FoodCostIQ

FoodCostIQ — Important Disclaimers

The stuff our lawyers made us say — but we tried to make it readable.

Section 1 — Financial & Income Disclaimer

We Do the Math. You Make the Decisions.

FoodCostIQ is a business management tool that helps you track, calculate, and understand your food costs and business finances. It is not a financial advisor, accountant, bookkeeper, investment advisor, or crystal ball.

The numbers FoodCostIQ shows you are only as accurate as the data you put in. Garbage in, garbage out — as they say. If you enter your brisket cost wrong, your food cost percentage will be wrong. If you forget to log the $150 event fee you paid at 5am, your net profit will look better than it is.

What FoodCostIQ does:

Calculates food cost percentages, recipe costs, true net profit, and annual summaries based on the data you enter. Shows you the math. Helps you see patterns and trends in your operation.

What FoodCostIQ does not do:

Guarantee that following our suggested pricing, food cost targets, or operational recommendations will result in profit, success, or any specific financial outcome. Every market is different. Every operation is different. What works at a beach festival in Florida may not work at a farmers market in Ohio.

Income disclaimer:

Any reference to typical food cost percentages, profit margins, or financial outcomes in FoodCostIQ's training content, marketing materials, or in-app guidance represents general industry benchmarks — not a promise or guarantee of your results. Some operators using this system will make more money. Some will make less. Some will realize their favorite event has been losing them money for three years. (That one stings but it's better to know.)

Your financial results depend on your menu, your pricing, your market, your costs, your crew, the weather, whether the festival across town draws your customers away, and approximately a thousand other variables FoodCostIQ has no control over.

Tax disclaimer:

The Schedule C line references in FoodCostIQ's annual reports are provided for general reference and convenience only. They are not tax advice. They do not constitute the preparation of a tax return. They do not replace the advice of a qualified tax professional who knows your specific situation.

We are food trailer software people. We are not the IRS. We are not your accountant. Please talk to an actual accountant before filing your taxes. Your accountant will thank you. Your future self will thank you.

Section 2 — Recipe & Food Cost Accuracy Disclaimer

Your Recipes Are Only as Good as Your Recipes.

FoodCostIQ calculates recipe costs based on the ingredients, quantities, and unit costs you enter. The system assumes:

  • Your recipes are accurate
  • Your portions are consistent
  • Your ingredient costs are current
  • Your yield percentages reflect your actual cooking results

In the real world, brisket shrinks differently every smoke. One cook portions more generously than another. Ingredient prices change. A bag of onions that weighed 50 pounds last month might weigh 47 pounds this month because your supplier shorted you and you did not catch it.

FoodCostIQ's recipe costs are a planning and tracking tool — not a guarantee of your actual food cost on any given day. The variance report exists precisely because theoretical cost and actual cost are almost always different. The goal is to get them as close as possible.

Yield percentages: The yield percentages used in recipe calculations are estimates based on industry averages unless you have entered your own measured yields. Actual yields vary based on product quality, cooking method, equipment temperature, cooking time, and the experience level of whoever is running your smoker that day.

Ingredient prices: Prices in your ingredient library reflect what you paid the last time you uploaded a receipt. They do not update in real time. If the price of brisket goes up $2 per pound between your last Sam's Club run and your next event, FoodCostIQ will not know that until you upload your next receipt.

Section 3 — Order Suggestions Disclaimer

The Order Generator Is a Very Smart Suggestion — Not a Guarantee.

FoodCostIQ's Order Generator and Par Stock system calculate suggested order quantities based on your historical sales data, your recipes, your inventory counts, and your sales projection. It is a data-driven tool that gets more accurate the more you use it.

It is not, however, psychic.

The Order Generator cannot account for:

  • A freak rainstorm that cuts your expected attendance in half
  • The competing food truck that sets up next to you and sells the same thing cheaper
  • Your best helper calling in sick at 7am
  • A viral social media post that brings 400 people when you expected 100
  • The supplier who ships you a short case and you do not notice until you are mid-service
  • Any act of God, act of nature, act of government, or act of a disgruntled festival organizer

Running out of food: FoodCostIQ's suggested orders are designed to minimize the risk of running out of product. However, if you run out of food at an event — because sales beat your projection, because you over-portioned, or for any other reason — FoodCostIQ is not responsible for lost sales, lost customers, or the awkward moment when you have to tell the person at the front of the line that you are out of walking tacos.

Over-ordering: Similarly, if you order more than you need and product goes to waste or expires, FoodCostIQ is not responsible for spoilage, waste costs, or the moral weight of throwing away a perfectly good brisket.

Use the Order Generator as the powerful planning tool it is. Use your own judgment on top of it. You know your market better than any algorithm.

Section 4 — Health, Safety & Regulatory Disclaimer

We Help You Track Costs. We Don't Replace Your Health Department.

FoodCostIQ includes a Season Startup Checklist and Equipment Maintenance Tracker to help you stay organized and operationally prepared. These tools are planning aids — they are not a substitute for compliance with applicable laws, regulations, health codes, or safety requirements.

