Counter sales and custom orders
A walk-in buying two pastries and a customer ordering a two-kilo cake for Saturday need different handling. The first is a thirty-second bill; the second is an order with a date, a specification, an advance and a final bill. Recording the order properly — flavour, weight, message, delivery date — is what prevents the call on Saturday morning asking what exactly was agreed.
Advances against orders
Custom orders are taken with part payment days ahead, and a slip in a drawer is how a shop ends up disputing the balance on collection. An advance recorded against the party is set off automatically when the final bill is raised, so the amount due on the day is correct and both sides can see how it was arrived at.
Production against sales
Bread, biscuit and pastry are produced each morning to a guess, and the guess is right or expensive. The movement report over the last few weeks shows what actually sold by day of the week, which is a far better basis than memory — Saturdays and Sundays behave differently, and so do the days around a festival. Over a month that changes what gets baked.
The number to watch
Unsold stock as a share of what was produced. Bakery output has a shelf life of days, so what does not sell is a straight loss rather than inventory. Recording it as a stock adjustment with the reason turns a vague sense of waste into a figure you can act on — and it usually points at one or two items rather than a general problem.