COGS is the most commonly mis-estimated number in small food and retail businesses, because most owners price by instinct and by what the shop next door charges. A dish that feels profitable at 35 QAR can quietly cost 22 QAR once you count the oil, the packaging, the sauce nobody weighs, and the portion that gets thrown away.
The distinction that matters: COGS only includes costs that move with what you sell. Sell twice as many shawarmas and you use twice as much bread — that is COGS. Your rent does not change, so rent is not COGS. Both matter to your bottom line, but only COGS tells you whether a specific item is priced correctly.
Once you know the real COGS per item you can do the thing that actually changes profit: rank your menu by margin rather than by popularity. Most shops discover that their bestseller is mid-table on margin, and that one or two quiet items are carrying the business.
In Outale, COGS comes from the recipe attached to each product. Link ingredients with quantities and the system costs every sale automatically, tracks consumption, and shows estimated profit net of COGS in reports — including a Profit Analysis view that ranks products by margin.