FoodCostIQ does not:

  • Know the specific health codes, food safety regulations, permit requirements, or inspection standards in your city, county, or state
  • Verify that your operation is compliant with any local, state, or federal regulations
  • Replace a licensed food safety manager, health inspector, or regulatory professional
  • Guarantee that completing items on the Season Startup Checklist means you are legally authorized to operate

Your responsibility: It is your responsibility to know and comply with all applicable laws and regulations governing your food service operation. This includes but is not limited to food handler certifications, mobile food unit permits, health department inspections, fire safety requirements, commissary agreements, sales tax collection and remittance, and any event-specific permits required by the venues or municipalities where you operate.

The checklist in FoodCostIQ is based on common best practices for mobile food operators. It may not include every item required in your specific jurisdiction. It may include items that are not required in your jurisdiction. Treat it as a helpful starting point — not a legal compliance checklist.

When in doubt, call your local health department. They would rather answer your questions before your first event than shut you down at it. (True story. Call them.)

Section 5 — Equipment & Maintenance Disclaimer

We Track Service Dates. We Don't Service Equipment.

FoodCostIQ's Equipment Maintenance Tracker helps you log service dates, set service intervals, and get reminders when service is due. It is a record-keeping tool.

FoodCostIQ does not:

  • Inspect your equipment
  • Certify that your equipment is safe to operate
  • Guarantee that following suggested service intervals will prevent equipment failure
  • Replace a licensed technician for any equipment requiring professional service

Service intervals in the system are based on common manufacturer recommendations and industry best practices. Your specific equipment may have different service requirements. Always consult your equipment manufacturer's documentation and use qualified service professionals for any work requiring certification or licensing — including but not limited to propane systems, fire suppression systems, and electrical systems.

An equipment breakdown during an event is frustrating and costly. An unsafe piece of equipment is a safety hazard. FoodCostIQ helps you stay organized — staying safe is on you.

Section 6 — Event Success Disclaimer

We Root for Your Success. We Just Can't Guarantee It.

FoodCostIQ is designed to help you make better decisions about your food trailer or food truck business. Better decisions generally lead to better outcomes. But "generally" is doing a lot of work in that sentence.

FoodCostIQ is not responsible for:

  • The success or failure of any event, sales day, catering job, or business venture
  • Lost sales, lost customers, or lost revenue of any kind
  • Business decisions made based on FoodCostIQ data or recommendations
  • Relationships with suppliers, event organizers, customers, or employees
  • Weather. Seriously — we have no control over the weather.
  • The food truck that always sets up next to you and plays loud music

We genuinely want your business to succeed. We built this tool because we believe that operators who understand their numbers make better decisions and run more profitable operations. But the food is yours. The events are yours. The decisions are yours. The profit — and the risk — are yours.

Section 7 — Data Accuracy Disclaimer

Your Data Is Only as Good as What You Put In.

FoodCostIQ stores and processes the data you enter. We do our best to calculate accurately based on that data. However:

  • AI receipt extraction is highly accurate but not perfect. Always review extracted line items for errors before relying on them for financial decisions.
  • POS report extraction depends on the format and quality of the report your POS system generates. Unusual formats may extract incorrectly.
  • Inventory counts are only as accurate as the person doing the counting.
  • Sales projections are estimates based on historical averages. Past performance does not guarantee future results — in food trailers or in the stock market.

If you find an error in FoodCostIQ's calculations, please report it at terry@foodcostiq.com. We take accuracy seriously and will investigate and correct any calculation errors promptly.

Section 8 — Not Affiliated Disclaimer

FoodCostIQ is an independent software product. We are not affiliated with, endorsed by, or officially connected to Toast, Square, Clover, Sam's Club, Gordon Food Service, Restaurant Depot, Sysco, US Foods, or any other POS system, supplier, or business mentioned in the app or marketing materials.

References to these companies are for descriptive purposes only — to help you understand which systems and suppliers FoodCostIQ is designed to work with.

All company names, logos, and trademarks are the property of their respective owners. FoodCostIQ has not paid for any endorsement from any of these companies. (Though if any of them want to reach out, our email is below.)

Section 9 — Limitation of Liability

To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, FoodCostIQ and its owners, operators, employees, and affiliates shall not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages arising from your use of the software — including but not limited to lost profits, lost revenue, lost data, business interruption, or any other commercial damages or losses.

In plain English: if something goes wrong with your business and you believe FoodCostIQ played a role, our liability is limited to the amount you paid for the software in the most recent billing period.

We are a small business run by a food trailer operator. We built this tool to help operators like us. We stand behind the quality of what we built. We just cannot be on the hook for every possible thing that could go wrong in a food service business — there are too many variables and not enough of us.

Section 10 — Changes to Disclaimers

We may update these disclaimers from time to time as the product evolves and our lawyers get nervous about new things. We will notify active subscribers of any material changes via email. The current version of these disclaimers is always available at foodcostiq.com/legal/disclaimers.

Last updated: May 3, 2026

Questions about these disclaimers? Email terry@foodcostiq.com.

We are real people. We read our email. We will give you a real answer.

FoodCostIQ is built and operated by TMay's Food Shack, Waynesville, Ohio.