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Back Office House Accounts in Restaurant Solution

January 10, 2024

Description

How to set up House accounts in the Back Office of Restaurant Solution

What's in this article?

Use House Accounts to charge established clients on the date of sale but bill them later. Scenarios in which you may consider using house accounts include catering customers, delivery services, hotel room charges, manager comps, and forward day charges among others.

For example, at ABC Company, Sarah Smith and Tim Jones are authorized to charge food on behalf of ABC Company at your restaurant. Sarah is the bookkeeper and is responsible for paying the account monthly, so she is the house account owner. Tim is linked to the account as a customer, making him eligible to charge food as well. When either Sarah or Tim purchase something at your restaurant, the cashier will look up Sarah or Tim at the POS to use the house account tender to pay for the order.

House accounts in the Back Office

In the Back Office, you can perform the following functions:

  • Create a house account.
  • Enter account activity, such as credits, debits, and payments received.
  • Create statements, which can be exported into a variety of formats and sent to customers.
  • View two reports, House Accounts and House Accounts Activity.
  • You may disable a house account without deleting it.

House accounts at the POS

At the POS, you can perform the following functions:

  • Charge a guest check to a house account.
  • Search for a house account by searching for a linked customer record.
  • Accept payment for an outstanding balance through the use of a house account charge.

NOTE:
An internet connection is required to charge a guest check to a house account or accept payment for a house account at the POS.

Create a House Account

House accounts must be established in the Back Office before they can be used on the POS. House accounts are created at the store level.

  • Add the house account owner and any users as customers before creating the house account. A customer must be linked with a house account as the owner. You may link multiple customers to a single house account.
  • Define the maximum credit limit for a house account, up to $99,999.00
  • Once you create your first house account, a house account tender appears on the POS.
To create a house account
  1. In the Back Office, select the Customers > House Accounts.
  2. Select Add a House Account. The Add House Account dialog appears.
  3. Type a name for the house account.
  4. (Optional) Enter an external ID for the house account. For example, if you already have an existing account number you want to use, enter that number here.
  5. Enter the maximum balance for the house account.
  6. Click Select owner to select an owner for the house account. A Select House Account Owner dialog appears.
  7. Select the owner from the list of customers. 
  8. Click Done.
  9. Click OK to use the customer contact information as contact details for the account or click Cancel to enter the house account contact information separately.
  10. (Optional) Add notes for the house account.
  11. (Optional) Click Select Customers to identify additional customers who can use the house account. 
  12. (Optional) If you did not populate the contact information with the owner's contact details, enter the contact information:
    • Email address to associate with the house account.
    • Enter the phone number to associate with the house account.
    • Enter the address, city, state, and zip for the house account. This information appears on the statements you generate.
  13. Click Save Changes.


View House Account Activity

You can view house account activity in the Back Office. The activity view includes POS transactions, transactions entered in the Back Office (debits, credit, and payments), and statement creations.

To view house account activity
  1. In the Back Office, select Customers > House Accounts.
  2. Click on a house account. The activity view appears.
    • Click a transaction to view POS transaction details. The POS Transactions screen will display.
    • Click Close House Accounts to return to a list of all house accounts.


Add House Account transactions in the Back Office

When you close a ticket associated with a house account at the POS, the information appears on the history for the house account. You can also add debit, credit, and payment transactions to a house account from the Back Office.

To add a transaction to a house account in the Back Office
  1. In the Back Office, select Customers > House Accounts.
  2. Select the house account.
  3. Click Add Transaction. The Add Transaction dialog appears.
  4. Choose the transaction type: Debit, Credit, or Payment.
  5. Enter the transaction amount.
  6. Enter a note for the transaction, such as the reason for the debit or credit or information about the payment, such as the check number.
  7. Click Save Changes.


Creating a House Account Statement

In the Back Office, you can create a statement to provide to your house account customers. The statement includes all house account activity. You can print the statement or export it to a variety of formats.

To create a house account statement
  1. In the Back Office, select Customers > House Accounts.
  2. Select the house account for which you want to create a statement.
  3. Click Create Statement. The Create Statement dialog appears.
  4. Select the date range for the statement. A preview of the statement appears.
  5. (Optional) To export the statement, select the format from the dropdown and click export. 
  6. (Optional) To print the statement, click the print icon. 
  7. Click Save Changes. A statement creation line item appears in the activity view. Click Cancel if you do not want to create a statement.


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