Select Maintenance > Business > Store to access the Store function. The Store function enables you to configure default system settings for your store. The system automatically creates a store record during the system installation/import process and the function separates options in this record into groups, based on the area of the Aloha POS system affected by your selections. Select the Financials group located at the bottom of the screen.

Financials group

Use the Financials group to establish policies and procedures for financial aspects of your business that apply to the entire restaurant. The options in the Financials group allow you to define:

• (TS only) When and how to use gratuities.
• (TS only) The petty cash account to use for tip outs.
• Secondary tax, smart tax, and surcharge requirements.
• Report requirements, such as if net sales includes comps or promotions, if gross sales includes voided sales, and the minimum tip percentage all employees must tip.
• (QS only) Prompts to remind the cashier to make cash drops.
• The method with which you can search house accounts.
• Either a flat charge or a percentage to apply to the guest check.

Group Bar: Add gratuity (TS only)

Use the ‘Add gratuity’ group bar to define global gratuity requirements that apply to the entire store. A manager must manually add a gratuity to the guest check when using this gratuity method.

Enable automatic gratuity — Activates the gratuity function and enables the remaining options under the ‘Add gratuity’ group bar. The system displays the calculated gratuity amount on the FOH Close screen when you apply a gratuity to the check. Related Options: 1) This option enables all other options under the ‘Add gratuity’ group bar. 2) You must select this option to enable gratuities even if you use the Gratuities function to assign gratuities to a revenue center. 3) If you need the system to automatically add a gratuity to a guest check, create a gratuity in Maintenance > System Settings > Gratuity > Gratuity tab with ‘Force automatic gratuity’ selected under the ‘Gratuity’ group bar, and then attach that gratuity to the appropriate revenue center.

Default percentage — Specifies the default gratuity percentage to apply to the guest check. Related Options: 1) To allow a server to override the default amount, select ‘Allow Server to adjust gratuity.’ 2) To allow a manager to override the default amount, select ‘Allow Manager to adjust gratuity.’

Maximum percentage — Specifies the maximum gratuity percentage permitted using two decimal places. For example, if you enter 8 as a default or maximum percent, it appears as 8.00; if you enter 12.5, it appears as 12.50. Once you apply the gratuity, the Add Gratuity button on the FOH screens becomes the Edit Gratuity button. You can either accept the default gratuity, or press Edit Gratuity to enter a percentage up to, but not exceeding, the value specified here. If this value is set at 0.00, the Edit Gratuity button does not appear on the FOH screens. Related Options: 1) To allow a server to override the maximum amount, select ‘Allow Server to adjust gratuity.’ 2) To allow a manager to override the maximum amount, select ‘Allow Manager to adjust gratuity.’ 3) To combine a dollar gratuity amount and a percentage gratuity amount as one item on the guest check, select ‘Combine gratuity tax with other guest check tax.’

Default amount — Specifies the default gratuity dollar amount to apply to the guest check. Related Options: 1) To allow a server to override the default amount, select ‘Allow Server to adjust gratuity.’ 2) To allow a manager to override the default amount, select ‘Allow Manager to adjust gratuity.’ 3) To combine a dollar gratuity amount and a percentage gratuity amount as one item on the guest check, select ‘Combine gratuity tax with other guest check tax.’

Maximum amount — Specifies the maximum gratuity dollar amount permitted. After you apply the gratuity, the Add Gratuity button on the FOH screens becomes the Edit Gratuity button.You can either accept the default gratuity or press Edit Gratuity to enter an amount up to, but not exceeding, the amount specified here. If this value is set at 0.00, the Edit Gratuity button does not appear on the FOH screens. Related Options: 1) To allow a server to override the maximum amount, select ‘Allow Server to adjust gratuity.’ 2) To allow a manager to override the maximum amount, select ‘Allow Manager to adjust gratuity.’ 3) To combine a dollar gratuity amount and a percentage gratuity amount as one item on the guest check, select ‘Combine gratuity tax with other guest check tax.’

Minimum guests needed for Automatic Gratuity — Specifies the minimum number for a guest count required to apply a gratuity.

Minimum guests needed for tax on Automatic Gratuity — Specifies the minimum number for a guest count required for a gratuity to become taxable.

