Formats & Options
Two different mechanisms, and confusing them gets your prices and your VAT wrong.
One sentence covers it: a format replaces the product’s price, an option adds to it.
Formats
A 14cl glass of Merlot costs €4.50. The same wine in 25cl costs €8.50. That is not “the Merlot plus €8.50” — it is a different price for a different size.
Open the product sheet, Formats tab:
- Name — the size as printed on your card:
14cl,Bottle 75cl,Large. - Price — the full price of that format, not a difference.
- Default — the format the till and the menu open on. Pick the one that sells most; it is one tap saved on every round.
As soon as a product has formats, its own price is no longer used. The sheet says so: leaving both filled in risks the till charging one amount while the menu shows another.
Applying a grid to a whole wine list
Thirty reds in the same four sizes is a hundred and twenty entries. From the product list: tick the wines, then Actions → Apply formats.
Type the sizes once. Leave the price column empty — you will fill it wine by wine afterwards, on each sheet. A format a product already had is kept as it is, and whatever price the product carried moves onto the default format, so nothing becomes free along the way.
Option groups
An option group asks a question whose answer is added to the dish.
Examples:
- “Choose your sauce” → Mayo / Ketchup / Samurai
- “Toppings” → Cheese (+€1) / Bacon (+€1.50)
- “Cooking” → Rare / Medium / Well done
Each group has:
- Name
- Description (optional)
- Minimum and maximum choices
- Allow multiple selections
For toppings: minimum 0, maximum 5, multiple selections allowed.
Adding an option
Inside a group → Add option:
- Name
- Extra price (empty or 0 when the option is included)
- (Optional) Link to an existing product
Linking an existing product shares the option across menus and prepares inventory tracking.
Set menus and VAT
A set menu — “Dish of the day €18: drink, main, dessert” — is a product whose price buys the chosen courses, not a dish with supplements. Each course is a mandatory option group with no surcharge.
Waiterr recognises one as soon as a product carries at least two mandatory groups, and treats its price accordingly: if the guest takes a beer, that share is declared at 21% and the rest at 6%. There is nothing to configure, but the consequence is worth knowing — a single mandatory group (a cooking, a sauce) does not make a set menu, and that is deliberate.
The receipt prints the breakdown, one line per rate.