The first time you run FastFood, the program will lead you through the Setup process. You need to go through this process only once. If you do not have all the information to hand you can exit the setup and the program will start where you left off the next time you run it. If you make a mistake you can correct it later by selecting the appropriate item from the Setup menu.
1.1 Restaurant name and contact details
1.2 Date format
1.3 Currency symbol
1.4 Service charge & taxes
1.5 Names of employees
1.6 Password for administrative use
2. Entering stock & menu items
There are two types of item that can be placed in orders – stock items or off the shelf items, such as a bottle of beer, and menu items which are items that require preparation (whether in the kitchen or in the bar).
To set up menu items, select Add item from the Menu items menu, click on the cake icon from the toolbar or press F2. Required fields are the description, the selling price and the code. FastFood prompts with a sequential code, but you can overwrite it. Indicate the taxes which apply to the item if appropriate. If the item is not currently available, check the box.
To set up stock items, select Add stock from the Stock items menu, click on the cans
icon on the toolbar or press F4. Required fields are the description, the selling price, the quantity in stock and the stock code (which could be the UPC or EAN code from the merchandise). FastFood prompts with a sequential code, but you can overwrite it. Indicate the taxes which apply to the item if appropriate.
You can edit the details of a menu item by selecting Search for item from the Menu items menu, clicking on the first binoculars icon from the toolbar or pressing F3. Enter the item’s code and click on OK, or enter the first few characters of the description and double click on the description from the list or highlight the item and click on OK.
Similarly you can edit a stock item by selecting Search for item from the Stock items menu, clicking on the second binoculars icon on the toolbar or pressing F5.
3. Managing reservations and orders
You may make a reservation for a customer by clicking on Make reservation from the Reservations menu, pressing F11 or clicking on the Calendar icon on the toolbar. Enter the name of the customer, select the date and the time for the meal, and select the number of tables required. You will be warned if there are insufficient tables available. This is an optional step.
When a customer arrives, you may allocate a table to the customer by selecting Allocate table from the Table allocations submenu of the Orders menu, clicking on the table icon on the toolbar or pressing F10. You will be asked if the customer has a reservation. If so, select the reservation from the list and enter the number of the table (for each required table). If not, enter the table number and the name of the customer. This is an optional step.
If the order for that table has not been taken within 15 minutes, a dialog box will appear, warning you of this. This is a modeless dialog box which can remain open without affecting other functions. If you change the period from 15 minutes before clicking on Close, the new period will be used in future. Close the dialog box when the order is taken or is about to be taken.
To start a new order, select Enter order from the Orders menu, click on the orders icon on the toolbar, or press F6.
Enter the table number or check Take out. If a table has been allocated, the customer’s name will appear. This is an optional field. Select the employee, the person who is taking the order.
To add an item to the order, click on the Add item button. Enter the code for the item or enter the first few characters of the description, then double click on the description from the list or highlight the description and click on OK. Enter the quantity required, and any comments (such as rare or well done).
If you have FastFood set up for a touch screen, you will be able to select items from a pad of menu and stock items instead of from a drop list. You may select several items, then click on Finish to add the items to the order.
You can remove items from the order by highlighting the item then clicking on Remove item.
You can print the bill or print the order by clicking on the appropriate button.
When the order is complete, click on OK.
To view the progress of active orders, select Active orders from the Orders menu, click on the magnifying glass icon on the toolbar or press F8. This is a modeless dialog box which can be left open without affecting other functions. The window is refreshed every 15 seconds. You can close it by clicking on the magnifying glass icon again.
To view or edit the progress of an order, double click on the time from the list or highlight the order and click on Select. Menu items can have three states in the Status column: Waiting (for preparation), Ready (to serve) and Served. Stock items can have two states: Stock item or Served. The status should be updated as the order progresses.
When all items in an order have been served, you can close the order. Select Search for order from the Orders menu, click on the third binoculars icon on the toolbar or press F7. To select the order, double click on the time from the list or highlight the order and click on OK. The order will be displayed. You could also add more items at this stage.
To close the order, select the method of payment, and check the Closed box.
If you are running FastFood alongside RoomMate hotel reservations software, when you select the method of payment you will see that RoomMate is included in the list of options. If the customer is a hotel guest and the bill should go to the room account, select RoomMate then select the room.
Click on Save to complete the order. If the order is being paid by account, select the account holder. Enter the amount
of the tip, if any. If the order is being paid by account and there is a tip, indicate whether
the tip is also being paid by account.
4. Accounts
To set up an account, select Add account from the Accounts submenu of the Setup menu. Enter the name of the account and the contact details. If there is a credit limit on the account, enter the amount in the appropriate field. Otherwise leave the field blank.
You may remove an account by selecting Remove account from the Accounts submenu of the Setup menu or edit the account details by selecting Edit account from the Accounts submenu of the Setup menu.
If a customer has paid by account, you can accept an account payment by selecting Accept account payment from the Accounts menu, clicking on the credit card icon on the toolbar or pressing F9. Select the account holder from the list. A dialog box will appear showing all the account holders outstanding payments.
To select an item for payment, double click on a date from the list or highlight an item and click on Select. You may select several items from the list.
