EventPro User Manual

Adding Catering Items to Resources

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Adding Catering Items to Resources

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Adding Catering Items to Resources

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Select Setup | Resources | Items from EventPro's main menu.  The Resource Items screen opens.

Ensure that you have selected the Effective Date from which you want to work.  Review Step 9: Resources, Effective Dates for Resources, above, if necessary.

In the Items screen, click on the Catering tab.

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There are two sections to the Catering Tab.  The top selection grid contains a list of Catering Categories and the bottom grid lists the individual Catering Items contained in the category highlighted in the top selection grid.  You will first create Catering Categories, and you can then add Catering Items to the categories.

Note that you can copy categories and items from those you have previously created.  See Copying Resource Sub-Groups and Categories and Copying Resource Items.

Click to Expand/Collapse TextAdd Catering Categories

As with both Setup and Staffing, your goal should be to create broadly defined groups into which you will sort various types of catering services, or frequently offered or related items.

The main purpose of organizing your catering items under categories is to assist you in keeping track of what is available at your facility.  Only staff members at your facility will see this catering resource list, not your clients.  When you actually create menus that will be shown to clients, you will not be limited to the categories you create here.

However, you will want to give some thought to the Category level, since you can use this level of organization when you are creating menus under Catering Configuration. When you select a category,EventPro will pull in the catering items associated with it and staff may select the detail items they want for the menu.

1.Ensure that you have selected the Effective Date from which you want to work.
2.Click the New button in the upper right corner.
3.The Catering Resource Category [New] window appears.

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4.Enter an abbreviated name for the catering category in the Catering Category field. For example, you may want to create catering categories such as “Desserts”, “Appetizer Selections”, “Beverage Selections” and “Entrees”.  Note that you cannot enter duplicate category names.
5.Enter a description in the Description field.  This is often just the full name of the category.
6.Enter a Default Cost and a Default Price.  This will be the default cost and price for every individual catering item you create under this category.  You will be able to change individual item cost and price later.
7.Enter a Sort Order to indicate where in the list this catering resource category should appear.  The sort order of categories set here will be respected throughout EventPro and EPWeb.
8.Click Save. In the Confirm dialog box that appears, click Yes if you would like to continue adding categories, or click No to only add the category you just created.
9.Once you have created all the categories you think you will need to categorize your catering items, you are ready to add individual items to each category.
Click to Expand/Collapse TextAdd Catering Items

Remember that although this list of catering items resembles an inventory, your catering table will not automatically add and subtract items from your stock as configurations and items are used.

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1.In the top selection grid, click to highlight the Catering Resource Category to which you want to add individual items.
2.Click the New button next to the bottom selection grid, across from the Item Code heading.
3.The Catering Resource Item [New] window appears.
4.From the Available in drop-down list, select the effective dates for which this item will be available: Selected Effective Date Only, Selected and Later Effective Dates, or All Effective Dates.
5.Enter the name of the Item Code, which will be the abbreviation your company uses for the item.
a.Your items may be as simple as “Garden Salad”, “Chicken Cordon Bleu” or “Peanuts”.  However, you may also want to group together certain items under one item code, eliminating the need for repetitive data entry.
b.For example, perhaps a company offers a standard selection of salads or seafood appetizers.  They can group the salads together as an item called “Salad Selections” with the description of “Salad Selections: Caesar Salad, Mushroom Salad, Potato Salad and Garden Salad” and group the seafood appetizers together as “Seafood Appetizers” with the description of “Seafood Appetizers: Fantail Shrimp, Smoked Salmon, Shrimp-Deviled Eggs, Smoked Oysters and Crab-Stuffed Tomatoes (19 units per person).”  When they later create catering configurations, they only have to enter one item code to include the entire selection of salads or seafood appetizers, instead of entering each individual dish.  Of course, they could also enter each item under separate item codes – “Caesar Salad”, “Fantail Shrimp”, “Smoked Oysters”, and so on – if the items must be available separately.
c.Also, perhaps a company offers certain set meals that always come with certain options.  They can group the items together as a single item also. For example, a company may have “Hamburger Meal” (with a description of “Hamburger, fries and soft drink”) as an item or “Lasagna Meal” (with a description of “Lasagna [choice of meat or vegetarian] with Caesar or Greek Salad, Garlic Bread, Chef’s Selection of Desserts, Coffee, Tea [maximum 500 people]”).
d.Although there is a separate “Beverage” tab, you may want to consider entering only alcoholic beverages under that tab, since they are often priced and taxed differently than food and non-alcoholic beverages.  You can enter non-alcoholic beverages such as punch, soft drinks, coffee and tea in Catering Resources as individual item codes and/or grouped with the appropriate food items.
6.If applicable, select the Supplier Name from the drop-down list, if applicable.  You entered these suppliers earlier in the Company/Contact screen.
7.Enter the Quantity per Person for this item in the Quantity/Person field.
a.For example, an item called “Garlic Shrimp” may actually contain six individual shrimp, in which case the Quantity/Person would be 6.
b.In another example, and item called “Cheese and Cracker Tray” may serve ten people, so that the Quantity/Person would be 1.
8.Uncheck the Available check box to indicate that the resource has been discontinued. This will prevent staff from selecting it for future events. EventPro cannot delete the item if it has been used for previous events.  If a catering item is not marked as Available in a specific effective date, but is still included in a catering configuration, it will be highlighted red.
9.Enter the Cost and Price for the item, if they are not the figures you entered as default when creating the category.
a.The Cost and Price you entered is per one item.  Therefore, if the Quantity/Person for the item is, for example, 5 and the Cost you enter is $5, the total cost will be $25.  In another example, if the item serves 10 people and costs $100, the final cost will be $10 per serving.
b.The cost and price you enter here will be the defaults when you create your menus under Catering Configurations later.  However, when creating Configurations, you will have a variety of options for setting prices.
10.Enter any additional information under the Description and Preparation Information tabs. The words “Description” and "Preparation Information" on the tab will be in red font if the tab contains notes.  When you later add this item to a catering configuration, these notes will appear.
a.This window displays the text in the manner it will appear when printed for clients and staff.
b.You can format the font, colors and alignment of the text using the icons.  If you want to create a document with more complex formatting, click the Word Processor button. To learn how to use the various functions of the Word Processor, see Chapter 12: Communications, Part B: Letters, Word Processor.
c.When you later add this item to a catering configuration, the description notes will appear and you will have the option to use the preparation notes for the configuration.
11.Click Save. Continue adding as many catering items as you need under each of the categories, as all catering items must be entered here before you can add them to catering configurations.
12.Now that you have a table of catering items grouped under categories, you can create Configurations, which can be menus, grouped items or any other structure that reflects your facility’s catering methods.