Toast POS ↔ Stayntouch PMS Integration Guide

Modified on: Fri, 25 Oct, 2024 at 11:16 AM

Applies to:          Stayntouch PMS          

Toast POS ↔ Stayntouch PMS Integration Guide


TABLE OF CONTENTS

PREPARATION 

CONFIGURATION IN STAYNTOUCH PMS


Now that the Food and Beverage outlets appear in Stayntouch PMS, the property team must follow the below steps to complete the configuration for the integration on the PMS side.

  1. On the Dashboard, click the menu on the top left of the screen. Navigate to Settings > Integrations > POS Integrations > Toast.

 




2. Turn ON the ACTIVATE/INACTIVATE toggle under Toast SETTINGS.



3. Select your property's Default Charge Codes.


First, from within the SETTINGS tab, you will be required to select a DEFAULT CHARGE CODE and a DEFAULT TIP CHARGE CODE. All of these codes should be pre-configured in your hotel's settings. If the Service Charge and/or Auto Gratuity feature is on in Toast, please also select a DEFAULT SERVICE GRATUITY CHARGE CODE and DEFAULT SERVICE FEE CHARGE CODE. Click SAVE CHANGES.

These are fail-safe charge codes for charges to post to if mapping is not correct. If charges fall to these codes it means a menu item has not been assigned a sales category in Toast.


OPTIONAL: If the hotel wants non-room charge postings (e.g., cash and credit card postings) to transfer at End of Day, the TRANSFER NON-RESIDENTIAL CHARGES toggle must be enabled. When enabled, the ACCOUNT NUMBER field will appear, to enter the account number here. This will ensure that all non-residential charges are posted at End of Day into that particular account. If TRANSFER NON-RESIDENTIAL CHARGES is not activated, you won't see the ACCOUNT NUMBER field.



4. Navigate to the RESTAURANTS tab.



5. Here you'll find all the restaurants that are currently configured within Toast POS. Stayntouch PMS will only display the outlets the property has contracted with Toast POS to interface with Stayntouch PMS. Click on each restaurant.



6. From TIP CHARGE CODE, select the appropriate tip/gratuity value from the list. Click SAVE CHANGES.



7. If using Service Charges/Fees and Auto Gratuity in Toast, also select the appropriate value for those fields.

MAPPING


There are two mapping types:

  • Payment Codes: These are required to support non-residential charges revenue flow ONLY when this feature is enabled.
  • Charge Codes: Stayntouch PMS values need to be mapped to sales categories in Toast POS. Sales categories automatically display in Stayntouch PMS from Toast POS.

 

NOTE: 

  • Multiple EXTERNAL VALUE items can be mapped to one Stayntouch PMS value. One external value cannot be mapped to multiple internal values.
  • Do not map OTHER – ROOM CHARGE, or any external value mentioning room charge; this would result in double posting revenues to the PMS.
     

7. Open the MAPPINGS tab.



8. First, select + ADD NEW and select a RESTAURANT as well as a MAPPING TYPE. Under MAPPING TYPE, select between Charge Code and Payment Charge Code and complete the mapping for each outlet.


If the Transfer Non-Residential Charges toggle is enabled from the SETTINGS tab, Payment Charge Code will need to be mapped to the corresponding value configured in Toast POS.




9. Select Charge Code.


Upon selecting Charge Code, you will then need to select the mappings, which are the SNT VALUE and the EXTERNAL VALUE. As the names imply, the SNT VALUE comes from Stayntouch PMS, which are your charge codes that you should have already configured at this point, and the EXTERNAL VALUE comes from Toast POS, which are your sales categories. 


Please note, the SNT VALUE should have a one-to-one match with the configured EXTERNAL VALUE in Toast POS. The EXTERNAL VALUE is pulled directly from Toast POS, if you're not seeing something here, you'll need to configure that from within Toast POS. 


As a best practice, we recommend starting with the EXTERNAL VALUE and then moving over to the SNT VALUE to make sure there's a corresponding value in Stayntouch PMS. If you don't have a corresponding value, you'll have to create a charge code in Stayntouch PMS to match the charge code in Toast POS.


For properties choosing to TRANSFER NON-RESIDENTIAL CHARGES*

  • All payment codes will need to be mapped, except for Stayntouch tender payments (e.g. Other: ROOM CHARGE).
  • Please DO NOT MAP this, as this is used for room charge postings only.


10. Click Select Value to assign and click SAVE.  Repeat for all external values.


IMPORTANT NOTES



Revenue Centers

  • As of release v5.82 the Stayntouch PMS integration with Toast POS now supports revenue centers displaying on the  guest folio. When a revenue center is included in a redeem request in Toast POS, the check will be posted to PMS as the revenue center instead of the main Restaurant/Outlet.

