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The automation system helps to build sales analytics and understand which items on the menu should be emphasized and which should be removed from it. With the help of the software, you can track the balance of products and goods and place an order on time, calculate the salaries of employees, maintain financial statements and see profit indicators, as well as maintain a customer base and even take into account the preferences of a particular guest.
So which system to choose for your institution? The KP editors studied this market and compiled their own rating of automation systems. You can choose any of them, taking into account the needs of your bar.
Editor’s Choice
iiko
iiko is the software of a domestic manufacturer, so the system was developed taking into account the specifics of catering establishments. The system is most often preferred by professionals who need a clear construction of processes, advanced reporting, as well as maintaining enterprise standards.
In addition to them, the system is suitable for use by enterprises for the delivery of ready meals, as the functionality allows you to quickly deploy your website, take orders and control the work of couriers. iiko can also use canteens in a business center or at an enterprise, fast food outlets, coffee shops, and other catering establishments.
Several bars can be connected to the system at the same time, which will be especially convenient for owners of a network of establishments. Scaling from one institution to several is quite easy, in addition, you can get centralized reporting both for all institutions as a whole, and for each separately. It is possible to set up advanced management reports.
You can connect the system without stopping the work of the institution, and you can configure the software remotely. Equipment, if required, must be set up on site.
Thanks to the program, you can automate purchases, predict and analyze sales, increase labor productivity, get inventory results faster, create and manage a loyalty program, and see the results of marketing activities. The iiko program is equipped with an event-based video surveillance system that will help resolve conflict situations and identify the perpetrators.
With iiko, you can control table reservations, plan seating for guests, and manage large banquets effortlessly. In addition, the functionality allows you to constantly monitor the work of staff – to see their actions in real time. Also, the owner of the establishment has access to any reports and notifications of suspicious transactions.
Thanks to the built-in staff motivation module, payroll calculation is much easier, and fines for violations and bonuses for good sales are calculated automatically.
The owner of the establishment online will be able to plan expenses in a timely manner, control profits and losses, and respond to any deviations in indicators thanks to professional reporting.
Thanks to flexible pricing, not only large enterprises, but also small ones can get the basic functionality, and investments pay off in a short time.
You can purchase a cloud version, the cost of which is from 1 rubles per month, depending on the functionality. It is also possible to purchase a local version for your server at a price of 490 rubles.
In addition to the basic functionality, the system can be integrated with third-party services, thereby expanding its functionality. You can connect a mobile application for a guest or a waiter, a delivery site, third-party loyalty programs, and much more. Local add-ons and extensions can be purchased at a price of 2 rubles. If you use the cloud version, the price starts from 400 rubles per month.
Top 9 Best Bar Automation Systems in 2022
1. R-keeper
The company that developed this system has been on the market for more than 30 years and is represented in more than 40 countries around the world. The software has been successfully implemented by many large companies. The system includes all the most necessary modules that are suitable for both a mini-bar and a network of establishments. It is also constantly being improved, and the functionality is so extensive that not all bar owners can even assume that some of it can be useful, but later they agree that it has become much easier to work and control all processes. There are also disadvantages – the system is difficult to integrate with third-party pre-order services, bonus systems, booking. In addition, federal technical support is a very expensive pleasure.
The cost of the service starts from 2 rubles per month.
2. Tillypad
This is a single automation system for a bar or other catering establishment. According to the developer, Tillypad is the fastest POS system that can work stably with a large flow of guests. The program is easy to learn, and it has rich functionality.
With the help of software, you can take orders, pay guests, interact with the kitchen, implement loyalty programs, reduce costs, and thereby increase profits.
Tillypad is distributed both by subscription for 2 rubles per month, and by a lifetime license for 500 rubles. lifetime is a metric, translated as “user lifetime”. That is, you can buy a lifetime license and use the program until the restaurant closes, you won’t have to pay extra in the future.
3. Post
One of the first systems in the field of cloud software. This program will be an ideal solution for a small institution. Installation takes no more than 15 minutes, and the functionality involves loading invoices, also includes a bonus system module, and in addition, it involves a set of equipment for cash register automation. When using the service, you can not be afraid to do something wrong, since there is a single technical support throughout the country. In addition, the system works in accordance with 54-FZ and EGAIS, which allows you to take into account the sale of alcoholic beverages.
The cost of the service starts from 1 rubles per month.
4. SBIS Presto
This is a cloud product from the company SBIS, which is engaged in electronic document management. The main advantage of the software is the ability to upload incoming invoices via EDF VLSI. In addition, the functionality includes the transfer of fiscal data to the tax office, modules for cooks and delivery, CRM and the Mobile Waiter widget. There are several options for using the system: you can connect the basic functionality, and then add only the necessary functions. An interesting function has also been implemented – video recording of each punched check.
The cost of the service starts from 2 rubles per month.
5. Contour
A program for a bar or other catering establishment that automates accounting, establishment menus and ordering supplies. It is possible to work EGAIS and “Mercury” in one window. The functionality involves the creation of technological maps of dishes. The program itself counts warehouse balances, keeps records of products, thereby increasing profitability, reducing costs, simplifying the control of the activities of staff and establishments, and reducing the number of errors of workers.
The cost of the service is from 6 rubles per year.
Free trial period of 14 days.
