Set up a new restaurant, in order
The checklist for making a new restaurant your own, in the order that saves work. Outlet details and the receipt, taxes, order types, payment methods, categories, items, modifiers, the menu, the table plan, kitchen stations and printers, users and PINs, then the POS terminals.
A new restaurant already sells: it has taxes, order types, ways to pay, a menu that fills itself, and a POS ready to pair. This checklist turns it into your restaurant. Each step names where it is in the back office, what is already there, and the guide with the details.
Do the steps in this order. Each one uses what the steps before it made: a dish needs its category, a category sends its dishes to a kitchen station, and so on.
Before you start
- You are signed in to the back office as the owner (the Administrator).
- You have read What your new restaurant starts with, so you know what to keep and what to change.
- Have your company details, your receipt's words and logo, your menu with prices, and your floor plan to hand.
Where things are
Items
- Masters: the setup. Menu holds the dishes (Items, Categories, Modifiers, Menu Designer); Room the Table Plan and Kitchen Stations; Outlet the Outlets and their POS; General Setup the users, taxes, order types and payment methods. Click a group to open it.
The checklist
1. The outlet's details and the receipt
Masters, Outlet, Outlets, Edit on HQ.
It starts every bill number at this outlet, so it cannot be changed.
Name *The big line at the top of every bill.
- Details: the name on every bill, a second name (in Chinese or Malay, say), and your Reg No, SST No and TIN. See Outlets: Details and Address & contact.
- Address & contact: the address and phone printed on your bills.
- Receipt: the receipt's header, its footer (Thank you. Please come again! to start with) and your logo. See Outlets: Receipt.
- Money: the outlet's taxes, whether menu prices include tax, the cash rounding, the day-end hour and the service charge (step 2).
- Save: saves every sub-tab at once.
The outlet's Code, HQ, starts every bill number, so it cannot be changed. Its name can.
2. Taxes and the service charge
- Masters, General Setup, Taxes & Charges: your tax rates. SST6 (6%), SVCTAX (6% on the service charge) and SVC (the 10% service charge) are there. See Taxes & Charges.
- Outlets, Edit HQ, Money: tick the taxes this outlet charges under Tax on this outlet. A new outlet charges no SST until you tick it. Say there whether your menu prices already include tax. See Outlets: Money.
Do this before you type your prices, so you know whether to type them with or without tax.
3. Order types
Masters, General Setup, Order Types. Dine In, Take Away, Counter and QR Order are there. Switch off the ones you do not use, rename them, and choose which pay the service charge. See Order Types.
4. Payment methods
Masters, General Setup, Payment Methods. Cash, Visa, Mastercard, DuitNow QR and Touch 'n Go eWallet are there. Add the ones you take (a bank transfer, another e-wallet), switch off the ones you do not, and link a card terminal if you have one. The second tab, Payment method groups, sets which buttons each POS shows. See Payment Methods.
5. Categories
Masters, Menu, Categories. Make one for each part of your menu (Rice, Noodles, Drinks…). Give each a Default kitchen station: its dishes print there (Kitchen or Bar to start with). See Categories.
6. Items
Masters, Menu, Items. Add your dishes and drinks with + New item: a code, a name, a price and a category. Many at once? Use Import from Excel or CSV. Delete the sample dishes you do not want. See Items and Items: Import from Excel or CSV.
7. Modifiers
Masters, Menu, Modifiers. The questions a dish asks: a spice level, ice, a size, add-ons with a price. Make the groups, then put them on the dishes or the categories. See Modifiers.
8. The menu
Masters, Menu, Menu Designer. Main Menu is an Auto menu: it shows every switched-on category and dish by itself, so it is already done. Design it by hand only if you want your own page layout. A POS shows only the menus assigned to its outlet. See Menu Designer.
9. The table plan
Masters, Room, Table Plan. Draw your floors and tables, with the codes your staff use. The sample has one floor with T01 to T08. See Table Plan.
10. Kitchen stations and printers
- Masters, Room, Kitchen Stations: Kitchen and Bar are there. Add one for each place that cooks or pours (a grill, a dessert bar), and choose whether it prints, shows on a kitchen display, or both. See Kitchen Stations.
- On each POS: Settings, Hardware, Printer. Give KP1 and BP1 their IP addresses, and choose the receipt printer. Printers are set on the POS, not in the back office. See Kitchen printers.
11. Users and PINs
- Masters, General Setup, User, POS users: one for each person who works on a POS, with a POS code, a password and an access group (Cashier, Outlet Manager or Administrator). Give each a PIN on the PIN tab. See POS users.
- Back office users: for a manager who also works in the back office. See Back office users.
- Staff Master: the people who serve and earn commission, if you use them.
12. The POS terminals
Outlets, Edit HQ, POS terminals. Pair T01, then add a POS for each other device with + Terminal: a second till, a waiter's phone, a kitchen display. See Pair a POS terminal and The devices and what they do.
13. Ring a practice bill
On the POS, ring one bill from start to finish, with a dish from each station. Check that the kitchen and the bar print, the receipt prints with your name and footer, and the totals carry the right taxes. See Ring your first bill.
When you want more
These are ready when you are, each switched off or empty at first:
- QR ordering: guests order from their phones. Masters, General Setup, QR Ordering. See QR Ordering.
- Operating hours, Dining Shifts and Reservations: for online bookings.
- Promotions and Vouchers: happy hours, set prices, discount codes.
- Stock: ingredients that come off stock as you sell.
- Member: points and a wallet for your regulars, with the Member add-on.
What you see depends on your plan. See Your plan and its limits.