The Menu Template spreadsheet is your key to an excellent POS – the more correct and complete the information you provide, the better we can assist you to hit the ground running. You’re probably already familiar with the main interface (and beating heart) of our software, The Impos Menu Screen. We custom-design each and every client’s Menu Screen, based on the information provided in your Menu Template spreadsheet.
First, a quick recap on the layout of Menu Screen itself:
1. Menu Grid: This where your you’ll find your items, modifiers and adjustments (and lots more!). The Menu Grid is 6 x 7 spaces, and completely configurable.
2. Sublist menu: Your sublists work like folders on a computer. As you touch each of these buttons, a new Menu Grid page will appear.
3. Order Grid: As you select items, adjustments and modifiers, they will appear in a list in the Order Grid.
4. Course Groupings: For nominating or changing an Item’s course designation.
5. Order Process List: A small group of functions specific to ordering, that appears just below the Order Grid.
6. Number Pad: The number pad allows you to apply numeric values to functions and assists ordering.
7. Function Grid: This is where you'll see the most common functions that you and your staff use.
8. Info Bar: This contains information about the current order.
Ok, now the Menu Template spreadsheet. This will have been sent to you by your Customer Onboarding team member.
The spreadsheet is split into five tabs: Welcome, Menu List, Modifier List, Discounts and Staff Details.
Welcome Tab
The Welcome Tab has some basic instructions, as well as some tips and tricks to assist you. Please read it carefully, and if you have any questions, contact Customer Onboarding who will be more than happy to assist.
The remaining four tabs are where you will enter your menu details. There are examples on each tab – please begin your entries below these. Before we begin though, a quick reminder of the four main terms we use here at Impos:
1. Items: These are the building blocks of your menu – they are WHAT you sell. We organise these in the Menu Grid as logically as possible. You can see in Fig. 2 here that coffees are in light green, and teas are in dark green (they can be any colour you prefer). The button text is normal.
2. Sublists: This how we ORGANISE what you sell. We will use the Departments you nominate on your MT as the basis for this. You can see in this example that there are several sublists down the left hand column (Sublist Menu) beside the Menu Grid. (The Coffee/Tea Sublist is open in this image). Sublists appear in dark purple by default, and can also be put anywhere in the Menu Grid, or even on the Function Grid. The text on Sublist buttons is underlined.
3. Modifiers: These attach to items and change the QUALITY of the item you sell. In this example, we have different types of milk, coffee strengths and sugar quantities for coffees. Modifiers can appear in the Menu Grid in any Sublist alongside your items, in a separate Sublist of their own, or, after you select an item, in a pop-up Auto-Modifier box. The text on Modifier buttons is italicised.
4. Adjustments: Adjustments are used to change the QUANTITY of what you sell. Here, you’ll see the sizes Small, Standard and Large. Text is italicised.
Menu List Tab
The first tab of your Menu Template Spreadsheet is the Menu List tab. This is where we’ll gather information such as your Item names, Departments (and Sublists), Adjustments and whether or not you want Auto-Modifiers.
You can have up to five price levels for any one Item. We call these Adjustments, and typically, they are used to differentiate sizes, such as Glass/Bottle for wines or Sml/Std/Lge for coffees.
You can see in the example here that from the Menu List tab, we have created:
- A Sublist called Coffee/Tea;
- The Items listed on the spreadsheet; and
- The Adjustments for each size / price level.
There is also an instruction in the notes section, regarding Auto-Modifier pop-ups, which we will address shortly.
Modifier Tab
The second tab of your Menu Template Spreadsheet is the Modifier List tab. This is where we’ll gather information such as your Modifier names and their Departments. Also, based on your notes on the previous tab, we can see which Modifiers need to go in an Auto-Modifier pop-up.
Modifiers attach to items and cannot be sold on their own. Some (eg soy milk for coffees) will have prices, and some (eg rare or med rare for steaks) won’t have a charge.
In your Menu Grid, there are several places that Modifiers can appear, and we will arrange them as logically as possible. In this example, there aren’t a lot of Modifiers in the Coffee/Tea Mods department, so we’ve put them in the Coffee/Tea Sublist. In situations with a lot of Modifiers, we will create a separate Sublist for these, and put the button near the appropriate items.
From the previous page, we know that this client has requested that the Modifiers in the Liqueur Coffee Mods department pop up when Liqueur Coffee is selected. That’s where Auto-Modifiers come in.
Remember: If you know where you’d like things to go, please tell us! And if you’re not sure, you can easily change where things are located in your menu by clicking and dragging buttons on and off the grid in Back Office! Your training will cover this.
Auto Modifiers
Auto- Modifiers are the perfect solution for when you have an item that needs a Modifier selected before it can be served. In this example, the client has an Item called “Liqueur Coffee” which needs a Modifier (Liqueur type) to be selected before it can be prepared.
Whenever Liqueur Coffee is selected, the Auto-Modi pop up (below left) will appear, allowing the liqueur selection to be made. You can force a selection (one Modifier MUST be selected) and also specify a limit (ONLY one Modifier can be selected).
The steps are as follows:
1.Press the button Liqueur Coffee to prompt the pop-up.
2.Press the button for the option required (in this case Angier (Cointreau)
3.Press “Skip” if a Modifier limit hasn’t been enforced (if a limit is enforced, the pop-up window will disappear after the limit is reached
Below, you can see how the modifier appears attached to the item in the Order Grid.
Discounts Tab
The third tab on the Menu Template is Discounts. This is where you can nominate what discounts you would like to offer your clients and staff, and what Authority Level your staff need to have to apply the discounts.
There are six types of discounts:
1. Fixed $ amount off an individual item
2. Fixed $ amount off a whole check
3. Fixed $ amount off any of a group of items
4. Percentage off an individual item
5. Percentage off a whole check
6. Percentage off any of a group of items
Below, you can see how this client has provided their Discount information to us.
In the following image, you can see how these might appear in Front Office. (In most cases, the Discount buttons can be found in the More Functions).
In this case, the Free Item discount (100% item discount) has been applied to the item Liqueur Coffee, which has reduced the total to $16.00 (the cost of the other ordered item/s).
Staff Details Tab
The fourth and final tab on the Menu Template is Staff Details. This is where you can have us set up some or all of your staff as Users in the system. Don’t worry if you don’t have all the details yet – just leave it blank. Staff Details are quick to add later, and you’ll be shown how to do just that at your installation.
There are four default Authority Levels within Impos, and every function, from taking payments to changing prices to exiting the software is assigned a minimum Authority Level. Here’s a breakdown of the four levels:
- Staff: Normal staff who are taking orders and processing payments
- Perm: Shift managers or those with a bit more responsibility.
- Manager: Department or duty management, who may need access to more administrative functionality
- Admin: The highest level of authority with access to all functions.
(In your training, you will have this explained to you further. )
Below, you can see how this client has provided us their staff information
And here you can see how the display name shows in Front Office to show who is logged in.
Further Assistance
Here is a youtube video that may provide additional help:
How to fill out your Impos Menu Template
Returning the Menu Template Spreadsheet
We have a standard two week turnaround from when we receive the template back to final installation, with one week being required to create the menu, after the week, the training is completed and then there is a week between training and installation. During that period we will trouble shoot any issues with the menu design.