Food/Beverage Minimums and Meal Plans

Abacus 21 has a number of ways to approach this subject.  (Note that despite the principal use being with respect to Food/Beverage, this technique can be use for many topical applications.)

Food/Beverage Minimums Methodology

• Minimums set per Member (they could be different in terms of Amount or Cycle by Membership Type) Amount set to Whatever.
• Cycle set to Month, Quarter, Year, Semi-Month, etc.
• The 'Cycle Dates' can be staggered (so that not everyone's rushing into the Restauants at the end of the year to use up their Minimums -- and being antagonized by the fact that the Dining Room is too swamped to accommodate them).

Food/Beverage Minimums Styles

• Normal Minimums:  Member gets billed for any 'residual Balance not used' by end of the Cycle.
• Reverse Minimums:  Member gets billed for the (Minimum) Amount at the start of the Cycle -- and then gets a Credit for any 'usage against' the Minimum that has accumulated by the end of the Cycle.
  
  Both styles charge 'at most' the Minimum Amount

Establishing Item Sales that are applicable to Food/Beverage Minimums

• Not all Sales (and other dollar amounts such as Service Charge, Tax, and Gratuity) on a Ticket may qualify to be applied against a Minimum.
  • Certain Products or Services may be excluded within a Sales Outlet.
  • Certain (or all) Products or Services may be excluded during different times of day (Breakfast vs. Lunch vs. Dinner)
  • Certain (or all) Products or Services may be 'partially' eligibile to be applied (that is, a percentage of the Sale value goes against the Minimum).
  • Item Sales eligibility may vary from Sales Outlet to Sales Outlet.
  • Item Sales applicability may vary from Customer to Customer (for example, different Membership Types subject to different Minimums and 'rules of applicability').
  • Item Sales applicability may vary whether consumed On-Premise or Take-Out.
  • Item Sales applicability may be done on a Gross or Net basis -- which can vary by Customer, Item, Sales Outlet, Time-of-Day etc.
• Minimum-Eligible Sales are 'mapped' to their appropriate application by the use of their respective Distribution Codes.
  • Distibution Codes can (potentially) be set up independently by:
    • Outlet
    • Sales Section
    • Customer Type
    • Time-of-Day (Meal Period)
    • Price Level
    • Item Type
    • Specific Item
    • Type of Sales Transaction
  • Each Distribution Code is mapped to an 'A/R Detail Bucket' -- and eligible Sales Amounts are routed to that bucket(s).
  • The Food/Beverage Minimum Calculation is based on the accumulation in the respective Bucket(s) -- versus the Minimum Amount.
  • The respective Balances in the A/R Detail Buckets are retained in History by Member-Year-Month.
  • Charges coming from non-POS applications (such as from Accounts Receivable itself) must also be considered.

Presentation & Billing of Food/Beverage Minimums

• The current status of a Member's Food/Beverage Minimum (Minimum, Cycle Date, Periods Remaining in Cycle, Amount Used to Date, Residual Amount) is available at anytime via a number of alternatives:
  • Member A/R Inquiry (within Accounts Receivable)
  • Look Up from within Food/Beverage Point-of-Sale (or any POS)
  • Can be printed on a GuestCheck
  • Available to be printed on the Member's Statement
  • Available on the Web via a Member's private section lookup of On-Line Statement
• The actual 'calculation & billing' of the Minimums is part of the Periodic-Billings Process.
  • This is typically done at Month-End (or Month-Start).  If nothing 'is to be billed' in this regard for a particular Month, it is by-passed.
  • The appropriate 'Charge' Description is appended to this posting.

Abacus 21's Food/Beverage Minimum and Meal-Plan Sub-modules integrate with all of our anciliary applications - POS, Accounts Receivable, Rooms, etc.