In this article, learn how to use Toast Catering & Events in combination with Toast POS to appropriately charge guests based on varying service types.
Catering Online Ordering is only available with a Tosat Catering & Events Pro subscription. Please visit Toast Shop for details.
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Configure Catering Order Setup for POS
To begin setup for Toast Catering & Events, please see Get Started With Toast Catering & Events. Once you’re configured your catering settings and you're ready to start taking catering orders on the POS, follow these steps:
In Toast Web, navigate to Catering & events > Settings > Additional orders.
Select your desired Dining options for catering service (such as "dine in" orders you may take on the POS).
Select the Order sources for orders to be included.
Save and publish your changes.
Any order matching the Dining option and Order source you selected will now be added into the Calendar page within Catering & events — and be included in your reports available via Print Orders.
Catering orders started on the POS currently have limited functionality. See Catering Order Starting Points & Feature Availability for more information.
Edit & Collect Payment for Catering Orders on POS
Opening orders in payment terminal mode on POS is covered in depth in these Toast Central articles:
Opening catering orders is no different than recalling any other order on Toast POS.
Add items & pay with invoice.
Note: Your BEO/form data will not appear on Toast POS. Invoices aren't available on POS, but the associated order is. You can find the order within the Payment Terminal screen by searching through Advanced check search. Catering orders will appear in the same fashion as all other orders on Toast POS.
Coursing is not currently supported for orders placed in advance. To achieve coursing with an invoice, please follow the instructions in the Tableside section of this article.
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Manage Consumption Events on the POS
A consumption-style event is one where the final invoice’s total is yet to be determined because guests are allowed to add items to the check freely. See below for common types of service falling into this category.
Note: Many consumption-style events leverage deposits because an invoice/check with an outstanding balance is common in this type of service. For more info on deposits, check out Manage Deposits With Toast Catering & Events.
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Catering Bars: Pay on Consumption
A hosted bar is one in which the customer is willing to pay for all the beverages for their guests. Since this is an unknowable quantity ahead of the event, the staff will need to add items into the POS and charge accordingly based on what was consumed. This type of event can be managed in the following manner:
An order with an Bar Estimate item is created in Catering & events on Toast Web.
In Toast Web, the invoice is created & sent to the customer via email.
Service begins. The order can be viewed from the Payment Terminal screen of the POS.
Items are added to the existing order until service is finished.
The Estimate item is removed from the check to show the actual total cost for the customer.
If there is a minimum for this event, your staff may need to add an open item to charge for the difference between the minimum and the actual total.
For example: Guests consumed $600 worth of alcohol, but the minimum was $1000. Your staff may add in an open item called Bar Minimum with a price of $400.
Customers can pay on POS or via the payment link that was emailed to them; they sync real time.
Catering Bars: Pay by the Hour
Perhaps your bar package charges by the hour and, despite what is consumed, you’ll charge a flat fee. Toast Catering & Events doesn’t natively support time-usage pricing. You can work around this by creating items with the names of hour durations to charge your guests.
For example, 1 Hour of Bar Service and 2 Hours of Bar Service have been added as items to your menu. Based on how long your event is, you add the appropriate item to a catering order to invoice your customer.
Create an order with an X Hour(s) of Bar Service item added to it.
In Toast Web, the invoice is created & sent to the customer via email.
Service begins. The order can be viewed from the Payment Terminal screen of the POS.
If you track inventory and want to keep track of how many items were consumed, add those items to the order and apply a discount or Other payment type to the order for the amount of the added items.
The service is finished.
Customers can pay on POS or via the payment link that was emailed to them; they sync real time.
Catering Bars: Hosted to Cash
Hosted to cash service occurs when your customer wants to pay for up to a certain $ value or time and then after that point guests will be required to pay for drinks themselves.
The best way to handle this in Toast Catering & Events is to leverage a BEO form field to instruct your staff on these decisions your customer has made. Once your staff knows the $ value or time to stop hosted service, they’ll be able to take the right action on Toast POS.
