Back Office Item Setup

December 3, 2025

Description

How to create an item in the Back Office using basic and extended item setup options, set up an item in the Essentials app, and add an item using a barcode scanner

What's in this article?

Solution: Essentials Light | Essentials | Retail

Basic Item Setup

Use the Basic Item Setup to enter basic items quickly and efficiently. Basic Item Setup includes general information about the item, as well as price and tax information. When adding an item to your inventory or menu, start with the Basic Item Setup. Once the new item is added, an Extended Item Setup option is available to add more complex configuration.

NOTE:
Multi-store users will need to be in Company View to add and edit their items.

To create an item using basic setup

In the Back Office, select the Inventory tab.
Select the Categories & Items subtab.
Select the category for the item and click Add an Item.
Enter an Item Name of up to 50 characters. Some names may be shortened to fit the screen.
(Optional) Clear the This item is available at the POS checkbox if you do not want this item to display on the POS. For example, the item may be sold online only.
Select whether the item is sold by Each or Weight/Measure. The price for a weighed or measured item is per pound, foot or whatever your unit of measure may be. Your employees will need to know how items are weighed/measured.
Enter the Sales Price for the item in xx.xx format.
If you want the system to alert the user to enter a price for the item at the time of the sale, check the Prompt for Price at POS box.
Select the Tax Category for the item. The system will automatically select your default tax category, but you can click the field and select another tax category for the item.
Do one of the following:
- Click Save to complete basic setup.
  OR
- Click Extended Item Setup if you need to enter more information about this item, such as variations, bar codes, inventory tracking information, etc.

By default, items are displayed in alphabetical order in the Point of Sale app. However you can easily change the order using the Sort Order feature in the Back Office or by dragging and dropping in the Point of Sale app.

Extended Item Setup

Use Extended Item Setup after you have entered general information using the Basic Item Setup to enter detailed information.

To add extended item information

In the Back Office, select the Inventory tab.
Select the Categories & Items subtab.
Select a category from the list and click Add Item.
Click Extended Item Setup. When the screen refreshes, you will see that information you entered on the Basic Item Setup screen is populated on the Extended Item Setup screen, and you will see additional fields and selections.

Update the extended item information.

Fields on the Extended Item Setup screen and their descriptions
Field	Description
Variations	Click Add a Variation and select from a list of variations or click Add Custom to add your own variation type. You can add up to 3 variations to items.
Item Modifier	(Modifiers are not available for Essentials Light) Click Assign Item Modifiers to select a modifier. See modifier groups and modifiers to items for more information. Indicate whether the item is a modifier as well.
Tag	Assign a tag to the item. See Back Office Tags in the Retail Solution for information on creating tags.
Bar Code	Assign a unique bar code to an item by clicking Assign Bar Codes, then clicking Enter a Bar Code and either enter or scan a bar code for that item variation. The barcode label maker that you select for your business should create either UPC or SKU labels that conform to standard formats. Barcode formats SKU - 8-character alphanumeric barcode format An SKU is an alphanumeric code for internal use and is unique to individual retailers or manufacturers. SKU stands for “stock keeping unit,” and, as the name suggests, it is a number (usually eight alphanumeric digits) that retailers assign to products to keep track of stock levels internally. If a product has different colors and sizes, each variation has a unique SKU number. SKU numbers vary based on the retailer's chosen format, but here are a few examples: Example 1: ABC-12345-S-BL (Brand: ABC, Product ID: 12345, Size: Small, Color: Blue) Example 2: 01-200-GR-M (Department: 01, Item number: 200, Color: Green, Size: Medium) UPC - 12-digit UPC-A or 13-digit EAN-13 barcode format A UPC code, which stands for Universal Product Code, is a series of black lines that help identify a product. UPC codes are universal and can be used to identify a product no matter who is selling it later on, making it useful for external use. A UPC is a 12-digit barcode used in North America to identify most products. The rest of the world uses 13-digit EAN barcodes to identify products. However, both types of barcodes are part of GS1 international standards, so both are accepted globally.
Price and Cost	Select a Price and Cost option from the dropdown list to indicate whether price is the same for all variations and if not, which variation price to use.
Non-revenue	Select this only if the item should be excluded from Net Sales reporting. A non-revenue item is something you sell or charge for in store that is not included in your Net Sales. Non-revenue items are typically tax-free items such as charity donations or delivery charges that you need to sell while keeping the revenue out of your net sales.
Inventory Tracking	Indicate how the item is received (as an individual item or package), the unit cost, quantity on hand and the vendor that supplies the item. See Inventory Management for more information. Inventory Management is not available with Essentials Light.
Assign stores	Multi-store businesses can select the store where the item is available or select All Stores.