Manager required — Requires a manager to apply gratuities using the Assign Gratuity button on the FOH Financials screen. Related Options: To enable an employee to have access to the Assign Gratuity button on the FOH Financials screen, access Maintenance > Labor > Pos Access Levels > Access Level tab and select ‘Assign gratuity’ under the ‘Financial’ group bar.

Allow Server to adjust gratuity — Enables employees clocked in under a server job code to change the gratuity up to the maximum allowable percentage or amount. Related Options: 1) To define a maximum dollar amount allowed for gratuity, enter an amount in ‘Maximum amount.’ 2) To define the maximum percentage allowed for gratuity, type a percentage in ‘Maximum percentage.’

Allow Manager to adjust gratuity — Enables employees clocked in under a manager job code to change the gratuity up to the maximum allowable percentage or amount. Related Options: 1) To define a maximum dollar amount allowed for gratuity, type an amount in ‘Maximum amount.’ 2) To define the maximum percentage allowed for gratuity, type a percentage in ‘Maximum percentage.’ 3) To enable a manager to override the gratuity amount, access Maintenance > Labor > Pos Access Levels > Access Level tab, select ‘Assign gratuity’ under the ‘Financials’ group bar, and assign the access level to the employee.

Tax on Automatic Gratuity — Determines the tax type to use when taxing gratuities. When you modify a tax, the change applies to all items assigned to that tax.

Combine gratuity tax with other guest check tax — Combines gratuity tax with other taxes on the check.

Apply menu item primary tax as gratuity tax — Calculates the gratuity tax to add to the guest check using the tax rate specified for the tax type associated with each item on the check. Use this option when you need to configure gratuities at the store level. When cleared, the system uses the tax type selected from the ‘Tax on Automatic Gratuity’ drop-down list, located on this same tab, to calculate the gratuity tax using a flat rate. Required Options: You must select ‘Enable automatic gratuity’ to enable this option. Related Options: 1) This option overrides the selection from ‘Tax on automatic gratuity,’ located on this same tab. 2) ‘Apply menu item primary tax as gratuity tax’ under the ‘Gratuity’ group bar in Maintenance > System Settings > Gratuities > Gratuity tab overrides this option. Documented Version: v12.3.

Include inclusive tax — Includes inclusive taxes when calculating the gratuity to apply to the check. Related Options: To display additional inclusive tax information on the guest check, access Maintenance > Business > Store > Store Settings tab > Check Printing group and select ‘Print inclusive tax breakout on check’ under the ‘Guest Check Content > Tax Breakout’ group bar.

Include exclusive tax — Includes exclusive taxes when calculating the gratuity to apply to the check. Required Options: You must select ‘Enable automatic gratuity’ to enable this option. Related Options: To display additional exclusive tax information on the guest check, access Maintenance > Business > Store > Store Settings tab > Check Printing group and select ‘Print exclusive tax breakout on check’ under the ‘Guest Check Content > Tax Breakout’ group bar.

Reporting category for gratuity tax — Designates the sales category in which gratuity taxes should be included, if the BOH Sales report is configured to show detail for the Sales by Category section. If a category is not selected, the grat taxes are included in the Taxes column of the first sales/retail category appearing in the list. When you modify a category, the change applies to all items assigned to that category.

Apply payments to the Amount Due before the Gratuity — Enables the system to apply a payment first to the amount of the check after taxes, then to the gratuity amount. For example, if you have a check total of $3,000.00 with a 20% gratuity of $600.00, and you apply a pre-payment of $1,000.00, the guest check and credit card voucher reflect a balance of $2,000.00 with the $600.00 gratuity still intact. If you clear this option, the check reflects a balance of $2,150.00 with a $450.00 gratuity. Required Options: You must select ‘Enable automatic gratuity’ to enable this option.

Group Bar: Tips (TS only)

Exclude cash tender type tips and gratuity from charge tips — Allows you to track tips and gratuity for cash tender types separately from credit cards tips, when using the ‘Percentage of cash sales’ threshold type for tip declaration. The Charge Tips that appear on the Enter Declared Cash Tips screen reflect tips and gratuity from non-cash tenders only.