Click on Print receipt to print a receipt.
Select the payment method and click on OK.
To cancel an account payment, select Cancel account payment from the Accounts menu. Select the account holder. To cancel a payment, double click on a date from the list or highlight an item and click on OK. Confirm that you wish to cancel the payment.
To print a statement for an account, select Print account statement from the Accounts menu. Select the account and click on the Print button.
5. Backing up data files
Although FastFood saves the data to your hard drive after each transaction, it
is a good idea to back up your data to an external medium periodically,
in case of hard disk failure. We recommend backing up to USB flash memory.
Select Back up data from the File menu, and select the folder for the backup files.
You cannot back up data to the FastFood folder.
DO NOT back up the files if you think there may be a problem with them as you might overwrite good files.
If your computer fails, reinstall FastFood then copy all the files from your backup and paste them into
the FastFood folder. Alternatively you can run the program Restore.exe which you will find in your FastFood folder and select the folder containing the backup files.
6. Removing old data
After time your data files may become large enough to slow down the program somewhat. You can remove old data by selecting Purge old data from the Setup menu. Enter the year prior to which you wish to remove the data. You will not be allowed to remove the current year’s data.
7. Print options
To change the print options, select Print options from the Setup menu.
You can choose to print 1, 2 or 3 copies of bills, orders and receipts. You can edit the text which appears at the bottom of bills. You can also choose to hide the print dialog box when printing.
8. Point of sale hardware
FastFood is compatible with receipt printers, cash drawers and pole displays.
The program will detect the receipt printer when the receipt printer is the default printer or the receipt printer is selected from the print dialog box. A Windows driver must be installed for the printer.
To set up the program for a cash drawer, select Cash drawer from the Setup menu. You may select a cash drawer which connects to the receipt printer (so each time a receipt is printed the drawer opens), a serial cash drawer or a USB cash drawer.
To set up the pole display, select Pole display from the Setup menu. You can select a pole display with serial connection, or parallel connection with or without passthrough.
If you wish FastFood to calculate the amount of change due when an order is closed, select Change calculator from the Setup menu, and check the box. The amount of change will be shown on the pole display.
To set up FastFood for a touch screen, select Touch screen from the Setup menu. After doing so you will be able to select items for an order from a pad of menu and stock items instead of from a drop list.
9. Reports
FastFood allows you to export reports in csv (comma separated variables) format, so that you can open them in Microsoft Excel. To set up this option, select Export reports from the Setup menu. Each time a report is displayed, a file report.csv will be generated and saved in your My Documents folder.
9.1 Account holders
Shows the current balances of account holders.
9.2 Account payments
Reports on account payments received over a specified period. Enter the start date and the end date for the report.
9.3 Completed orders
Reports on completed orders for a specified day. Enter the date for the report.
9.4 List menu items
Displays the details of all menu items in the database.
9.5 List stock items
Displays the details of all stock items in the database. Stock requiring reorder is shown in red.
9.6 Menu items sold
Provides a summary report of menu items sold for a specified period. Enter the start date and the end date for the report and select the employee if appropriate.
9.7 Receipts
Reports on payments received over a specified period. Enter the start date and the end date for the report and select the employee if appropriate.
9.8 Reservations
Reports on reservations for a specified day. Enter the date for the report.
9.9 Statistics submenu (You should zoom out on these reports before printing them.)
9.9.1 Revenue (month)
9.9.2 Revenue (year)
9.9.3 Utilization
9.10 Stock items sold
Provides a summary report of stock items sold for a specified period. Enter the start date and the end date for the report and select the employee if appropriate.
9.11 Table allocations
Displays a report on current table allocations. The report indicates whether the order has been taken at the table. After an order is complete, the allocation drops out of the report.
9.12 Tips
Shows tips that have been earned during a specified period. Enter the start date and the end date for the report and select the employee if appropriate.
9.13 Waiting times
Reports on average waiting times for a specified period. Enter the start date and the end date for the report and select the employee if appropriate.
The times are:
10. Rules for completion of orders
By default, to complete an order all items must be flagged as served in the Active order status window. This may be inconvenient for some types of operation (such as fast food take-outs).
You may choose to disable the requirements for menu items and/or stock items to be flagged as served by selecting Order completion from the Setup menu.
11. Networking FastFood
FastFood is network ready. If you wish to run FastFood on a network, follow the following steps:
1. Getting started
This is the information that will appear on bills and receipts. The only required field is the name of the restaurant.
Select the date format, dd/mm/yy or mm/dd/yy.
Enter you currency symbol, eg £.
Up to 3 taxes are allowed. Enter the name of the tax and the percentage rate. Enter the rate of service charge, if any.
Enter the names of employees – the people who normally take orders and serve food. You must enter at least one employee.
Enter the password that will be used to protect Setup menu items and various other functions. Re-enter the password for confirmation. You should remember or make a note of this password.
Shows a bar chart of revenue for each day in a specified month.
Shows a bar chart of revenue for each month in a specified year.
Shows a bar chart of table utilization by 15 minute periods for a specified day.
Please note that if you change the FastFood setup on any of your computers you must restart FastFood on the other computers for the changes to take effect.
Email: fastfood@grensoft.com