An order with an Bar Estimate item is created in Catering & events on Toast Web.
In Toast Web, the invoice is created & sent to the customer via email.
The customer pays the deposit (which will later be subtracted from the order balance)
Service begins. The order can be viewed from the Payment Terminal screen of the POS.
Add items until the order threshold has been met. Void the Bar Estimate Item since it is a placeholder. This way, the balance will be negative until enough items have been added to pass the threshold.
Staff stops adding items to this specific order and begins charging customers for their beverages on separate POS orders.
When service concludes, customers can pay on POS or via the payment link that was emailed to them; they sync real time.
Catering Bars: Pay With Drink Tickets
Your customer would like to give each of their guests a drink ticket for service and have these distributed to their guests. Using Toast Catering & Events, you can charge your client based on how many tickets are redeemed.
An order with an Bar Estimate item is created in Catering & events on Toast Web.
In Toast Web, the invoice is created & sent to the customer via email.
The customer distributes drink tickets to their guest..
Service begins. The order can be viewed from the Payment Terminal screen of the POS.
Staff only adds items to the order as tickets are turned in.
When service concludes, customers can pay on POS or via the payment link that was emailed to them; they sync real time.
Tableside Service
Tableside service is a style of service where your kitchen prepares in a fashion similar to restaurant operations, but the billing for all tables is done through an invoice to a single customer.
An order with Food Estimate and Drink Estimate items in Catering & events on Toast Web.
In Toast Web, the invoice is created & sent to the customer via email.
Service begins. The order can be viewed from the Payment Terminal screen of the POS.
Use Table Service Mode for day-of fulfillment. Servers can add items to tables and fire to the kitchen as needed.
When service concludes, use the Payment Terminal screen to combine checks. It’s incredibly important that you select the invoice's check first, then all of the tables you want to add onto the invoice's check.
Customers can pay on POS or via the payment link that was emailed to them; they sync real time.
Note: If your style of service already knows the table’s orders and you want to leverage coursing/firing of items, you’ll need to include the adding of those items to tables as pre-work for your staff.
There is no way to do coursing in Toast Catering & Events in advance, and must be done as described above.
Replenishment Service
Replenishment service is one where items are left in an area and replenished as they’re consumed. This style of service is very similar to a pay-on-consumption bar setup, but typically applies to non-alcoholic or snack food drops.
An order with the starting quantities for the requested items is created in Catering & events on Toast Web.
In Toast Web, the invoice is created & sent to the customer via email.
Service begins. The order can be viewed from the Payment Terminal screen of the POS.
Items are added to the existing order until service is finished.
Remove quantities on the order of your leftover items to show the actual totals of what was consumed .
If there is a minimum for this event, your staff may need to add an open item to charge for the difference between the minimum and the actual total.
For example: Guests consumed $600 worth of items, but the minimum was $1000. Your staff may add in an open item called Meet the Minimum with a price of $400.
Customers can pay on POS or via the payment link that was emailed to them; they sync real time.
Catering Orders on a Kitchen Display System
Detailed information on Kitchen Display Systems (KDS) can be found in this Toast Central article, Get Started With Kitchen Configuration. Both Toast Catering & Events and Toast Catering & Events Pro orders will be available within KDS as long as you have set up prep stations and configured your KDS appropriately. Catering orders are also great candidates for using production items as well — learn more in this video.
Your BEO data / form data will not appear on Toast POS or KDS. Catering orders will appear in the same fashion as all other orders on Toast POS.
Catering Orders on the Orders Hub
Detailed information on orders hub can be found in this Toast Central article, Manage Off-Premise Orders With Orders Hub. Both Toast Catering & Events and Toast Catering % Events Pro orders will be available within Orders Hub as long as you have not filtered out the results.
Manage Catering Orders Without Hardware
No hardware is required to use Toast Catering & Events. If you choose to run without hardware, you’re likely to use email notifications or the Catering-specific Prep List and Pack Sheet reports to prepare for your upcoming orders.