Group Bar: Tip Out (TS only)

Reporting account for Tip Out — Identifies the petty cash account to associate with monies received by cashiers who collect tips from credit card purchases and then distribute them to the appropriate employees using the Tip Out button on the FOH Financial screen. Each tip appears on the cashier checkout until the tip out occurs, at which time the tip moves to the server checkout. Only paid out petty cash accounts appear in the list. Related Options: 1) Access Maintenance > System Settings > Petty Cash Account to define petty cash accounts. 2) Access Maintenance > Labor > Jobcodes > Financial tab and select ‘Can perform tip out to other employees’ under the ‘Tips’ group bar for each cashier job code that collects tips for other employees.

Allow partial Tip Out — Enables a cashier to perform a partial tip out on tips collected. Used in conjunction with the auto gratuity feature, a cashier may tip out additional tips and gratuities to servers on a daily basis.

Group Bar: Taxes

Enable Secondary taxes — Enables the use of secondary taxes by the system. Related Requirements: Access Maintenance > Taxes > Tax Types to define secondary taxes and then assign secondary taxes to items in Maintenance > Menu > Items.

Enable smart taxes (TS only) — Enables the use of smart (inclusive) taxes. Related Requirements: Access Maintenance > Menu > Tax Types to define smart taxes.

Subtract inclusive taxes when Tax Exempt — Removes inclusive taxes from the item price, when the check is tax exempt.

Rounding rules for primary and secondary taxes — Specifies rounding rules to apply to taxes. This allows you to define rounding based on regional regulations. Valid choices are ‘System default,’ ‘Round up,’ and ‘Round down.’ Documented Version: v12.3.

Exempt inclusive tax item indicator — Denotes the character or text to appear on the printed receipt to indicate the inclusive tax was backed out of the price, when the check is tax exempt. Required Options: You must select ‘Subtract inclusive taxes when Tax Exempt’ to enable this option.

Exclude inclusive primary tax from exclusive secondary tax — Calculates the secondary tax using the base price of the item, not the price after adding the exclusive tax.

Display exempted tax amount on check — Indicates the amount of inclusive or exclusive tax removed when you apply a tax exemption on the on-screen and printed guest check. Documented Version: v12.3.

Show tax details on screen — Enables different taxes to appear as separate line items on screen.

Group Bar: Goods and services tax (GST)

A GST tax charges a certain percentage on the sale of all goods and services; however, you can exempt certain items from the GST tax, as allowed. You apply the GST tax at the item level, and after other taxes are applied to the guest check. For example, if the guest check subtotal for a single item, such as a sandwich, is $5 and the primary tax applied is 5%, the new subtotal is $5.25. If a GST tax of 3% is in effect, the system calculates the tax against the new subtotal ($5.25), which brings the guest check total to $5.40.

Goods and services tax — Designates the tax record corresponding to the GST tax in effect in your area. Required Options: You must select ‘Apply Additional Charges’ under the ‘Additional charges’ group bar on this same tab to expose this option. Leave the default value for ‘Additional Charge method’ as None. Related Options: Selecting this option enables ‘Print GST text on receipt.’ Related Requirements: Access Maintenance > Menu > Tax Types, select either the inclusive or exclusive GST tax record supplied by the POS system, and change the percentage, if needed.

Apply GST to comp amount — Calculates the GST tax on the ala carte price of the items in the comp, rather than the price after applying the discount.

Apply GST to promo discount — Calculates the GST tax on the original (ala carte) price of the items in the promotion, rather than the price after applying discount.

Print tax invoice for totals over this amount — The amount above which the GST tax applies to the guest check. Type a currency amount in the text box.

Category of items to exempt from GST — Determines the category of items that are exempt from the GST tax, if any.

Print GST text on receipt — Indicates you want a message to appear on the guest check, when a GST tax is applied. Related Options: Selecting this option enables ‘GST text to print on receipt.’ Required Options: You must select ‘Goods and services tax’ to enable this option.

GST text to print on receipt — Prints a message on the guest check, in response to application of the GST tax. Type the message in the text box. Type a maximum of 20 characters. Required Options: You must select ‘Print GST text on receipt’ to enable this option.

Group Bar: Surcharge

Enable Surcharges — Activates surcharges in the system and applies them to the designated menu items. Related Options: Selecting this option enables all other options under the ‘Surcharge’ group bar.

