- About Department Charge Accounts
- How Do Department Charge Accounts Work on the POS?
- Viewing Transaction History of Department Charge Account
- Prerequisites to Create a Department Charge Account
- Creating a Department Charge Account
- Assigning Departments to a Department Charge Account
- Removing Departments from a Department Charge Account
- Disabling a Department Charge Account
- Enabling a Department Charge Account
About Department Charge Accounts
A department charge account allows diners to pay their ticket (or portion of their ticket) from a department charge account, which will then be recorded in the facility’s accounting system for tracking purposes.
How Do Department Charge Accounts Work on the POS?
A department charge account is available system-wide, meaning it does not need to be assigned to diners.
On the POS side during checkout, there is a Charge to Department button.
When charging to a department, a pop-up appears allowing the POS user to first select the department , and then select the appropriate charge account from a list of charge accounts assigned to the department.
Viewing Transaction History of Department Charge Account
To view the transaction history of a department charge account:
- Select People Management > Charge Policies. The Charge Policies screen appears.
- In the Department Charge Policies section, click the View Accounts button of the department charge account whose transaction history you want to view. Another screen appears listing the various departments assigned to the department charge account.
- For the department whose transactions you want to view, click the View Transactions button. The Transaction History screen appears, listing the transaction records made against the department charge account.
Prerequisites to Create a Department Charge Account
Your POS Location must be set up to accept department charges, which is accomplished by your MealSuite customer success manager (CSM). If you are a CSM, open the client's POS location, and select the Enable department charge check box in the Tender Methods section.
The department charge account will be associated with a department in your account system. Therefore provide your CSM the following:
- Department name
- Department code
- Is the department tax exempt? When a department is tax exempt (such as a department in a non-profit community hospital), then any items/products paid for through the charge account are not charged taxes and override the default tax settings for the products and categories.
- Business line name and associated code that the department is assigned to; if not applicable, then the MealSuite CSM will create a "faux" business line using your MealSuite account name and a dummy value for the business code.
As the CSM, refer to the following internal article to create a business line and department: Business Lines and Departments.
Creating a Department Charge Account
With the prerequisites complete, To create a department charge account, complete the following steps:
- In Touch Admin, select People Management > Charge Policies. The Charge Policies screen appears.
- Click the Add a Department Charge Policy button. The Charge Policy screen appears.
- Enter or select the following:
- Name - name of the charge account.
- Customer Finance System or Internal Tracking Code - Optional
- Covered Items are Tax Exempt - with this check box selected, any items/products paid for through the charge account are not charged taxes and override the default tax settings for the products or categories.
- Maximum Account Limit - enter the maximum limit of the department charge account.
- Activate this account for all departments. If left un-checked, each department must be manually selected. - with this check box selected, the charge account will be active for all departments. If you would like to manually assign the charge account to departments in the Departments field, then leave the check box blank.
- Departments - select the departments that the charge account is active for. Departments are set up by your MealSuite CSM (customer success manager). If you are a MealSuite CSM, see the following internal article: Business Lines and Departments
- Authentication requirement - restricts who can use this account
- GL Account - Optional - select the GL account to be associated with the charge account for tracking in your facility’s accounting system for subsequent deduction from the diner’s payroll account. Note that GL accounts are set up by your MealSuite CSM (customer success manager). If you are a MealSuite CSM, see the following internal article: Setting Up Accounting System Parameters.
- Business Line for Finance Reporting - Optional
- Automatically reset the balance on all accounts on a regular schedule - with this check box selected, then when the balance of a diner’s account reaches $0 the account will be automatically reset to the Maximum Account Limit according to the schedule parameters below (which is typically based on payroll scheduling):
- Date of first reset - select the date the first reset is to trigger.
- Time the re-occurring reset should happen - enter the time of day a reset will occur.
- Reset interval - select the interval allowed between resets: Daily, Weekly, Biweekly, Monthly.
- Click the Save button to apply your changes.
- You are returned to the Charge Policies screen, where the newly listed department charge account is listed.
Assigning Departments to a Department Charge Account
For an existing department charge account, you can assign departments you want the department charge account to be active for.
Note: Departments are set up by your MealSuite CSM (customer success manager). If you are a MealSuite CSM, see the following internal article: Business Lines and Departments, also note that the department will require an associated business line for the department charge account to successfully function.
To assign departments to a department charge account:
- Select People Management > Charge Policies. The Charge Policies screen appears.
- In the Department Charge Policies section, for the charge policy you want to manage departments for, click its Edit button. The Charge Policy screen appears.
- You have the following options:
- Activate this account for all departments. If left un-checked, each department must be manually selected. - with this check box selected, the charge account will be active for all departments. If you would like to manually assign the charge account to departments in the Departments field, then leave the check box blank.
- Departments - select the departments that the charge account is active for.
- Click Save to apply your changes.
Removing Departments from a Department Charge Account
For a department charge account, you can remove departments that you longer want the charge account to be active for. To do so, complete the following steps:
- Select People Management > Charge Policies. The Charge Policies screen appears.
- In the Department Charge Policies section, for the charge policy you want to manage departments for, click its Edit button. The Charge Policy screen appears.
- From the Departments field, click the X for a department to be removed from the account.
- Click Save to apply your changes.
Disabling a Department Charge Account
To disable a department charge account currently in use in the system, complete the following steps:
- In Touch Admin, select People Management > Charge Policies.
- In the Department Charge Policies section, locate the department charge account to disable and click its Disable Policy and Accounts button.
- Click OK to the confirmation message that appears.
Enabling a Department Charge Account
To reenable a department charge account in the system, complete the following steps:
- In Touch Admin, select People Management > Charge Policies.
- In the Department Charge Policies section, locate the department charge policy to enable and click its Activate Policy button.