First Day using square!

[Cskylar]

Yay! It was our first day using Square POS in our restaurant! A few things we needed to adjust but overall it was great! 

A couple of questions. 

• Is there a way to make it so after making a payment, it automatically goes back to the floor plans page instead of the menu? 
• When paying split checks, is there a way to view more than one split check instead of completing payment and going back to the floor plan, then table, then check. I would love for it to have an easier flow where you do payment for first check and then it asks if you want to do payment on the next one. 
• For the Conversational modifiers, can we add an "Only" button. (Ex. Only cheese)
• For the Conversational Modifiers, can we make it so when pushing the extra button it adds a charge? 

[Minion]

Congrats @Cskylar 

I don't use Square for Restaurant, but let me tag a few others who may be able to shed some light on your issues. 

@dimo10  @Getonthebus  @Headpinz  @ryanwanner @SSB_YVR @SVLFever @TheRealChipA 

[Getonthebus]

The conversational modifiers... You will make more adjustments to these on a regular basis - I promise! But let's start with your "only cheese." Maybe this is for a hamburger? And you can add on other toppings... Perhaps you have a list of modifiers that say Add Cheese, Add Onion, Add Lettuce, Add Tomato - This way if the only thing that is clicked is Add Cheese - it should be obvious to your kitchen that this is a naked hamburger plus cheese.

And yes, you can absolutely add a charge to any add on modifier. When you create a modifier: Items > Modifiers > Create a Modifier... Name your modifier. Ex: Add Cheese - give it a price - and then save. Open your item. Attach your modifier. Done.

Split Checks: It should stay in the check until it is paid in full. If you split the check, it should still stay in the check until you are completely settled. You cannot leave a check if partially paid. 

Feel free to shout with any additional questions. And huge Congrats on your first day with Square! 

[Cskylar]

Thank you! 

I know we will definitely be making modification adjustments over time! 

As for the conversational modifiers, I was referring to the built in ones that square offers. I am not on site currently but I found a pic online of the ones I am talking about. 

I was hoping they could give us the ability to add up charges when you click the "extra" button. Seems like this is not possible and I may need to create a whole modifier set for "Extra's" with the additional charges. 

I will try doing another split check. When we did one the other day it just brought us back to the menu instead of moving to the next check, so we had to click: floor plan tab > Table > next check> pay. Then it would do the same thing and bring us back to the menu tab instead of staying in the checks/table. 

Thanks for the congrats and responding to my thread! 🙂

[ryanwanner]

Hi @Cskylar ! Thank you for the ping @Minion !

Split Checks: There are two ways of splitting payments, and I think all of us helping you are getting hung up on the traditional "Split Amount" option which is on the payment tender option screen at checkout. I assume you're talking about once you split the check via the Actions tab where you have multiple checks per table. From what I can tell, there isn't a way to have the system flow into the next check automatically. An option to continue paying out the linked checks would be helpful I agree, but I don't know how easy that would be to implement. From what I can tell once you split the checks the system thinks of each check as an individual transaction and needs to be treated as such. 

Conversational Modifiers: at this time there's no way to modify the options on the CMs nor is there a way to make one have an upcharge. I encourage you to head over to the Feature Requests section of this site and post this request. This makes complete sense to me and you'd have my +1. 🙂

Returning to the floor plan: as @SVLFever mentioned I don't think it's possible to have the system automatically display the floorplan after a sale but the workaround I've found is to customize the links at the bottom of the screen via More -> Customize. I have my links set as Floor Plan, Menu, Online, and Messages so I can easily switch screens.

Hope all this helps and welcome to the world of Square!

[Cskylar]

Hello @ryanwanner!

That makes sense! Yes, we are typically splitting checks in the actions tab as our process is to take a receipt to each check at the table and then they come up and pay when ready, vs. splitting it at the register. 