Click Save.

Edit or remove item(s) in the Back Office inventory

You can edit a single item in the Back Office or edit multiple items at once.

To edit or remove an item in the Back Office

In the Back Office, select the Inventory tab.
Select the Categories & Items subtab.
Select By Item.
Scroll through the list of your items or search for the item by name or barcode and then click on the the desired item. From here, you can:
- Edit information about the item.
- Create a duplicate of the item.
- Remove the item by clicking Remove Item. The system will display an alert to let you confirm removing the item:
  - Click OK to remove the item.
  - Click Cancel to keep the item.
    NOTE: Removing an item is a "soft delete". This means that although the item is removed from your view, all the data and activity associated with that item is still shown in reports, transactions, etc.

To edit multiple items in the Back Office

This feature allows you to select a group of items and make updates to them all at once without having to open each individual item record. Item attributes that can be changed using this feature are: price, category, tax category, printer group, vendor, and availability at the POS. This feature can also be used to delete multiple items at one time.

NOTE:
Using this feature to update the prices for items priced by variation will result in all variation prices being updated to the price entered.

In the Back Office, select the Inventory tab.
Select the Categories & Items subtab.
Under your category list, click the Edit Multiple Items button.
Search by category or by item name/description for the items you want to update.
Select the checkbox next to any items you want to change.
In the dropdown boxes on the right, select the new value(s) you want to update your items with.
Click the Save Changes button.
On the confirmation message, press OK to save or Cancel to go back and make additional changes.

Item setup using the Essentials app

If needed, an item can also be added from the Essentials app; however, adding items in the Back Office is the recommended method. An Essentials Point of Sale app user must be assigned to a user role that has been granted access to the Category/Item Management feature to add a new category or item in the Essentials app. Retail and Essentials Light users cannot add an item from the point of sale.

To add an item in the Point of Sale app

From the Point of Sales app Ticket screen, tap the Category that you want to add an item to.
Tap the plus button in the category to create a new item.
Enter an item name.
Tap Each or Weight to indicate whether you sell the item by quantity or by weight.
Enter the price for the item, either per item or per unit of measure.
NOTE: Enable Prompt for Price at POS only if you want the POS device to prompt users to specify a price when they sell the item.
Tap Tax Category and then tap the appropriate tax category for the item.
Tap Extended Item Setup to set up the following options:
- Assign the item to a Printer group.
- Set variations.
- Assign modifier groups.
When finished, tap Save to add the item.

To add an item using the barcode scanner

If you scan a barcode at the Essentials app that has not been previously entered in the Back Office, you will hear a "negative" sound and a “Bar code not found” alert appears. You have three options:

To create a new item

From the bar code not found popup window, tap Create new item.
Enter an item name.
Tap Each or Weight to indicate whether you sell the item by quantity or by weight.
Enter the price for the item, either per item or per unit of measure.
NOTE: Enable Prompt for Price at POS only if you want the POS device to prompt users to specify a price when they sell the item.
Tap Tax Category and then tap the appropriate tax category for the item.
Tap Extended Item Setup to set up the following options:
- Assign the item to a Printer group.
- Set variations.
- Assign modifier groups.
When finished, tap Save to add the item.

Items added from a POS device will be automatically updated to the Back Office and available and ready for sale on all other POS devices within minutes. However, you will need to go to the Back Office and update this item with additional, important information, such as vendor, cost, quantity on hand, etc.

NOTE:
If you add an item on the Point of Sale app, the item will be created as a store-specific item for the store you are currently logged into on the Point of Sale app. If this item needs to be available for multiple stores, update this in the Back Office by assigning the item to all of your stores.