Using Reporting Categories instead of custom attributes/tags to track sales by brand type.

[alisha3495]

The title of this thread has been edited from the original: Custom attributes or tags.

Hi,

our old POS had the ability to add tags which we could then use to group item sales reports and filter item sales reports by in order to tag different types of coffee beans used in different coffees. This was extremely helpful for forecasting what we will need.

currently I have set up dummy vendors and assigned the items to them but that is not ideal. 

do you have a feature for this problem or an update on when we can add custom attributes or tags to reports?

[alisha3495]

Any updates on this?

[Katie_SQ · Accepted solution]

Hi @alisha3495,

Sorry for the delay getting back to you here. To address your needs, I recommend using Reporting Categories and the Category Sales Reports to track your coffee sales by bean brand.

Reporting Categories

If you want an item to belong to more than one category, you can specify a Reporting Category. When the item is sold, its sale will be attributed to this Reporting Category in the Category Sales Report, ensuring that sales aren't double-counted.

I suggest adding all your coffee items to Reporting Categories based on each bean brand. This way, they remain in their respective categories, but your Category Sales Report will show them separated by brand type.

Here's how to set it up:

Step 1: Create New Reporting Categories

1. Sign in to your Square Dashboard and navigate to Items > Categories > Create Category.
2. Create a new category (e.g., "Bean Brand 1").
3. Click Save.
4. Repeat the process for all bean types (e.g., "Bean Brand 2," "Bean Brand 3").

Step 2: Assign Reporting Categories to Your Items

1. Go to your item library.
2. Check the box next to each item you want to edit (or select all items by checking the box at the top).
3. Click Edit Items.
4. On the bulk edit item page, click Attributes and ensure Category and Reporting Category are selected.
5. Make your changes, then click Save.

Step 3: View Category Sales Reports

Once you've assigned all your coffee items to their respective Reporting Categories, you can use the Category Sales Report to track sales by bean brand for all future sales.

Category Sales Reports provide an overview of top-grossing categories and the number of items sold within each category. These reports are available in your Square Dashboard.

To view Category Sales Reports:

1. Sign in to your Square Dashboard and go to Reports > Category Sales.
2. Use the date selector tool to refine the date range and apply relevant filters to view your report.

I hope this helps! If you have any other questions, please feel free to reach out.

[alisha3495]

Hi Katie,

I don’t seem to have reporting category as an option on square for restaurants?

[alisha3495]

@Katie_SQ will the option to report by custom attributes be available?

there are quite a few reasons we need this e.g. items we add for summer promotions or specific items that we add for special occasions etc.. that we need to be able to filter or group reports by and it seems illogical when most POS systems allow you to report by custom tags.

[alisha3495]

@Katie_SQ any updates? I also don’t see reporting category as an option.

[Katie_SQ]

Hi @alisha3495,

If you sign in to your Square Dashboard, navigate to your Item Library, and click on one of your items to bring up the Edit Item page, can you see Reporting Category listed under Categorisation?

Please see the screenshot below for reference: 




Reporting by custom attribute isn't something that's currently available, so I recommend taking a look at our Ideate Board to see if there's an existing Feature Request for this. If there is, please add your support on the thread. If there isn't, please feel free to submit your own, explaining why this feature would positively impact your business.

If you have any other questions, please let me know. 😊 

[alisha3495]

@Katie_SQ  This is what I see

[Katie_SQ]

Hi @alisha3495, 

Apologies for the confusion! In order to see the Reporting Category like in my screenshot above, you'll first need to have the item assigned to two categories: 

- Navigate to your Item Library.
- Click on one of your items to bring up its Edit item page.

- Under Categorisation > Categories, click Edit.
- Select an additional category, so two categories are now selected (e.g., [Coffee] + [Brand name] are both selected).
- Click Done.
- Back on the Edit item page, you should now be able to see Reporting Category, click Edit, and choose [Brand name] as the Reporting Category. 
- Click Save. 

Let me know how you go. 😊