Avero Export Specifications

Creating New POS Integrations - Avero Export Specifications

This document defines the method and specifications for Vendors/Clients to export sales files directly to Avero for integration. If looking to create a POS Export so that your point of sale may be included in Avero's library of integrations, your first step is to review these specifications and determine if you have the technical capability of producing a POS export to reliably match these specifications. Once prepared, you may send an example export to Avero to review. 

If you are a customer, or are interested in becoming a customer, and your POS does not have an active Avero integration (view our list of integrations here: *Avero POS Integrations) this document will provide them with the starting point to create a potential Avero integration. 

Table of Contents

• • Activating a New Location
    • Revenue Center to Business Mappings (for Properties only)
  • Export Process
  • Export File Naming Convention and Format
    • Property File Naming Convention (for Properties Only)
  • Required Data Points for Sales Data
    • CHECKHEADER
    • CHECKDETAIL
    • SALES RECTYPE Definitions
    • CHECKTRANSFER
    • MENUITEMDETAIL
    • DAYPART
  • Ongoing Customer Support & Maintenance
    • Supporting Missing Data
    • POS Changes and Maintenance
  • FAQ about Avero Exports

 

Overview

1. The export process

2. The format for the export

3. The data points for each of the 5 file types

Activating a New Location

1. Avero Sales activates the subscription and opens an installation request for each location.

2. Avero Install Team provides customer contacts with a technical form (“Jumpstart Form”) and Avero Business ID, along with any POS-Specific instructions.

3. POS Provider enables the daily export to the documented specifications, points the file name to the Business ID provided by Avero, and confirms with the Customer that the export is scheduled and sent daily.

4. The customer completes the technical form and submits it, confirming the export is actively sent on a daily schedule.

5. The customer schedules time for an install agent to complete the data connection and verify the data in the export is processing and loading as expected.

6. At the scheduled time, the Avero Installation agent will review the export and connect the data to the Avero Business ID, verify and load the data. Avero Installation will confirm directly with the customer that this process is completed.

Revenue Center to Business Mappings (for Properties only)

If a Location operates in a Property-style setup (e.g. Hotels, Casinos) where outlets are available as individual businesses united by a property code and the POS allows for RVCs to be split and loaded to different Avero business IDs, then additional mapping is required:

• In addition to providing Avero with a daily extract, the client/vendor must also provide Avero with a mapping of revenue centers to Avero business IDs. This mapping must contain the following fields:

  • POS Revenue Center Number

  • Avero Business ID (if the export contains data for multiple properties)

• Avero will provide the client with a full list of Avero Business IDs to assist with this process.

• If at any time the revenue center numbers change, or if additional properties are added on, it is the responsibility of the client/vendor to provide this updated information to Avero so that the extraction configuration can be adjusted

Export Process

• The export files must be created each night by the client and placed on Avero's FTP/FTPS/SFTP server.

  • Avero will provide the host address, username, and password.

• The export must contain yesterday's business day data.

  • The business day is defined by the business and may span more than one day.

  • The business day is the day to which the transactions are assigned.

• A process should be available to export older days of data if necessary to backfill or recover data that hasn't been sent to Avero.

Export File Naming Convention and Format

• The filename format is:

  • avero_BUSID_YYYYMMDD_FILETYPE.txt where YYYYMMDD is the business day of data contained in the file, BUSID is a unique number generated by Avero to identify the client's business(es) and will be provided by Avero. FILETYPE is a string to identify the data type in the file and will be one of the following values:

    • CHECKHEADER

    • CHECKDETAIL

    • CHECKTRANSFER

    • MENUITEMDETAIL

    • DAYPART

  • Example: Restaurant Blue Granite, business id = 58 for Jan 1, 2011: CHECKHEADER filename would be “avero_58_20110101_CHECKHEADER.txt”

  • The CHECKTRANSFER file is not required if the POS system doesn't support transfer data.

• The files can be posted as individual files or archived into a single zip file named “avero_BUSID_YYYYMMDD.zip”.

• The export file should be an ASCII text file with pipe-delimited columns.