Surcharge text — Specifies the text to appear on guest checks when ‘Enable Surcharges’ is selected. If cleared, the surcharge text appears as ‘Surcharge 1,’ ‘Surcharge 2,’ etc. Type a maximum of 20 characters. Required Options: You must select ‘Enable Surcharges’ to enable this option.

Guest pays surcharge — Applies surcharges to designated menu items and includes them on guest checks. Related Options: Selecting this option disables the ‘Enable Smart Surcharges’ option.

Enable Smart Surcharges — Adds exclusive surcharges only if there are exclusive taxable items on the check. If there are no exclusive taxable items, the Surcharge line does not appear on the check. Related Options: Selecting this option disables the ‘Guest pays surcharge’ option.

Display all surcharges on one line — Combines all surcharges into a single entry on guest checks. If cleared, surcharges are listed separately each time they are applied.

Apply surcharge to zero-priced items — Includes zero priced items in surcharge calculations.

Apply surcharge to voided items not returned to inventory — Includes voided items in surcharge calculations.

Apply surcharge to discounted items — Includes comps and promotions in surcharge calculations.

Group Bar: Reports

Exclude voided items from gross sales — Does not include sales from voids in the gross sales calculations.

Include promos discounts in gross sales — Includes sales which were discounted with a promotion in the gross sales.

Include comps in net sales — Includes sales which were discounted with a comp in the net sales.

Include promos discounts in net sales — Includes sales which were discounted with a promotion in the net sales.

Exclude open sales from BOH reports (QS only) — Does not include sales entered with the open item function on the BOH reports.

Exclude open sales from Server Sales report (TS only) — Does not include sales entered with the open item function on the FOH Server Sales report.

Include modifiers on FOH Product Mix report — Includes all defined modifiers on the FOH Product Mix (PMIX) report. If cleared, modifiers do not appear on the report. Documented Version: v12.3.

Exclude zero-priced modifiers on FOH Product Mix report — Omits unpriced modifiers from the FOH Product Mix (PMIX) report. Required Options: You must select ‘Include modifiers on FOH Product Mix report’ to enable this option. Documented Version: v12.3.

Exclude 100% comp checks from guest and check counts — Does not include checks in which a comp took the amount to $0.00, when calculating check and guest counts totals.

Display FOH labor hours format — Indicates the format you want to use for showing labor hours and minutes on FOH reports for Clock In/Out times and the Labor report.

Minute — Controls display of hours and minutes on FOH reports for Clock In/Out Times and the Labor report. If cleared, the hours appear in a decimal, or hundredths, format. If selected, the times appear in hours and minutes, or HH:MM.

Decimal — Controls display of hours and minutes on the clock in/clock out chit. If selected, times and totals print in the HH:MM format and in hundredths, or decimals.

Print both minute and decimal formats on timeclock chits — Prints the clock-in/out chit with HH:MM and decimal format.

Report non-cash tenders by terminal revenue center — Always reports non-cash payments to revenue centers attached to the terminal, even if you have attached a revenue center by an order mode or by a table.

Tip breakdown prints on clock out chit — Prints a tip breakdown section, such as the tip rate%, total charge sales and tip rate, total cash tips and tip rate, and more, at the bottom of the clock out chit. Related Options: The tip breakdown appears on the clock out chit for an employee clocked in under a job code with ‘Order entry’ selected.

Clock out chit footer message — Prints a defined guest check message as a footer at the bottom of the clock out chit. Select ‘00000 None’ to disable the feature.

Default minimum declared tip percentage — Specifies the percentage to use when determining if an employee’s declared tips are too low. The employee receives only one chance to enter their declared tips at the right percentage. If the amount is too low, a warning message displays. If the wrong amount is accepted, the manager must delete the clock out for the employee to enable them to try again.

Do not round balance due before tender applied — Prevents the system from performing rounding on the balance due to the guest until a tender is applied to the check. This more commonly applies to sites located outside of the United States of America. Required Options: Configure tender rounding in Maintenance > Payments > Tenders > Rounding tab.

Generate checkout balance file (TS only) — Creates Balance.txt, which you can use to manually compare against data in the grind files. Related Options: As an alternative, access Maintenance > Business > Store > Store Settings tab > System group, select ‘Run data integrity check at EOD’ under the ‘End Of Day’ group bar, and let the system do the comparison for you.

