I want to do inventory based on the item, not the variation.

I have a mobile pizzeria and we used to do our counts based on the item and not the variation. with the new update it won't allow me to do it. 

 

We sell small pizzas either cheese, pepperoni or special of the week. I would put in our count of 45 smalls and no matter what pizza the customer chose, it would lower the quantity of small dough available appropriately. Now I have to put in the amount of cheese, pepperoni and special. 

 

I can't seem to figure out a way to revert it or turn off this new inventory function. please help!

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Square Champion

Hi @Lukelucas.  I’m going to admit to being confused here.  As far as I’ve ever known, Square has always maintained inventory at the variation level.  Of course, if you only had one variation (Regular) then this was not a problem.  So, I’m going to ask if you have changed your items at all — maybe to add variations (rather than use modifiers)?  I know that if I have to 86 an item, I’ve always had to 86 each variation because that has always been how Square has done inventory in my experience.

 

Otherwise, it sounds like your item is called something like “Small Pizza,” with variations of Cheese, Pepperoni and Special.  You could fix this issue by only having one variation (rename it Regular) and moving your variations to be modifiers, instead.  This would solve your problem if I’m understanding it correctly.

 

I can tell you that there is no way to revert, though. 

Chip A.
Square Expert & Innovator and member of the Square Champions group. (But NOT a Square employee, just a seller like you)

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Thank you for taking the time to answer. I'll try out using modifiers. This happened for me last week on Friday. Normally in the restaurant plus app I would click and hold the ltem and a box would come up where I could put in the remaining count. Trust me It did this before as we have been using this feature daily for the last 3 years we have been in business. 

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@Lukelucas 

 

First, I did not mean to imply that I didn’t believe you.  I did.  I just couldn’t figure out how you were accomplishing that.  Now that you posted a reply, it all becomes VERY clear.  You said “Normally in the restaurant plus app I would click and hold the ltem and a box would come up where I could put in the remaining count.”. That caused the light bulb to go off, and I can give you a better answer.

 

I’ve never used that long click.  I’ve always either gone into the Items settings on my POS or to my online dashboard.  Both of those have ALWAYS allowed inventory/86ing ONLY at the variation level.  What you were doing in the past seems to have definitely been an oversight or even a bug that allowed you to get around that, somehow.  What I’m seeing now after the long press is totally consistent with Square’s inventory philosophy, and what you were able to do before was probably causing problems since it wasn’t in line with that philosophy and design.  So, knowing that, I can definitely say that you should move these variations to be modifiers (and restrict them to one and only one choice per item).  That will allow you to work exactly as you have been while that “bug” was active.

Chip A.
Square Expert & Innovator and member of the Square Champions group. (But NOT a Square employee, just a seller like you)

Was my post helpful? Take a moment to mark it as a solution. Marked solutions help other sellers find possible resolutions to similar problems. Also, if you find your solution elsewhere (say, through Support), it is helpful to come back to your post and tell us about it, then mark that as a Solution. Solutions are what this Community is all about!
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That makes sense. Wish the bug was back lol. Now I gotta go in and adjust all of my menu items!

 

What I liked about it before was the variations were cheese, pepperoni and special. Then after the variation was selected the team member could select any mods (extra cheese, add veggie, light sauce, lightly baked etc....). The step by step process ensured accuracy. Do you know if there is a way to require a mod so I don't have team members forgetting to put in the mod for the type of pizza (there is a price difference for each type of pizza). 

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Square Champion

@Lukelucas For sure there is!  I use it on all of my modifier sets to not only require that they pick at least one, but to also limit how many they can pick.  For example, I have a list of 80 flavor concentrates for my soft serve — they must pick one and can  pick no more than three.  Here’s how it works.

 

First, of course, create the new modifier set as you always do.

 

Go to your dashboard and edit an item.  You can’t do this from your POS right now.  Scroll down to the modifier section and attach the new modifier set to the item by clicking the Edit button and selecting it, then click Done.  Find the new modifier set in your list.  Click on the ellipse (…) to the right of it, then select Customize.   From here you can say how many modifiers are required, and give a maximum that can be selected, too.  You can also specify pre-selected modifiers, but in this case you do not want to do that.  Click Done to save, then save the item.

 

One other shortcut, after you’ve gotten the hang of this.  If you have multiple items you want to attach this modifier set AND it’s configuration to, you can click on the “Apply This Configuration to Other Items” button at the bottom of the customize window.  This will both add the modifier set to the items and apply the limits you’ve defined.  Quick and easy, but be sure to give it a few minutes after you save everything for the changes to propagate.

 

A few other things to remember.

 

  1. Don’t forget to remove the variations from all items.  You have to do this manually.  You have to leave one variation, so call it “Regular.”
  2. Since you are using modifiers now, pricing could be an issue.  Since you are attaching this modifier set to “Small Pizza” and “Large Pizza” the Regular price of each will have to be the base price, exclusive of the additional price for cheese, pepperoni and special.  The resulting price will be the base price plus the modifier price.
  3. Because of #2 above, you might want two modifier sets — one called “Small Pizza type” and the other “Large Pizza type.”  That way you can have different add-on prices based on the amount of marinara, cheese and other toppings.

Lastly, you might want to sign out of all POS devices and then sign back in so that you force them to retrieve your updated catalog quickly, rather than waiting for a sync.

 

If you want, I would be happy to set up a Zoom call with you tomorrow to walk through this with you.  I can’t today because I lost a manager and am having to run my ice cream shop by myself today — a 12-hour day for me! Ugh.  Anyway, let me know if you want to do that, and I’ll be more than happy to set it up.

Chip A.
Square Expert & Innovator and member of the Square Champions group. (But NOT a Square employee, just a seller like you)

Was my post helpful? Take a moment to mark it as a solution. Marked solutions help other sellers find possible resolutions to similar problems. Also, if you find your solution elsewhere (say, through Support), it is helpful to come back to your post and tell us about it, then mark that as a Solution. Solutions are what this Community is all about!
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That is very kind of you! This all helps, I am updating everything now. I should be okay. Thanks for your help!

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