  •  


  • If you require specific reporting for Revenue Centers in your PMS, this can be achieved by creating unique Sales Categories in Toast for each Revenue Center.  Otherwise, this detailed reporting is available in Toast directly.
    • For example, if you have a single Restaurant/Outlet linked to Stayntouch, and this Restaurant/Outlet has three Revenue Centers in Toast—Bar, Cafe, and Dining Room—you can create separate Sales Categories for each Revenue Center. This allows you to categorize charges distinctly, such as Bar Food, Bar Liquor, Bar Non-Alcoholic Beverages, Cafe Food, Cafe Liquor, Cafe Non-Alcoholic Beverages, Dining Room Food, Dining Room Liquor, and Dining Room Non-Alcoholic Beverages. In Toast, please ensure that every menu item is assigned to the appropriate Sales Category.

  • After creating the Sales Categories for each Revenue Center, map them to the corresponding charge codes in Stayntouch by navigating to Settings > Settings > Integrations > Toast POS > Mappings. The new categories will appear under "External Value," where you can complete the mapping process.


Taxes

  • Taxes will need to be linked as applicable to each charge code created from Settings > Financials > Charge Codes for taxes to be listed as a separate line item on the house or guest folio. If taxes are not attached to a particular charge code, the charge code will come through as one total amount without the breakdown and without the tax component.
    • Please note, this is a critical step required to avoid a mismatch of the posted amount between both systems.
  • In order to post both inclusive and exclusive tax items from Toast POS to Stayntouch PMS, you will create separate sales categories in Toast POS for both inclusive and exclusive tax. Then, each sales category will need to be mapped to specific charge codes in Stayntouch PMS.


Tips, Gratuity, and Fees


If anything is mapped incorrectly, it will default back to the DEFAULT CHARGE CODES configured on the SETTINGS tab. 

  • Tips will post to the DEFAULT TIP CHARGE CODE configured from Settings > Integrations > POS Integrations > Toast, OR...
  • If tips are restaurant specific where there are multiple restaurants, tips will post to charge codes configured from Settings > Integration > POS Integrations > Toast > RESTAURANTS. 
  • Each restaurant will need a unique charge code for tips. The property will need to create these separate charge codes for tips from Settings > Financials > Charge Codes. Tips will post on the guest folio as a separate line item. See the reference below. 


AUTO-GRATUITY and SERVICE FEES are feature offered by Toast POS and as of release v5.85 is supported by Stayntouch PMS for Room Charges only.   Auto Service Charge will display on the Guest Bill as well as house accounts as a separate item. If mapped in Stayntouch PMS with a dedicated charge code, it can be reported easily.

Please note, this is for residential charges only. Support for non-residential charges will be added soon.



If Non Residential Charges are activated for Toast in the PMS Toast POS has the "Auto-Gratuity" feature enabled and no configuration for it in Stayntouch on the SETTINGS tab, it sends that across as a menu item, which gets taxed. To avoid gratuity being taxed, please make sure to disable "Auto-Gratuity" in Toast POS and post a manual gratuity for each order. Otherwise, the gratuity will be bundled with the base Food & Beverage charge and will be taxed. 

  • If a property only has one restaurant and/or bar, or they don't want to differentiate between the gratuities for the various restaurants, the property can use the same tip charge code in Stayntouch PMS for the mapping.
  • If a property does want to differentiate between gratuities for various restaurants (which we recommend), then the property will need to create a charge code in Stayntouch PMS for gratuity for each of the outlets.



If Non Residential Charges are activated for Toast in the PMS SERVICE FEES will need to be posted manually, but as a menu item. This would mean creating a sales category in Toast POS for service fees with menu items for the different fee options. A corresponding charge code in Stayntouch PMS must be created and mapped, as well. 



Transfer Non-Residential Charges


Enable TRANSFER NON-RESIDENTIAL CHARGES if the hotel wants non-room charge postings (i.e., cash and credit card transactions) to transfer at End of Day to a clearing or breakout account in Stayntouch PMS for accounting purposes (reporting, export to accounting software, etc.)


*ONLY for properties choosing to TRANSFER NON-RESIDENTIAL CHARGES*

  • All payment codes will need to be mapped, except for Stayntouch Tender Payments.
  • Please DO NOT MAP Stayntouch Tender Payments, as this is used for room charge postings only.
  • Non-residential charges transfer from the POS to the PMS during the EOD process.
  • Auto-Gratuity and Service Fees are not supported with Non Residential Charges


House Account


A house account is required to enable the TRANSFER NON-RESIDENTIAL CHARGES feature. To create a house account, follow the steps below.


1. On the Dashboard, click the burger menu on the upper-left of the screen.  Navigate to Front Desk > Accounts.





2. Click on the + ADD NEW button on the upper-right of the screen.



3. On the Summary tab, add the NAME and ACCOUNT NUMBER.


Recommend the account be in the 90,000 range. This will ensure the account is kept separate from other house accounts and is easy to search and find.