Group Bar: Reports id="checkout-buckets-ts-only"> Checkout buckets (TS only)

Use the ‘Checkout buckets’ group bar to establish checkout centers for which managers can assign checkouts to consolidate. The manager can then view or print the totals of the checkout center for balancing, including financial figures, time of checkout, employee numbers, total sales, tip refunds, cash, guest counts, guest check average, tip share, and a total due. Typically, this is referred to as a ‘Team Sheet’ or ‘Shift Balance’ and used to balance the manager’s shifts. You can create up to 10 checkout buckets to represent a collection of checkouts, such as by specific shifts, meal periods or job codes.

Bucket 1 name to Bucket 10 name — Denotes the descriptive name of each checkout bucket.

Group Bar: Cash Drops

Cash drawer amount for initial cash drop prompt — Designates the amount that must be in the drawer to initiate the first message prompt for a cash drop. Once the dollar amount of cash owed reaches this amount for the first time in a shift, the system prompts the employee to perform a cash drop. They can either perform a drop or continue operating without a drop until the amount in the drawer reaches the specified amount for a subsequent prompt.

Incremental amount for cash drop reminder beyond initial amount — Determines the amount that must be in the drawer to display subsequent message prompts for a cash drop. This number must be greater than the number entered in the ‘Cash drawer amount for initial cash drop prompt’ text box.

Cash drawer amount at which cash drop is required — Designates the amount that must be in the drawer to display a message prompt for a required cash drop. When the amount of cash in the drawer reaches this amount, the employee cannot continue operations until they make a drop. This number must be greater than the numbers entered in the ‘Cash drawer amount for initial cash drop prompt’ and ‘Incremental amount for cash drop reminder beyond initial amount’ text boxes.

Manager approval required for cash drop — Displays the manager approval screen when you are prompted to perform a cash drop from the FOH. Required Options 1) You must type a value higher than 0.00 in the corresponding text boxes to enable the ‘Prompt for Cash Drop’ feature. 2) To allow an employee to approve cash drops, access Maintenance > Labor > Pos Access Levels > Access Level tab, select ‘Approve cash drop’ under the ‘Financial’ group bar, and assign the access level to the employee.

Self-banking amount for initial cash drop prompt — Designates the amount that must be in the employee bank to initiate the first message prompt for a cash drop. Once the dollar amount of cash owed reaches this amount for the first time in a shift, the system prompts the employee to perform a cash drop. They can either perform a drop or continue operating without a drop until the amount in the drawer reaches the specified amount for a subsequent prompt.

Incremental cash drop reminder for self-banking beyond initial amount — Determines the amount that must be in the employee bank to display subsequent message prompts for a cash drop. This number must be greater than the number entered in the ‘Cash drawer amount for initial cash drop prompt’ text box.

Self-banking amount at which cash drop is required — Designates the amount that must be in the employee bank to display a message prompt for a required cash drop. When the amount of cash in the drawer reaches this amount, the employee cannot continue operations until they make a drop. This number must be greater than the numbers entered in the ‘Cash drawer amount for initial cash drop prompt’ and ‘Incremental amount for cash drop reminder beyond initial amount’ text boxes.

Group Bar: Automatic Deposits

Number of description fields — Specifies whether to show one or two prompts for a deposit description. Selecting ‘2’ enables the ‘Field 2 text,’ ‘Length for field 2 text,’ ‘Field 2 is numeric,’ ‘Field 2 is required,’ and ‘Field 2 prompt for deposit reason’ options.

Field 1 text — Denotes the first text string to appear on the FOH deposit declaration screen and the Edit Deposit Entry dialog box in Functions > Edit Deposits. Required Options: You must select at least ‘1’ or ‘2’ from ‘Number of description fields’ to enable this option.

Field 2 text — Denotes the second text string to appear on the FOH deposit declaration screen and the Edit Deposit Entry dialog box in Functions > Edit Deposits. Required Options: You must select at least ‘2’ from ‘Number of description fields’ to enable this option.

Length for field 1 text — Specifies the number of characters, up to 30, you can add for the corresponding field 1description. Required Options: You must select at least ‘1’ or ‘2’ from ‘Number of description fields’ to enable this option.

