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Adding Prices for POS Menu Items and Products (via the Touch Admin Software)

Kevin U
  • Updated

Creating a Price Book

Synch Menu from MealSuite System

The menu items that are available to sell from POS must be first synched over from the MealSuite system. You can confirm with MealSuite Support that this is done. If you are MealSuite Support, see the following internal article: Synching Menu Items from MealSuite to POS/Portal App (INTERNAL). 

Create the Price Book and Export the Excel® (.csv) File

With the menu synched from the MealSuite system, your next steps are to create a price book record, which will automatically contain the menu items along with any POS products.

Note: If your facility sells items at different prices for different menus and/or POS locations, then a separate price book will need to be created for each menu and/or POS location that has different prices. 

To create a price book: 

  1. In Touch Admin, select POS Settings > Pricing. The Price Books screen appears.
  2. Click the Add a Price Book button. The Price Book Setup screen appears.
  3. In the Name field, enter a name for the price book (e.g., “Spring/Summer - Dining Room - Price Book”).
  4. Click Save. The price book record is created for the menu items and any POS products. Your next step is to export a .csv file of either the menu items or products, which you will then use to enter prices.
  5. If exporting menu items, then click the Menu Items tab, and use the following filters to determine the menu items that are displayed onscreen and will be exported:
    • Menu - select a currently-scheduled menu or menus of the items to be displayed onscreen. Note that for menu items to appear onscreen a menu must be currently active, or scheduled for the future.
    • Category - select the menu categories of the items to be displayed.
    • Regular/Regular Only - displays only menu items of the regular diet type and regular texture type. If this check box is cleared, then the therapeutic substitutes of the menu items also display. 
  6. If exporting products, then click the Products tab, and from the Category filter, select the menu categories and/or non-menu categories of the products to be displayed.  
  7. Click the Export to Excel button. An Excel file in .csv format is generated and downloaded to your computer.

Enter Price Types and Prices in .csv File

  1. Open the .csv file.
  2. Enter the Price Type and Price for each menu item. Note the following:
    • When entering the price, the format is as follows: x.xx. Do not enter the $ sign. For example 3.49.
    • When entering a Price Type, it must be one of the following exact matches: 
      • Fixed price
      • Price by kg
      • Price by lb
      • Price by g
      • Price by oz
      • Variable price (Note that the maximum limit that can be entered for a variable price on the front end is $30,000)
  3. If entering a variable price for an item, it means the price will be entered on the POS front end by the POS operator, and as such you do not need to enter a price for it in the file. 

price_book_file.png

Note: For a self-service kiosk (SSK), an item with a price by weight or an item with a variable price is filtered out and not available for selection. 

Import .csv File with Price Types and Prices

With the price types and prices entered for items in the .csv file, you then import the file to automatically add those prices to the price book. If there are existing products in the price book, then those existing products will be updated with the new pricing from the file.

To import the .csv file with price types and prices, complete the following steps:

  1. In Touch Admin, select POS Settings > Pricing. The Price Books screen appears.
  2. Click the Edit button of the price book whose prices you want to import from the .csv file. 
  3. To import the .csv file for menu items, click the Menu Items tab and then click the Import CSV button. 
    or
  4. To import the .csv file of POS products, click the Products tab and then click the Import to CSV button.
  5. Navigate to and select the file. 
  6. The system matches each item using the following criteria:
    • Display name (for menu items) / Product name (for products)
    • Portion size (for menu items)
    • Category
    • Menu name (for menu items)
  7. In addition, the system matches the Price Type value against the following accepted values: 
    • Fixed price
    • Price by kg
    • Price by lb 
    • Price by g
    • Price by oz 
    • Variable price (Note that the maximum limit that can be entered for a variable price on the front end is $30,000)
  8. When an item is matched, the Price Type and Price that is in the file will update in the price book. 
  9. If an item is not matched, then its Price type and Price will not be updated, and the system generates a message stating the row (i.e., item) that is not matched along with the reason. You can click the Download Errors button to download the error messages in a .csv file and correct the issues in the original file, and do another import as per the above steps.

