Choose Recipe Cost Access Modes

01 / CONTEXT

Define the control decision

The strongest restriction is not automatically the safest. Kitchen or finance staff may need read access while the approved costing master must resist writing or deletion. Test each mode with the actual spreadsheet and service accounts.

02 / PROCEDURE

Run the control sequence

1. 01

   List every person and process that reads or writes the master.

2. 02

   Test No Write against the supported spreadsheet application.

3. 03

   Test No Delete without assuming it prevents copying or renaming.

4. 04

   Use No Access only when the workflow does not require reading.

5. 05

   Record the selected mode, exception and recovery owner.

03 / EVIDENCE

Preserve proof without personal data

A defensible control record identifies the costing owner, recipe scope, price date, authoritative path, permitted accounts, restriction mode, version ID, formula review, checksum evidence, recovery owner and next review date. It should not contain confidential recipes, live supplier prices, credentials or personal data. Use fictional ingredients, prices and yields during every technical test.

Recheck the arrangement after changes to Windows, spreadsheet software, workbook formulas, costing workflow, storage, Folder Protect, permissions, service accounts or restaurant roles. Confirm both usability and recovery: an authorized operator should read the approved cost master, an unauthorized account should not alter it, and the recovery owner should restore a separately held copy without depending on the protected folder. Preserve unexpected behavior before changing controls.

Keep the claim narrow. Local restrictions may reduce accidental writing, deletion or access on a tested Windows path, but they do not encrypt data, establish recipe accuracy, food-safety compliance or menu-price authorization, administer identities, create culinary, allergen or costing-approval evidence, provide version history or replace backup. Escalate those requirements to the platform and accountable owner designed to meet them.

Ask a second operator to follow the written procedure without verbal help. Record whether that person can identify the approved cost master, create a working copy, recognize the version ID, interpret denied access and find the recovery owner. This usability check reveals ambiguous paths, hidden service-account dependencies and undocumented knowledge before a spreadsheet, costing workflow, storage or staff change. Correct the procedure, repeat the test with fabricated data and retain only minimal evidence.

04 / BOUNDARY

State what the control cannot prove

Folder Protect is not encryption, spreadsheet authorization, identity governance, formula protection, food-safety control or proof that another copy does not exist.

Validate the exact Windows account, spreadsheet application, costing workflow, storage path and current product release. If encryption, recipe approval, food-safety control, immutable history, identity governance or regulated retention are required, select systems designed for those jobs rather than broadening a desktop restriction claim.

05 / SOURCES

Primary references

• FDA: Food safety guidance
• NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5

References support specific controls and do not imply endorsement.