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How Units Work in Loaded

Written by Sophie Rattray

  1. Before Setting Up Your Stock

  2. Delivery Details and Supplier Set Up

  3. How Units Work in Loaded

    1. Units

    2. Units Example Table

    3. Add a Custom Unit

    4. Tips and Tricks

  4. Stock Items and Variants

  5. Build Your Recipes

  6. Link Items and Recipes to your POS

  7. Create and Cost your Menus

🔐 What You’ll Need

🔑 Stock Permissions

If you’re unable to view or edit any of the following areas, ask someone with Manager permissions to update your access.

Units

When entering stock items and recipes into Loaded, choosing the right unit category is crucial. Before we jump in, you’ll want to understand The Importance of Unit Consistency.

Loaded supports three main measurement categories:

  • Weight – e.g., kilograms, grams

  • Volume – e.g., litres, millilitres

  • Count – e.g., 24 pack, each
    ​

Best Practice Rule: Never mix these categories for a single item. Consistent units are essential to calculate cost of goods sold, stocktake usage, and recipe costs correctly.

Unit Setup Example Table

Food Type

Unit Type

Order By

Count By

POS Link / Recipe

Beer (Bottled)

Count

24 Pack

Each

Each

Beer (Tap)

Volume

30L

30L

450mL

Bread Rolls

Count

Each

Each

Each

Cider (Bottle)

Count

6 Pack

Each

Each

Dairy (Cheese)

Weight

KG

KG

50 Gram

Dairy (Milk)

Volume

2L

Litre

200mL

Dry Ingredient

Weight

Kilo

Kilo

150 Gram

Eggs

Count

30 Pack

Each

Each

Fruit

Weight

Kilo

Kilo

100 Gram

Herbs & Spices

Weight

500g

Kilo

15 Gram

Meat

Weight

5KG

Kilo

200 Gram

Sauce

Volume

2.5L

Litre

30mL

Seafood

Weight

Kilo

Kilo

250 Gram

Spirits

Volume

700mL

700mL

30mL

Tortilla Wrap

Count

12 Pack

Each

Each

Vegetables

Weight

Kilo

Kilo

200 Gram

Wine

Volume

750mL

750mL

150mL (Glass)

Add a Custom Unit

Loaded has a master list of preset units covering most use cases, but you may want to create some custom units to suit your stock items and variants.

Custom units should follow correct unit-type rules to ensure stock, recipes, orders and POS links function accurately. We highly recommend reviewing The Importance of Unit Consistency before creating new units.

Follow these steps:

  1. Navigate to Stock → Manage → Units

  2. Click the blue “New Unit” button

  3. A new unit will appear at the bottom of the Custom Units list

  4. Rename the unit to your desired volume, weight, or pack size

  5. Select the appropriate Unit Type:

    • Weight, Volume, or Count

  6. Enter the ratio for the unit type

    • This will always be a ratio of 1 Kilo, 1 Litre or 1 Each depending on your chosen unit type

    • The ratio is a numerical value only. Just type it in!

  7. The unit will automatically save as you update the details

Example

If you:

  • Order wine as a 6 Pack (count unit)

  • Then use 150mL in a recipe (volume unit)

Trying to convert between “6 Pack” (count) and “150mL” (volume) will cause costing and stock usage errors. To work around this, we’ll need to know that a 6 Pack of 750mL bottles of wine makes a total volume of 4.5 Litres. You then:

  1. Create a custom unit called 6x750mL

  2. Set its unit type to Volume

  3. Enter a ratio of 4.5 (Litres)

Now:

  • You can order in 6x750mL (volume unit)

  • Use volume units in recipes (mL or L)

  • Complete stocktakes in volume

  • Link correctly to POS

Everything remains convertible because it stays within the Volume unit type.

Tips and Tricks

  • Double check your units for each stock item across the system are consistent and you’re not switching back & forth between different unit types

  • Create Custom Units if the existing master list units aren’t quite right

  • The ratio is always a numerical value of the base unit. For example:

    • Use .720 as the ratio for a Custom Unit that’s 720 Grams with the Unit Type set as Weight

    • Use .750 as the ratio for a Custom Unit that’s 750mL with the Unit Type set as Volume

What’s Next?

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