Setting Up Profit Centers

Overview

A profit center is a named group of terminals whose sales you want to see on their own - for example Bar, Dining Room, Patio, or a concession stand that shares the store's database.

Once your terminals are grouped into profit centers:

Reports split by profit center. Many Back Office reports and the Dashboard get a Profit Center filter, and the POS Product Mix Report lets you pick which profit centers to include.
Tax can differ by profit center (optional). With Tax Code Overrides, items rung at one profit center's terminals can use a different tax code - useful when part of your venue sits in a different tax area.
Receipts can show different contact details (optional). With Contact Information Overrides, receipts printed at one profit center's terminals can show a different business name, address, phone number, and email.

Each terminal belongs to one profit center at most. Online orders can be grouped too, through the Online entry in the terminal list.

How to Use

Everything below happens in Back Office on one page. Changes on this page take effect as soon as you make them - there is no Save button.

1. Turn profit centers on

In Back Office, go to Settings > Store > Profit Centers. You can also type Profit centers into the search box at the top of any screen.
Under Configuration, switch Enabled to Yes.

The page reloads and adds the Manage Profit Centers section, plus two more switches: Tax Code Overrides and Contact Information Overrides.

2. Create your profit centers

In Manage Profit Centers, type a name into the New profit center name... box, such as Bar.
Click New. The page reloads and the new profit center appears in the list on the left.
Repeat for each profit center you need.

3. Assign terminals

Click a profit center in the list. The terminal checkboxes on the right become available.
Tick each terminal that belongs to this profit center. Each tick is saved right away.
If you take online orders, tick Online in the profit center that should own them.
Click the next profit center in the list and repeat.

A terminal that is greyed out already belongs to a different profit center. To move it, click that other profit center, untick the terminal, then go back and tick it where it belongs.

If you stop using a profit center, delete it so it does not show as an empty column on the side-by-side reports: click it in the list and click Delete Selected.

Assign every terminal. When profit centers are on, a terminal that is not in any profit center shows a Profit Center Configuration Needed message each time the POS starts on it. The message closes by itself after a minute and does not stop the POS from starting.

4. (Optional) Set tax code overrides

Use this when the terminals in one profit center must charge a different tax than the rest of the store. Create the tax code you need first, under Menu > General Configuration > Tax Codes.

Under Configuration, switch Tax Code Overrides to Yes.
Click a profit center in the list. The Tax Code Overrides section lists every active tax code.
Next to each tax code that should change at this profit center, pick the tax code to use instead. Leave the others on Don't Change. Each choice is saved right away.
Click the next profit center and repeat if it needs its own overrides.

For example, if the patio sits outside city limits, set City Sales Tax to County Sales Tax on the Patio profit center. Items that normally use City Sales Tax then use County Sales Tax on orders paid at a Patio terminal. Every other terminal keeps City Sales Tax.

How the override is applied:

The POS swaps the tax code when an item is rung, and again when the checkout screen opens. The terminal that takes payment decides the final tax.
It applies to each of an item's tax codes (an item can carry up to three).
If a tax code also has an order-method override (for example, a different tax for Takeout), that override is applied first and the profit center override is applied to the result.
It applies even to items marked Don't Allow Tax Override. That checkbox stops order-method changes to an item's tax; the profit center override reflects where the terminal is.
Tax-exempt orders stay tax-exempt.
Running POS terminals pick up changes within a few seconds. No restart is needed.

5. (Optional) Set contact information overrides

Use this when receipts printed at one profit center's terminals must show a different business name, address, or phone number.

Under Configuration, switch Contact Information Overrides to Yes.
Click a profit center in the list. The Contact Information Overrides section appears with Location Name, Address, Suite #, City, State, Zipcode, Phone #, Email Address, and Extra Info.
Fill in every field you want printed. Each field is saved when you click or tab out of it.

Fill in all the fields, not just the ones that differ. As soon as a profit center has any contact override, its terminals print only what is on this page. A field you leave blank prints blank - it does not fall back to the store's own details. To stop using overrides for one profit center, clear all of its fields.

