Running a Restaurant? The Software That Keeps Your Permits, Staff Cards and Food Safety Logs Current

ExpiryEdge is the one tool that covers the dates, renewals and outside documents across a restaurant's three compliance problems: staff food handler cards, food safety checks, and permits and licenses. It texts a cook whose card is due with a link to upload the new one, chases the hood cleaner for his certificate, and escalates to the area manager when a health permit is 7 days out and nobody has acted. For permits and licenses, it's the best fit for most groups.

It won't log a fridge temperature or build your rota. If you want card warnings on the schedule you already use, 7shifts is the strongest staff tool. For daily temperature logs and line checks, Crunchtime Ops Execution is the specialist for multi-unit brands, and FoodDocs or Trail suit independents and UK groups. If you run 100+ licenses and want someone to file them for you, Avalara License Management does that.

We make ExpiryEdge. The other vendors' details come from their own websites and help centres, read on 7 November 2026, and we've linked each one.

Five jobs ExpiryEdge takes off a GM's plate

ExpiryEdge holds anything with an expiry date, nudges whoever has to act and collects the renewed paper. Across a restaurant group, that means:

• A server's alcohol certification. Sixty days before it lapses, she gets a WhatsApp message with a link. She uploads the new certificate from her phone, and her manager approves it.
• A health permit that nobody renewed. The permit is 7 days from expiry and still open, so ExpiryEdge escalates to the area manager by email and Slack.
• The hood cleaning contractor. You send a request link to the cleaning company. They upload the service certificate and e-sign the visit report, and if the photo is unreadable your reviewer rejects that one field.
• Monday kitchen checks. A recurring SOP checklist runs every Monday for thermometer calibration and walk-in door seals, assigned to the kitchen manager, with a timestamped record.
• Twelve locations, one view. The dashboard filters by location and category, and the audit log exports for an inspector or a franchisor's review.

Our restaurants and hospitality page and the franchise operations use case show more.

Nine dates a restaurant lives by

Most restaurant compliance failures come from a date nobody owned. These are the recurring ones, with the rule behind each. Your state, county or council may differ, so treat this as a starting list.

The sources: Sonoma County, Texas DSHS food handler FAQ, Texas DSHS food managers, California ABC RBS, Fairfax County, California ABC license fees, OSHA, Village of New Paltz and Surrey Heath.

Staff cards: let the schedule warn you, then chase the new card by text

The best food handler tracker is usually the one your managers already open. 7shifts lets managers upload each certificate with an expiry date, emails reminders to the employee and admins, and shows a warning on the schedule 14 days before the card runs out. Homebase and Connecteam have certificate alerts in cheaper staff apps, and Restaurant365 and Crunchtime suit multi-unit groups on their platforms.

In the UK there's no legal certificate to track. Food handlers must get adequate supervision, instruction or training, as Brent Council explains, so most operators record a training date per person and set a refresher.

Where the scheduling tools are weaker is getting the new card back, which is why our comparison lists ExpiryEdge first. It sends the employee a text or WhatsApp with a link to upload it, no login needed. Read the full food handler certificate tracking comparison.

Fridge temperatures and line checks: pick by number of sites and by country

For a brand with dozens of stores, Crunchtime Ops Execution, the product that used to be Zenput, runs line checks, opening checklists and audits, and takes readings from Bluetooth probes and sensors. SmartSense, which Jolt merged into, is strong on probes, sensors and labels.

Whatever you pick has to prove the numbers in your food code. Under the FDA model used in cities such as Minneapolis, cold food stays at 41°F or below, hot food at 135°F or above, and cooked food cools to 70°F within 2 hours and to 41°F within 6. In England the legal limits are 8°C and 63°C, set by Schedule 4 of the 2013 regulations.

Smaller operators should start with FoodDocs, which publishes per-site prices and builds a HACCP plan, or Trail if you're in the UK. Our comparison lists ExpiryEdge first for the weekly checks and the certificates around your daily logs. It isn't a temperature log, but it runs the weekly and monthly checks that slip off the daily sheet. The full food safety checklist comparison covers seven tools.

Health permits and liquor licenses: one dashboard, or hand the filing to someone else

Permits are where ExpiryEdge ranks first. A location's renewals come from the health department, the liquor regulator, the fire marshal, the hood cleaner and the pest contractor, and only a general tracker puts all of them on one dashboard.

Opening a new site adds its own dates. In the UK you must register the food business at least 28 days before trading, and in the US the health permit, fire inspection and liquor license all have to land before the first service. Put each one in the tracker the day you sign the lease, with the GM-to-be as owner, so the opening doesn't slip while you wait for one office.

If you run 100+ licenses across many states and want someone to file for you, Avalara License Management or Harbor Compliance is the better buy. See the restaurant permit and license tracking comparison, and our alcohol license renewal guide for liquor specifics.

From a spreadsheet to working reminders by next Sunday

Day 1: List every permit, license, inspection and contract for one location, with the renewal date and who owns it. Then copy the list for the others.

Day 2: Export staff from your scheduling or payroll tool with hire dates. Add each person's food handler card, manager certificate and alcohol server certification as dated items.

Day 3: Import both lists into your tracker by CSV. In ExpiryEdge, set a reminder schedule per category: 90, 60, 30 and 7 days for permits, 60, 30 and 7 for staff cards.

Day 4: Add outside contacts: the hood cleaner, pest contractor and fire extinguisher company. Send each a request link for their current certificate.

Day 5: Pick your daily checklist tool from the comparison above and start its trial on one site. Build the cooling log first.

Days 6 and 7: Set escalation to the area manager, check the first digest email, and fix any item with a missing owner.