I didn't see anything to edit the conversational modifiers so that was my guess, just thought I would see if anyone knew more! Ill add in the feature request 🙂 

I have not seen a way to go back to floor plan automatically so I put in a feature request on that one. It's just a lot easier for our team to be always back on the floor plan after completing a sale since we are mainly a dine in restaurant and that is what our old system did. We did customize the main taskbar actions and that helps but being able to select a default would be nice!

Thanks! 

[SVLFever]

HI @Cskylar !

Congratulations and welcome to Square POS!

Unfortunately I'm not using table layout, so I can't say for certain what the answers are to your first two questions.  I do NOT think it's possible to default back to the floor plans page, but you can control what appears by default for choices, which comes in really handy on a Square Terminal.   Speaking of, which device(s) are you running Square POS on?

I also am wondering why you are using conversational modifiers instead of standard modifiers?   You can pre-select what comes on an item by default, add prices to additional items and limit the amount of modifiers as needed.  Have you tried using them as @Getonthebus has recommended?   Is there a reason you specifically want to use the conversational modifiers?

Hope it is going well still for you.

[Cskylar]

Thanks for the response @SVLFever 

Thanks! We are using iPads/registers. 

I kind of get what he is saying but it comes with two issues

1. The kitchen knows what comes on each item so preselecting every item in the modifier would just be a waste of receipt paper really. I feel like if there was one thing missing from the selection the kitchen would not notice it. For us it would be easier if they only see "no pico" instead of a list of things and one is missing. (or having to type in no pico manually just to make sure they see it)
2. We would need to create a modifier for every single item since most items have specific options. Right now we can kind of create general modifiers and use the conversational modifiers if needed.

Maybe I am not quite understanding how you have it setup.

Things are going great! Just making tweaks each day to get it perfect! These are the only things we have noticed so far. 

[SVLFever]

Hey Chase,

I absolutely get where are you are coming from, and interestingly, we first started operations similar to the way you are describing and also instinctively tried to use conversational modifiers, but quickly switched to standard modifiers, and here is why;

1. We occasionally onboard new team members, either as cooks or order-takers.   They do NOT know the menu as well as the seasoned staff.   Originally, we use to just assume that what  you were ordering was what you got and the team had to "sub out" the change.  The issue is, what comes on a Firecracker Burger is different than the Cowboy Burger, and when you are new, you don't know that.   This sometimes caused mis-orders and re-fires, because the staff member just didn't know for sure what came on something (or thought they did).
2. We switched to have the default toppings on sandwiches, pizzas and the like include the defaults, and the staff has to "no" them out by turning off the defaults, if the customer orders it that way.   We found that onboarding new order-takers AND cooks was more productive and easier, because the prep ticket now is always right.
3. We also use the same ticket for food delivery, and this allows our food runners to not only know where to send the item, it also lets them know if there are multiple of the same item but slightly different (such as no tomato on just one of three sandwiches) and to be aware accordingly.

Hopefully this information as to why we have done what we helps provide some background.   

Also, for clarity, here is an example of the Firecracker Burger I mentioned and it's default toppings.  Our order-takers know that the seven items with the box emphasized is the default toppings.   If they remove "Lettuce" for example, it will unemphasize, but the kitchen staff will see "No Lettuce".

Let us know if more questions.

[Cskylar]

@SVLFever That makes sense for new hires, and is interesting that it will change it to "no tomatoes" for the kitchen. I was thinking it would just remove that line and kitchen staff would have to catch that it just isn't on the list.

Do you have modifiers for every single item then?

Im going to test it out and see how it works. 

Thank you for clarification and explaining more! 

[SVLFever]

Yes, we have modifier groups for every item.   Keep in mind you can use the same modifier set for multiple items, and then customize them for each item accordingly.   For example, we have "sandwich toppings" and in sandwich toppings we may have a free cheese choice, and a paid cheese choice.   If cheese is included by default  in the price, we pre-select that one.  If it's additional, the order taker will flag it and we will get paid for it.