The override details appear on:

Printed receipts and kitchen tickets that use receipt templates
Credit card and gift card slips
The address line on most other printed slips
The store information bar on the POS login screen

The override details do not appear on text messages, QR Pay pages, or online-order kitchen tickets. A few older slip types - such as No Sale, Pay Out, refund, and End of Day slips - print the store's own name at the top with the profit center's address below it.

6. Use profit centers in reports

Back Office reports. When profit centers are on, a Profit Center filter appears on reports that include the Operations Report, Transaction Report, Credit Card Detail Report, DSR report, Category Performance Report, Item Performance Report, Modifier Performance Report, Employee Performance Report (Cashier Accountability section), and Promotion Usage Report. The Department Sales Report lets you tick several profit centers and shows one section for each.
Dashboard. A Profit center selector appears at the top of the Dashboard, and on the sales, statistics, top items, and chart panels.
Side-by-side reports. The Profit Centers Report (one column per profit center) and the Profit Centers Tips Report are hidden from the Reports list by default. Contact OrderCounter support to have them shown for your store.
On the POS. Open Quick Report and choose Product Mix Report, then tick the profit centers to include. Online orders are included when Online is ticked in a profit center you choose. Printing it needs the sales reports permission.

Limitations

One profit center per terminal. A terminal cannot be in two profit centers at once.
Reports follow the current grouping. Reports look up each terminal's profit center when you run the report, not when the sale happened. If you move a terminal from Bar to Patio, its earlier sales move to Patio too. Settle your grouping before you compare past periods.
Dates from before profit centers were turned on are not split. While profit centers are off, the end-of-day summaries are recorded for the whole store, not per terminal. On the Profit Centers Report those dates appear under Default Profit Center, and figures that come from those summaries show nothing when you filter by a single profit center. Contact OrderCounter support if you need earlier dates rebuilt per terminal.
Terminals left out of every profit center appear only under Default Profit Center on the Profit Centers Report. They are left out when you filter by a single profit center, and they do not appear on the Profit Centers Tips Report or in the Department Sales Report sections.
Online orders are grouped only if you tick Online in a profit center. If you leave it unticked, online sales appear under Default Profit Center on the Profit Centers Report, like any other terminal left out of every profit center. Tick Online if you want them in their own column, in your profit center filters, and in the POS Product Mix Report.
A profit center with no terminals shows $0.00 on the Profit Centers Tips Report.
Turning profit centers off hides the filters and stops both overrides within a few seconds. Your profit centers, terminal assignments, and overrides are kept, so switching Enabled back to Yes restores them.
Deleting a profit center cannot be undone. Its terminals become unassigned.
Override settings are in the current Back Office only. The classic Back Office can turn profit centers on and assign terminals, but it does not show the Tax Code Overrides or Contact Information Overrides settings.
You need Back Office access to Settings to change this page.

FAQ

Why is one of my terminals greyed out? It already belongs to a different profit center. Click that profit center, untick the terminal, then assign it where you want it.

Why does a terminal show "Profit Center Configuration Needed" when the POS starts? Profit centers are on and that terminal is not in any profit center. Assign it on the Profit centers page and the message stops.

I moved a terminal to a different profit center and last month's numbers changed. Why? Reports use the grouping as it is today, so a moved terminal takes its past sales with it. Move it back if you need last month's view, or compare by terminal instead.

I set only a new phone number, and now the receipts at that profit center have no name or address. Why? Once a profit center has any contact override, its terminals print only the override details. Fill in every field you want on the receipt.

Do I need to restart the POS after I change an override? No. Running terminals pick up the change within a few seconds.

Where are the Profit Centers Report and Profit Centers Tips Report? They are hidden from the Reports list by default. Contact OrderCounter support to have them shown.

Can I limit a promotion to one profit center? Yes. Price Level Promotions can be limited to a profit center's terminals. See Limiting a Price Level Promotion to a Profit Center.