  • Pipe-delimited: Fields separated by a “|” (char 124) and rows separated by a carriage return/line feed combination (char 13 followed by char 10).

  • If the data has a pipe character in the description, it must be replaced with a “-” (char 45).

• For security, we recommend PGP encryption for the export, Avero can provide the client/vendor with a public key to use.

Property File Naming Convention (for Properties Only)

If a Location operates in a Property-style setup (e.g. Hotels, Casinos) where outlets are available as individual businesses united by a property code, please use the following property-level file naming convention. This format allows Avero to configure the mapping of business to revenue center(s).

• avero_PROP_YYYYMMDD_FILETYPE.txt

  • PROP - is the property code provided by Avero

  • YYYYMMDD is the business day of data contained in the file

  • FILETYPE - same as defined above.

• Example: avero_ROY_20161024_DAYPART.txt

• We recommend the individual files are placed in a zipped file named avero_PROP_Busday.zip. Example:avero_ROY_20161024.zip

Required Data Points for Sales Data

Legend

Y = Required for every integration

(Y) = If your POS has this data point, it is required

blank = not required

Required vs. non-required fields
• Although a number of fields are not marked as required, Avero recommends that where possible, all fields are included. Having all fields populated will insure that the integration is able to use all of Avero’s functionality. When a field is empty, the pipe-delimited export file will show this as ||.

CHECKHEADER

This file type contains summary data for every check at the business including open/close time, employee name, check number, etc.

File Naming convention: avero_BUSID_YYYYMMDD_CHECKHEADER.txt

Req.	Field Name	Description	Format	Max Value/Length	Field Notes	Sample Data
Y	BUSDATE	Business Day	Date as YYYYMMDD	8 digits (99991231)	POS business day of check transaction	20110101
Y	RVCNUM	Revenue Center Number	Number	12 digits (999999999999)	Unique identifier for the revenue center where the check was opened	1
Y	RVCDESC	Revenue Center Description	String	40 characters	Description of the revenue center where the check was opened	Dining Room
Y	CHKSEQ	Unique check sequence identifier	String	50 characters	Unique check sequence to identify the check in the POS. Must be unique within the revenue center for the business day. This can be an internal database identifier (GUID) or it could be generated from other fields, such as check number, check open time, employee number, etc…	4739870980
Y	CHKNUM	Check number	Number	12 digits (999999999999)	Check number for this check	399
Y	EMPNUM	Employee Number	Number	12 digits (999999999999)	Unique identifier for the employee who owns the check	10000
Y	EMPDESC	Employee Description	String	40 characters	First and Last Name of employee who owns the check	John Doe
Y	EMPCLASSNUM	Employee Class Number	Number	12 digits (999999999999)	Employee class number	6
Y	EMPCLASSDESC	Employee Class Description	String	40 characters	Class Description of employee who owns the check	Server
Y	CHKOPENDAY	Check Open Day	Date as YYYYMMDD	8 digits (99991231)	Actual calendar date the check was opened	20110101
Y	CHKOPENTIME	Check Open Time	Time as HH24:MM	23:59	Time the check was opened.	11:10
Y	CHKCLOSEDAY	Check Close Day	Date as YYYYMMDD	8 digits (99991231)	Actual calendar date the check was closed	20110101
Y	CHKCLOSETIME	Check Close Time	Time as HH24:MM	23:59	Time the check was closed.	13:40
	CASHIERNUM	Cashier Number	Number	12 digits (999999999999)	Unique identifier for the employee who was the cashier for the check	10016
	CASHIERDESC	Cashier Description	String	40 characters	Name of employee who was the cashier for the check	Bill Jones
	CASHIERCLASSNUM	Cashier Class Number	Number	12 digits (999999999999)	Unique identifier for cashier class	60
	CASHIERCLASSDESC	Cashier Class Description	String	40 characters	Class Description of employee who was the cashier for the item transaction	Cashier
(Y)	COVERS	Cover Count	Number	12 digits (999999999999)	Number of covers, or guests, on the check.	4
	TABLEDESC	Table Name	String	20 characters	Description or number of table	Table 2
	ORDERTYPENUM	Order Type Number	Number	12 digits (999999999999)	Unique identifier for the order type	4
	ORDERTYPEDESC	Order Type Description	String	40 characters	Order type description	Dine In

Sample Data records

CHECKDETAIL

This file contains check level details including discounts, items, voids, taxes, etc.