    import_price_book_errors.png

Editing Price of an Existing Menu Item, Product or Service

To edit the price of an existing menu item, product or service, complete the following steps:

  1. In Touch Admin, select POS Settings > Pricing. The Price Books screen appears.
  2. Click the Edit button of the appropriate price book. The Price Book Setup screen appears. 

    price_book_setup.png
     
  3. If entering a price for a menu item, select the Menu Items tab. If entering a price for a product or service select the Products tab. 
  4. If entering prices for menu items, you have the following filters to determine the menu items you want to display onscreen:
    • Menu - select a currently-scheduled menu or menus of the items to be displayed onscreen. Note that for menu items to appear onscreen a menu must be currently active, or scheduled for the future.
    • Category - select the menu categories of the menu items you want to display onscreen. 
    • Regular/Regular Only - displays only menu items of the regular diet type and regular texture type. If this check box is cleared, then the therapeutic substitutes of the menu items also display onscreen. 
  5. If entering prices for a product, then from the Category filter you can select the menu categories and/or non-menu categories of the products you want to display onscreen. 
  6. If entering a fixed price, then from the Price Type drop-down select Fixed Price, and then in the Price field enter the price. 
  7. If entering a price by weight, then from the Price Type drop-down select the price by weight type (Price by kg, Price by lb, Price by g, or Price by oz) , and then in the Price field enter the price per weight unit. 
  8. If you want the price to be a variable price that is entered on the POS front-end by the POS operator, then from the Price Type drop-down select Variable price (no Price field is available because the price is to be entered by the POS operator). 
  9. Click the Save button to apply your changes. 

Note: For a self-service kiosk (SSK), an item with a price by weight or an item with a variable price is filtered out and not available for selection. 

Assigning Price Book to a POS Location

To assign a price book to a POS location, complete the following steps:

  1. Click POS Settings > Locations. The POS Locations screen appears.
  2. Click the Edit button of the location. The POS Location Management screen appears.
  3. From the Price Book drop-down, select the price book to assign to the POS location.
  4. Scroll down to the bottom of the screen and click the Save Location button to apply your changes.

Duplicating a Price Book

To create a second price book in the facility, it is not necessary to complete it from scratch. You can duplicate an existing price book and then modify the items as needed. To duplicate a second price book, complete the following steps:

  1. Select POS Settings > Pricing. The Price Books screen appears.
  2. For the price book you want to copy, click its Copy button.
    • The Copy Price Book pop-up appears.
  3. Click the Create Duplicate button.
    • You are returned to the main screen where the newly-duplicated price book is listed with “copy” in its name.
  4. Click the Edit button of the duplicated price book and enter an appropriate name for it and click Save.
  5. Edit the prices as needed. Note that to edit a price you have to place your cursor in the field and use the Delete or Backspace keys on your keyboard.
    • After entering the price for an item the system automatically saves the results.

Copying Price Book to Another Facility

If your Touch Admin user profile has been configured with access to other facility accounts, then you have the ability to copy an existing price book to those facilities. To do so, complete the following steps:

  1. Select POS Settings > Pricing. The Price Books screen appears.
  2. For the price book you want to copy, click its Copy button.
    • The Copy Price Book pop-up appears.
  3. From the Facility drop-down on the right, select the facility to which you want to copy the price book.
  4. Click the Copy to Another Facility button.

FAQs

What is the limit on the price that can be entered for an item available in the POS?

At this time, the system allows a fixed price of up to $9 999 999.99 to be entered. 

For a variable price, the limit that can be entered by the POS operator is $30,000.00.

Can the price of a menu item be automatically adjusted depending on the diner category/type? For example, a different price appears depending if a diner is a resident, guest, or staff. 

The system does not allow the price of a menu item to be automatically adjusted depending on diner categories (resident, staff, guest). Some workaround options are as follows:

I changed a price of a menu item, but the new price is not flowing to the POS? 

This most likely means you did not update the price of the item from your currently-scheduled menu. From the Menus filter, ensure you have selected the currently-scheduled menu to display its items for updating.