updated when the transfer is accepted |
|
Site GP% accuracy |
Distorted until the next stocktake |
Site stock reflects the movement |
|
Head-office view |
Chased by email at period end |
Visible across sites from one dashboard |
Use these seven steps to turn the SEND Transfer Loop into a group standard.
|
"We stopped arguing about variance the week transfers had to be accepted at the other end. Before that, every stocktake meeting started with someone saying they never received it." Illustrative quote, written to show a typical multi-site scenario. It is not a customer testimonial. |
StockTake Online's transfer between locations feature follows the same loop. A site requests stock from another location. The request is approved at one location and accepted at the other. Stock is then deducted from one site and added to the other automatically, so nobody updates two files. Managers can also see which items are available at which locations before raising a supplier order.
Transfers sit inside the same restaurant stock control software as counts and ordering, so they feed your reporting. Head office can compare GP% and variance across every site from one dashboard, while each site manager sees only their own location. It runs on any phone, tablet or browser, with no hardware.
StockTake Online customers save up to 4 to 6 hours of senior staff time a week. That is time your operations team can put back into the sites.
Start small and measure. First, use the calculator to compare the same dish across two sites. Then map how transfers move today: who asks, who approves, who checks, and where it gets written down. Any step with no owner is where your variance lives.
When you are ready to see requests, approvals and automatic stock updates working across your own sites, book a demo and bring last period's transfer notes.
Key takeaways
Frequently asked questions
How do I record a stock transfer between two restaurant sites? Record it as one movement with two ends. The receiving site requests the item, quantity and unit, the sending site approves it, and the receiving site confirms what arrived. The stock should then leave one site's records and enter the other's in the same step, at an agreed cost.
What cost should a transfer between sites be valued at? Use one rule across the group and agree it with your finance team. Many operators use the sending site's latest purchase price or its average cost. The method matters less than applying it consistently, so site GP% comparisons stay fair.
Why does my group GP% look fine when individual sites swing? Unrecorded or one-sided transfers move cost from one site to another without changing the group total. One site looks worse than reality and another looks better. Recording both ends of every transfer at the same time removes that distortion.
Is a commissary delivery the same as a transfer between sites? It follows the same principle but adds production and yield. Peer transfers move finished stock between venues. A central kitchen converts ingredients into prepped items first, so it also needs recipe and production tracking.
Can managers handle transfers from a phone? Yes. In StockTake Online, managers can handle ordering, counts and approvals from the app on a phone or tablet, as well as in a browser. To see how mobile counting feels first, try the free stocktake app.