4. Add the house account to the POS configuration. Navigate to Settings > Integrations > POS Integration > Toast. Now turn ON the TRANSFER NON-RESIDENTIAL CHARGES toggle.



5. Enter the previously created house account number in the ACCOUNT NUMBER field. Click on SAVE CHANGES.



Adjust or Void Tickets in Same Day


A Toast POS check can be adjusted or removed from the guest folio in Stayntouch PMS if done on the same day the transaction was posted. These adjustments should be done in Toast POS directly and will then update on the guest folio in Stayntouch PMS. To completely removed a check, the void option in Toast may be used. Please reference this article for instructions.

 

If a check needs to be adjusted or removed after the date has passed, this must be done manually in Stayntouch PMS.

FINAL STEPS: TESTING


Once the mapping is complete and saved, inform your Stayntouch Implementation Consultant if you need assistance. If not, you can then proceed with testing and posting charges on a test reservation and/or house account:

  1. Check-in a test reservation in Stayntouch and ensure the RESTRICT POST toggle is turned OFF. Take note of the room number.
  2. In Toast POS, create a new order and add all of the following items:
    • A food item
    • An alcoholic drink item
    • Add a manual tip/gratuity to the order. Pay and close the check using Room Charge as the payment method.

    • Select Other on the check's payment screen. Selecting Other displays the Select alternate payment type screen.

      The location of the Other payments button.

    • Select Room charge. Selecting the room charge payment option opens the Lookup Hotel Guest screen.

      The Room Charge payment option.

    • Enter your guest search criteria and select Submit. All records for guests that are currently checked into the hotel, matching your search criteria either completely or partially, are displayed. For example, if you search for room 123, and rooms 123 and 1234 are checked in, your results will display both rooms. To display all records select Submit with no search criteria.

      The Lookup Hotel Guest screen with search criteria. Select submit to search for a guest.

    • Select the appropriate room to charge.

  3. In the account lookup screen, use the room number from Step 1 above.
  4. Access the test reservation and review its Bill & Charges to confirm the items posted correctly.
  5. If it looks good, you can void the items and ticket in Toast POS, which will remove it from the reservation in Stayntouch PMS.
  6. Your Toast POS and Stayntouch PMS Integration is now live!

SAMPLE GUEST BILL/FOLIO OF A TOAST POS CHARGE POSTED TO STAYNTOUCH PMS


It's important for the hotel staff to know that the detailed view resulting from expanding the transaction line in Stayntouch's Guest Bill is for PMS users only. On the print or email version of the Guest Bill, Toast POS charges to Stayntouch PMS will appear as a one line item.



RECONCILING/REPORTS


Daily reporting and reconciling between Stayntouch PMS and Toast POS is available.


Stayntouch Reports


Some Stayntouch reports that can be run (on-demand or scheduled) to compare and reconcile F&B outlets vs. Stayntouch include the following:

  1. Comparison Report
  2. Daily Transactions
  3. Financial Transaction – Revenue Report
  4. Financial Transaction – Adjustment Report


NOTE: Filtering/sorting preferences are determined by the hotel. For more information, you can reference this article.


Toast POS Reports

 

Toast POS reports that can be run and additional information:

  1. Sales Summary Report
  2. Accounting Reports


NOTE: 

  • Automation is not currently available within Toast POS to distribute these reports.
  • All of Toast POS's reporting permissions are located in the header entitled Restaurant Admin Access Permissions within the job configuration. More information on those permissions is available here. 

TOAST POS RESOURCES

 

For basic Toast POS functionality, you may reference their Front of House Skills 101 guide on Toast Central.


TROUBLESHOOTING


TIMEOUTS

To prevent occurrence of timeouts when large checks are passed through the Toast POS <> Stayntouch PMS integration, please follow the below steps.

 

If you configure the Consolidate Menu Items option to YES in each of the locations referenced in the screenshots below, the size of the API payload will be reduced, and the Stayntouch PMS side of the interface will time out far less.






In the event that charges passed through the interface continue to time out with the Consolidate Menu Items option set to YES, restaurant operators can split items from the original check onto multiple, smaller checks (bitesize pieces) by following these instructions. 

 

Additionally, the Toast POS timeout limit can be extended to 30 seconds. If the timeout limit is not already set to 30 seconds, please contact your Toast POS point of contact.

 

Recommend splitting large checks into smaller ones when closing out to avoid timeouts and any discrepancies between the systems. 


TAX DISCREPANCIES

As taxes are being calculated separately in each system there may be minor discrepancies on some checkes regarding taxes.  To limit these please ensure the tax rates in each systems match exactly.  Also, in Toast Admin, update the Rounding Rules to "Half Up Rounding."



Please see this article in the Toast Knowledge Base regarding Understanding Tax Rates for more details on this.


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