Calculated guest count

Note

The calculated guest count feature is in limited release.

An order’s guest count specifies the number of guests served by the menu items in the order. Employees can manually enter an order’s guest count on the Toast POS app. Because of manual entry, an order’s guest count could be inaccurate. With calculated guest count, the Toast platform adds a system-generated estimated guest count to each order based on the menu items in the order.

The calculated guest count is the sum of the guest count weights of all items and modifiers in an order. For example, consider an order containing:

• A side salad modifier with a guest count weight of 0.5

• A cheeseburger item with a guest count weight of 1

• A steak entrée item with a guest count weight of 2

The calculated guest count is 3.5. For more information about configuring guest count weights for menu items and modifiers, see Guest count weight.

Tip

If an order contains a menu item or modifier that doesn't have a guest count weight configured, the calculated guest count excludes that item. For example, for an order containing an item whose guest count weight is 1 and another item with no weight configured, the calculated guest count is 1.

The Toast platform reports the calculated guest count value alongside the manually-entered guest count information. It never replaces the manually-entered value.

Enabling calculated guest count

The Toast platform adds a calculated guest count only to orders that move to the Completed status after you turn on the feature for the location. Enabling this feature doesn't update orders that are already completed.

Note

To turn on calculated guest count for a location, you must have the Web Setup > 6.6 Restaurant Operations Setup access permission.

To turn on calculated guest count for a single location

1. Access Toast Web.

2. Go to Reports > Settings > Metric configurations. The Metric configurations page opens.

3. Turn on the Calculated guest count setting.

4. Select the Save button. In the Reports will change dialog, select the Confirm & save button.

5. At the top right of the Metric configurations page, select the Publish all changes button. In the Confirm publish dialog, select the Publish button.

For multi-location organizations, you can turn on calculated guest count for some or all locations in your management group using overrides.

Tip

You can use Toast IQ to turn on calculated guest count at your location. For example, you can say "Enable the calculated guest count feature for the Ann Arbor location."

To turn on calculated guest count for only one location in a restaurant group

Note

Make sure that the location you're currently logged into is the one where you want to turn on calculated guest count.

1. Access Toast Web.

2. Go to Reports > Settings > Metric configurations. The Metric configurations page opens.

3. Select the + Add override button.

4. In the Select a location or group... dropdown menu, select the location where you want to add an override. In this example, you select Ann Arbor, the location you're currently logged into.

   

5. The default setting for the management group is off, and the setting for the Ann Arbor location is on.

   

6. Select the Save button. In the Reports will change dialog, select the Confirm & save button.

7. At the top right of the Metric configurations page, select the Publish all changes button. In the Confirm publish dialog, select the Publish button.

To turn on calculated guest count for all locations in a restaurant group

1. Access Toast Web.

2. Go to Reports > Settings > Metric configurations. The Metric configurations page opens.

3. Turn on the Calculated guest count setting.

   

4. Select the Save button. In the Reports will change dialog, select the Confirm & save button.

5. At the top right of the Metric configurations page, select the Publish all changes button. In the Confirm publish dialog, select the Publish button. This publishes the calculated guest count configuration for the location that you're currently logged into. To turn on calculated guest count for all locations in the restaurant group, log into each location in Toast Web and repeat step 5.

To turn on calculated guest count only for some locations in a restaurant group

1. Access Toast Web.

2. Go to Reports > Settings > Metric configurations. The Metric configurations page opens.

3. Select the + Add override button.

4. In the Select a location or group... dropdown menu, select the location where you want to turn on calculated guest count. In this example, you select Ann Arbor.

   

   The default setting for the management group is off, and the setting for the Ann Arbor location is on.

   

5. Select the + Add override button.

6. In the Select a location or group... dropdown menu, select the location where you want to turn off calculated guest count. In this example, you select Baltimore.

   

7. Turn the setting off for the Baltimore location.

   

   Use the + Add override button to add overrides for more locations.

8. Select the Save button. In the Reports will change dialog, select the Confirm & save button.

9. At the top right of the Metric configurations page, select the Publish all changes button. In the Confirm publish dialog, select the Publish button. This publishes the calculated guest count configuration for the location that you're currently logged into. To publish the calculated guest count configuration for all locations in the restaurant group, log into each location in Toast Web and repeat step 10.

Next, add guest count weights for all menu items and modifiers. For more information, see Configuring guest count weights.

Understanding and handling guest count weight validation

When you turn on calculated guest count, the Toast platform automatically looks at the published menu configuration for all applicable locations to check whether all items and modifiers have a guest count weight assigned. The platform reports missing configuration with a warning, but doesn't prevent you from enabling or using the calculated guest count feature.

If all items and modifiers in the location's published menu have guest count weight values configured, you see a message with a green check mark confirming that the expected configuration exists.

Tip

If you edit your menu configuration, check the Metric configurations page after you publish your changes to confirm that the guest count weight values configuration is still valid. The Toast platform re-runs the validation check on the location's published menu every time you visit the page.

If one or more items or modifiers in the location's published menu don't have guest count weight values configured, you see a message with a warning icon indicating that there's missing configuration. The message includes a link to the Menu manager page where you can configure guest count weight values.

Tip

Missing configuration doesn't prevent the Toast platform from reporting calculated guest count. If the calculated guest count field in an order contains no value, it means that none of the menu items in that order have a guest count weight configured, or that the order was completed before you turned on calculated guest count for that location. If an order's calculated guest count is zero, it means that all the menu items in the order have a guest count weight of zero.

Accessing calculated guest count information

When an order moves to the Completed status, the Toast platform automatically adds the calculated guest count to the order details.

Note

Changing your location configuration may result in inconsistent calculated guest count reports in the following situations:

• If you turn on calculated guest count and later turn it off, orders that are completed while the feature is turned off don't include a calculated guest count field. Order reports created for that time period show a gap in calculated guest count data.

• If you edit a completed order, the Toast platform recalculates the calculated guest count using the current guest count weights for all menu items and modifiers in the order. If any guest count weights changed after the order was first completed, the order's calculated guest count changes.

Access the calculated guest count information in any of the following ways:

• In Toast Web, go to Reports > Sales > Orders. The Calculated Guest Count column shows the value for each order.

  

  • The Calculated Guest Count column might be empty for an order for one of the following reasons:

    • None of the menu items or modifiers in that order have a guest count weight configured.

    • The order reached the Completed status before you turned on the calculated guest count feature.

  • The calculated guest count column has a value of 0 if all the menu items and modifiers in the order have guest count weights of 0.

• In Toast Web, go to Reports > Sales > Orders. Select an order to open the Order Details view. The Calculated Guest Count field displays the value for that order. If an order doesn't have the Calculated Guest Count field despite the feature being turned on, it means that none of the menu items or modifiers in the order have guest count weights configured.

  

• To view total and average calculated guest count information:

  1. In Toast Web, go to Reports > Sales > Sales summary.

  2. At the top of the page, select the legacy Sales summary link in the banner. The Sales Summary report page opens.

     

  3. Select the Load Report button.

  4. Scroll to the Service Mode Summary section. The table displays the Total Calculated guest count and Avg/Calculated guest count rows.