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How it works

How carcass breakdowns and yield work

A cutting spec says what a carcass should give, a breakdown records what it did, and Kila spreads the carcass's cost over the cuts. The Yield tab shows where the weight went.

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Inventory, then Carcass breakdowns, or search carcass breakdowns in Kila

A butchery buys a carcass by weight and sells it as many cuts. Kila follows the weight and the money through that change: what each carcass gave, what each cut really costs a kg, and what was lost, by whom and from which supplier.

  1. Receive. The carcass comes into stock by weight, with its tag as the batch.
  2. Break down. The butcher weighs each cut as it comes off. What does not come back as cuts is the loss, with a reason: Break down a carcass.
  3. Spread the cost. Kila shares the carcass’s cost out over the cuts. Bones and fat marked as by-products carry none.
  4. Check the loss. Within the loss allowed, the cuts go into stock at once. Above it, the breakdown waits in Approvals, unless whoever posts it may approve stock adjustments.
  5. Read the yield. The Yield tab compares each cut with its spec, and each supplier and butcher with the rest.

Cutting specs

Link to this section: Cutting specs

A cutting spec lists the cuts a carcass should give, each as a share of its weight. Nyama Bora Butchery has four: Beef forequarter, Beef hindquarter, Goat carcass and Pig half side. Each card shows the carcass, how the cost is spread and the loss allowed (1), the cuts with their share and price a kg, the by-products (2) and the expected loss (3).

The Cutting specs tab: the Beef forequarter spec for the beef forequarter carcass, cost by sales value, loss allowed 6.0% (1), its cuts from beef on the bone at 52.0% to soup bones as a by-product (2), and an expected loss of 4.0% (3).The Cutting specs tab: the Beef forequarter spec for the beef forequarter carcass, cost by sales value, loss allowed 6.0% (1), its cuts from beef on the bone at 52.0% to soup bones as a by-product (2), and an expected loss of 4.0% (3).

New cutting spec, or Edit on a spec, asks for its Name, the Carcass product, how to Spread the cost (1), the Loss allowed before approval (2), and each cut’s Expected yield (%). Tick No cost for a by-product such as soup bones (3). Kila adds the yields up: Cuts add up to 96.0%; expected loss 4.0%. (4). The owner, the shop manager and the butchers can add and change specs.

Edit Beef forequarter: Spread the cost by sales value (weight × price a kg) (1), loss allowed 6% (2), the cuts with their expected yields, soup bones and beef fat ticked No cost (3), and Cuts add up to 96.0%; expected loss 4.0% (4).Edit Beef forequarter: Spread the cost by sales value (weight × price a kg) (1), loss allowed 6% (2), the cuts with their expected yields, soup bones and beef fat ticked No cost (3), and Cuts add up to 96.0%; expected loss 4.0% (4).

What each cut costs

Link to this section: What each cut costs

When a breakdown is posted, Kila shares the carcass’s cost out over the cuts:

  • By sales value (weight × price a kg), the usual cutting test and Kila’s default: “Sales value is the usual cutting test: prime cuts carry more of the cost.” A kilo of leg carries more of the cost than a kilo of ribs.
  • By weight: every kilo carries the same cost.

By-products carry no cost. The loss is Carried by the cuts, as at Nyama Bora Butchery, so each cut’s cost a kg covers what was lost; or it is Written off to shrinkage. The owner sets both, and the Loss allowed before approval, under Administration › Till and returns rules, in Carcass breakdowns. A cutting spec may set its own.

A posted goat breakdown as the owner sees it: each cut's weight, yield, spec, cost a kg (1) and cost, the loss on the cuts, and the carcass cost spread by sales value (weight × price a kg) (2).A posted goat breakdown as the owner sees it: each cut's weight, yield, spec, cost a kg (1) and cost, the loss on the cuts, and the carcass cost spread by sales value (weight × price a kg) (2).

Good to know

Each cut’s cost a kg is what your margins and the stock’s value use. The owner and the shop manager see the costs on a breakdown; for a butcher the cost columns stay empty.

The Yield tab

Link to this section: The Yield tab

Yield covers the last 7, 30 or 90 days (1): how many carcasses were broken down, the weight in, the loss and what the carcasses cost. By cut shows each cut’s yield against its spec (2), its cost a kg, its price a kg and the margin between them: “Actual yield against the spec, the cost a kg each cut carries and its price a kg.”

The Yield tab for the last 30 days (1): breakdowns, weight in, loss and carcass cost, then By cut with each cut's weight, yield, spec (2), cost a kg, price a kg and margin.The Yield tab for the last 30 days (1): breakdowns, weight in, loss and carcass cost, then By cut with each cut's weight, yield, spec (2), cost a kg, price a kg and margin.

Under it, By supplier (3), By butcher (4) and By carcass show the breakdowns, the weight in, the yield and the loss for each. A breakdown with no supplier on it counts as Not recorded.

By supplier (3) with the abattoir, the goat traders and the pork processor, By butcher (4) with Francis Njoroge and Peter Gachanja, and By carcass, each with breakdowns, weight in, yield and loss.By supplier (3) with the abattoir, the goat traders and the pork processor, By butcher (4) with Francis Njoroge and Peter Gachanja, and By carcass, each with breakdowns, weight in, yield and loss.
Link to this section: Related

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