Length for field 2 text — Specifies the number of characters, up to 30, you can add for the corresponding field 2 description. Required Options: You must select at least ‘2’ from ‘Number of description fields’ to enable this option.

Field 1 is numeric — Specifies whether you must enter numbers only for the corresponding field 1 description.

Field 2 is numeric — Specifies whether you must enter numbers only for the corresponding field 2 description. Required Options: You must select at least ‘2’ from ‘Number of description fields’ to enable this option.

Field 1 is required — Indicates field 1 is mandatory.

Field 2 is required — Indicates field 2 is mandatory. Required Options: You must select at least ‘2’ from ‘Number of description fields’ to enable this option.

Field 1 prompt for deposit reason — Displays the Deposit Reason screen so you can enter a description for deposit 1.

Field 2 prompt for deposit reason — Displays the Deposit Reason screen so you can enter a description for deposit 2. Required Options: You must select at least ‘2’ from ‘Number of description fields’ to enable this option.

Maximum amount per deposit — Specifies the maximum amount you can enter for a deposit, up to $999,999.99. When the reconciled amount exceeds the maximum amount, the deposits are broken out separately.

Automatically generate deposit from declared tenders — Enables you to automatically transfer the reconciled amount to a deposit. Required Options: If you are using Employee Reconciliation, you must access Maintenance > Labor > Jobcodes > Financial tab and select ‘Reconcile payments at checkout’ under the ‘Financial’ group bar. If you are using Drawer Reconciliation, you must access Maintenance > Hardware > Cash Drawers > Cash Drawer tab and select ‘Perform drawer reconciliation’ under the ‘Settings’ group bar.

Always display the deposit distribution screen — Displays the Distribution screen, always, after you perform a reconciliation. This allows you to add and edit deposits, regardless of the maximum deposit amount value.

Group Bar: House account

House account lookup method — Indicates the method you use to look up a house account record.

Account number — Searches for house accounts by account number.

Account name — Searches for house accounts by the account name.

Account number, then account name — Searches for house accounts by the account number, then if nothing is found, searches for the account name.

Group Bar: Additional charges

Apply Additional Charges — Enables additional charges to be applied automatically to the guest check per the defined criteria. Once selected, the system checks for an inclusive GST tax in use, and once found, disables both the ‘Apply to comp amounts’ and ‘Apply to promo discount amounts’ text boxes and adds additional charges to the full item prices. In addition, the system disables the ‘Charge amount’ text box so that you may not use a flat rate for the additional charge. If ‘Apply additional charges’ is cleared, the additional charge does not appear on FOH or BOH reports.

Name — Indicates the name of the additional charge. Type a maximum of 20 characters.

Text — Determines the text to print on the guest check when the additional charge is added. For example, you may want ‘Service Charge’ printed on the guest check, rather than ‘Additional Charge.’

Additional Charge method — Defines whether the additional charge uses an amount or a percentage rate.

Charge amount — Displays a numeric value which represents the flat charge the system automatically adds to each guest check. The default value is 00000.00. Required Options: You must select ‘Amount’ as the ‘Additional Charge method’ to enable this option.

Charge percent — Displays a numeric value which represents the multiplier used in concert with the subtotal on the guest check. The default is 00.0000. Required Options: You must select ‘Percent’ as the ‘Additional charge method’ to enable this option.

Apply to promo discount amounts — Indicates whether the additional charge is applied to promo(s). If selected, the additional charge is applied to the subtotal of the guest check including the amount of the promo(s). Required Options: You must select ‘Apply Additional Charges’ to enable this option.

Apply to comp amounts — Indicates whether the system applies the additional charge to comp(s). If selected, the system applies the additional charge to the subtotal of the guest check, including the amount of the comp(s). Required Options: You must select ‘Apply Additional Charges’ to enable this option.

Print on reports — Enables you to report additional charges on the FOH and BOH Sales and Sales by Revenue Center reports. Required Options: You must select ‘Apply Additional Charges’ to enable this option.

Display additional charge (QS only) — Shows any additional charges on the FOH order entry screen. Required Options: You must select ‘Apply Additional Charges’ to enable this option.

Category of items to exclude from additional — Designates a category to exempt from the additional charge.