PoS Integrations

In this article, you will learn everything you need to know about our PoS integrations: how they work, which ones are available, and how to set yours up to get your sales data into Apicbase.

Table of content

1. General Information

2. Setup Guide

2.1. General Process

2.2. Sync PoS prices

3. List of PoS Integrations

1. General Information

A Point of Sales (PoS) system is the central hub of sales in any F&B business, playing a crucial role in the data flow of back-of-house operations, as it gathers the key sales information, essential to reach the true power of Apicbase.

With your PoS system connected and properly linked to Apicbase, the ingredients used in every product you sell are automatically depleted from your stock. Here’s how it works: On a daily basis, we sync with the PoS system and receive information on all the sales tickets registered the day before. For example, if a Pizza Margherita (PLU code 123) was sold three times, we will get a ticket showing "Pizza Margherita x3." By linking the PoS item "Pizza Margherita (PLU code 123)" to the corresponding recipe in Apicbase, the system will identify the ingredients used in those three sold pizzas and deduct them from the stock, following the quantities stated in the recipe.

This is a key step in tracking stock flow in Apicbase: by recording items coming into stock (via receiving orders, etc.) and going out of stock (mainly via PoS sales, but also through waste, etc.), we can easily calculate your Theoretical stock at any given moment.

2. Setup Guide

2.1. General Process

To reach optimal performance, it is crucial to correctly set up your PoS and link your Apicbase recipes to the PoS items. This short guide provides all the information necessary to set up and understand the link between your PoS and Apicbase.

1. Go to Outlet Settings: To begin, ensure that Apicbase is connected to your PoS system. As a general rule, one outlet can be connected to one PoS account. If your company has multiple locations, you will need to connect each location’s PoS to the corresponding outlet in Apicbase. For this, go to (1) Settings, then (2) Outlet Settings, and select (3) Edit Outlet Settings for the location you are connecting.
   
   Next, go to the Integrations Tab.
   
2. Connect your PoS: Each PoS has a different way of connecting to Apicbase. Find your PoS in the list below and read the corresponding article. There you will find clear instructions on how to connect it to Apicbase, along with any specific details relevant to the setup.
3. Sync with PoS: Now that the PoS is connected, go to (1) Sales > PoS Connection. To fetch the items from your PoS, click on the (2) Sync with PoS button. This may take a few minutes, and you will receive a pop-up and an alert in the notifications centre when it is done.
   
   
   If you encounter an error, there might be an issue with the connection. Ensure that you followed the instructions in the previous step. If the problem persists, contact your CSM or Support.
4. Link your recipes: Now that your PoS items are in Apicbase, it’s time to link them to their corresponding recipes. Follow the instructions in this article to learn how to do this.
5. Interpret your Sales: After setting up and linking your PoS, you will start generating valuable data! Don't forget to visit the Sales Dashboard and read this article to learn how to gain insights from these sales.

2.2. Sync PoS prices

Once our PoS setup is finished, a question may arise: if I can add a selling price to a recipe in Apicbase, but also to the items in my PoS, which one will Apicbase take? And which one should I update if my prices change?

When calculating the profit of your sales, Apicbase will always use the revenue from your PoS as the source of truth. We consider that one the actual price, as opposed to the theoretical price, written in the recipe.

Given this, if a price needs to be changed, it becomes clear that updating the selling price should be done in the PoS system. In fact, the information exchange between Apicbase and the PoS is unidirectional: we receive information from the PoS but do not send any information back to it. Therefore, no changes made in Apicbase will affect the PoS. Although this is the general rule, there are a few PoS systems where this can be different.

However, we may want to keep our prices in Apicbase's recipes up to date with the PoS ones. Most PoS integrations allow this by ensuring that the checkbox "Sync recipe prices with POS product prices" is checked. With this setting, the prices of your recipes will be updated with every daily sync. Any changes in the PoS selling prices will be reflected in the recipes the following day.

Of course, if this is not something you want to happen, make sure the checkbox remains unchecked. Note that if a recipe is linked to several PoS items, it will take a price randomly from among the linked ones.

3. List of PoS Integrations

Find your PoS in the following list and read the corresponding article. There you will find clear instructions on how to connect it to Apicbase, along with any specific details relevant to the setup.