6. Athol Food
The system works only on a monoblock SIGMA, which contains a fiscal printer in the case. That is, in fact, the owner of the establishment buys a monoblock, a fiscal printer and software only once. The program features are standard, there are no special features. At the same time, the system itself is not very popular, and the company can carry spare parts for a long time if the equipment fails. In this case, sales will not be taken into account during all this time.
The equipment costs 17 rubles, and you can choose from several tariffs, the initial price is 400 rubles per year.
7.Yuma
A complex system for automating the activities of a bar or other catering establishment. It includes: a back office, which can be accessed from any device and at any time see up-to-date information about stock balances, discounts, generate the necessary report, as well as an online checkout.
Bar staff will be able to independently receive information about orders in real time. Judging by the reviews of restaurant owners, when using this system, labor productivity increases, and it also simplifies the analysis of the institution’s activities.
The cost of the software is 28 rubles, in the future you do not need to pay anything extra.
8. Paloma 365
Completely secure automation system for catering establishments. This is possible due to the fact that all information is stored in the cloud, and synchronization occurs every 2 minutes. The program can work without Internet access for two weeks and save all the data during this time. Thanks to the system, you can establish convenient control over the activities of the institution, managing all processes in one application.
The cost starts from 1 rubles per month.
Free trial period of 15 days.
9. To-do list
This automation system is cloud-based and includes a full cycle of catering establishments and is capable of automating the entire operation of the establishment. It is possible to connect additional equipment to the software, as well as integration with EVOTOR and MSPOS online cash registers, POS terminals on Windows OS, 1C Accounting – one-way from Dooglys to 1C. In addition, you can connect a scanner, scales and a label printer to it. There is a mobile application for the manager and separately for the driver, as well as a client application. The head of the bar can use the software to receive any reports on revenue, the movement of goods in warehouses. You can connect several establishments at once.
The cost of the system is from 300 to 2 rubles per month, the connection of a second cash desk is 200 rubles per month, maintenance is from 1 to 100 rubles per month.
How to choose a bar automation system
Before you decide on a specific system, you need to know what a standard automation system includes. It usually consists of three modules:
- Cashier module. With its help, the employees of the hall distribute orders to the tables and carry out sales in the format of a quick check.
- Module for the manager of the institution. It implies the possibility of creating and adjusting menus, as well as uploading sales reports using different filters and categories.
- Warehouse module. Here you can create a new recipe, calculate the cost of a dish and find out the food leftovers.
The listed blocks are basic, they are usually found in most automation systems. At the same time, some software includes additional modules that further simplify bar management. For example, it can be a bonus system module, a module for chefs, a booking module, a delivery module, and others. Choosing one or another functionality is based on the real needs of the institution, otherwise there is a high risk of overpaying for unnecessary software features.
Popular questions and answers
The editors of Healthy Food Near Me asked an expert to answer the most frequent questions of owners and managers of bars, Sandulsky Alexander Alexandrovich, head of the Finoko project.
The next step is to automate the accounting of revenue, the work of the hall and the transfer of orders to the kitchen. Today, without this, not a single catering establishment will be able to become competitive. Such automation, taking into account the purchase of equipment, laying networks, training personnel and setting up software, can take about a month. As a rule, preparation begins even in the process of repairing the premises: networks are laid, printers and stations for waiters are installed. The market for such automation is divided between the two largest players – iiko and r_keeper. The installation of these software and hardware systems will cost about half a million rubles.
The next level of bar management accounting automation solves the problem of synchronous cost accounting (1C: Accounting) and income (selected system). Thus, on a daily basis, the owner and director of the bar-restaurant can see how much money he actually earned. Such top-level management accounting, consolidating data from all information systems, is absolutely necessary for developing companies that open new establishments. Such automation takes up to three months after the opening of the bar, because it takes time to form technological maps and run business processes.
Another class of information systems can be called auxiliary – these are various services for managing loyalty, delivery and marketing activities. Such solutions are relatively inexpensive and are implemented quickly enough – within a couple of weeks, said Alexander Sandulsky.
However, the expert added that the human factor plays a much greater role in the control of the bar. After all, it is known that if cooks bring food home, then bartenders bring alcohol to work and sell “leftists”. This is often very poorly controlled. In addition, there are practically no pricing cards in bars. How many grams in which cocktail is poured to understand and control is quite difficult. And in general, it would be nice to first achieve that all checks made their way. The reality is that bar customers are understandably oblivious to this. The percentage of punched checks in a bar is very different from, for example, a cafe. Because of all these features, bar automation is usually limited to revenue accounting and turnover control, says Alexander Sandulsky.
Management accounting of the highest level, which would give information on a daily basis how much this or that institution has earned, is extremely difficult to implement, if at all possible. It is very difficult to adequately calculate the cost and write-offs. Conducting an inventory in a bar is a non-trivial task, to put it mildly. How to calculate how much is left in the set of half bottles? Not to mention the prevalence of all sorts of fraud on the part of the staff. Of course, there are control methods – this is photographing bottles, followed by calculations of the balances and video monitoring of the work of employees. But these are quite complex and expensive systems. The cost of hardware, software and human labor will be quite high. Perhaps only bars at hotels can really afford to count the balances to the nearest milligram.
Such accounting systems are not widely used. Not only because of their complexity – when these technologies meet the human factor, this meeting does not always end in mutual love. And this is especially true in bars. Thus, the complexity of the top-level accounting system in bars exceeds its real need, the expert believes. It is easier to negotiate with bartenders, who, as a rule, simply set targets for revenue and turnover of various types of products.