File Naming convention: avero_BUSID_YYYYMMDD_CHECKDETAIL.txt

Req.	Field Name	Description	Type	Max Value/Length	Field Notes	Sample Data
Y	ROWNUM	Row number	Number	12 digits (999999999999)	Unique row number (autoseq)	112
Y	BUSDATE	Business Day	Date as YYYYMMDD	8 digits (99991231)	POS business day of check transaction	20110101
Y	RVCNUM	Revenue Center Number	Number	12 digits (999999999999)	Unique identifier for the revenue center where the check was opened	1
Y	RVCDESC	Revenue Center Description	String	40 characters	Description of the revenue center where the check was opened	Dining Room
Y	CHKSEQ	Unique check sequence identifier	String	50 characters	Unique check sequence to identify the check in the POS. Must be unique within the revenue center for the business day. This can be an internal database identifier (GUID) or it could be generated from other fields, such as check number, check open time, employee number, etc…	4739870980
Y	CHKNUM	Check Number	Number	12 digits (999999999999)	Check number for this check	399
Y	EMPNUM	Employee Number	Number	12 digits (999999999999)	Unique identifier for the employee who owns the check	10000
Y	EMPDESC	Employee Description	String	40 characters	Name of employee who owns the check	John Doe
Y	EMPCLASSNUM	Employee Class Number	Number	12 digits (999999999999)	Employee class number	6
Y	EMPCLASSDESC	Employee Class Description	String	40 characters	Class Description of employee who owns the check	Server
Y	TRANSDATE	Transaction Day	Date as YYYYMMDD	8 digits (99991231)	Actual calendar date of item transaction	20110101
Y	TRANSTIME	Transaction Time	Time as HH24:MM	23:59	Actual time of item transaction.	11:50
Y	RECTYPE	Record Type	String	40 characters	See RecType Definitions	TAX
Y	{RECTYPE}NUM	RECTYPE Number	Number	12 digits (999999999999)	Unique non-negative identifier for the transaction type	12
Y	{RECTYPE}DESC	RECTYPE Description	String	40 characters	Description of the type of transaction. For example if it is a payment is it Visa, Amex, etc	VAT
Y	{RECTYPE}QTY	Quantity	Number	12 digits (999999999999)	Quantity for the RecType. I.e menu item count	1
Y	{RECTYPE}AMT	RECTYPE Amount	Money	13 digit number with 2 decimal places (99,999,999,999.99)	Total amount for the record type on this check. May have multiple rows of the same record type. For example, if you had 2 VISA payments on one check, you would have two separate rows, one for each payment transaction.	55.75
	PARENTROWNUM	ROWNUM of the parent record this record is tied to	Number	12 digits (999999999999)	If this record is a modifier or discount, list the ROWNUM of the record being modified or discounted	111
	AUTHEMPNUM	Authorizing Employee Number	Number	12 digits (999999999999)	For discounts, the unique numeric identifier of the employee who authorized the check level discount. If unavailable, the same employee number as above can be used	10001
	AUTHEMPDESC	Authorizing Employee Name	String	40 characters	For discounts, the name of the employee who authorized the check level discount. If unavailable, the same employee name as above can be used	Jill Smith
	AUTHEMPCLASSNUM	Authorizing Employee Class Number	Number	12 digits (999999999999)	Authorizing Employee class number	6
	AUTHEMPCLASSDESC	Authorizing Employee Class	String	40 characters	For discounts, the class description of the employee who authorized the check level discount. If unavailable, the same employee class as above can be used	Manager
	REFINFO	Reference Information	String	100 characters	Reference information for the check or payment. This could include room numbers for Room Charge payments, masked credit card numbers xxxx1234, or generic notes added to the check by the server, such as a party name, etc..	Room 123 ** Do not put sensitive or PII data here
	CUSTNAME	Customer Name	String	40 characters	Customer name from payment information	Henry James

Sample Data records

 

SALES RECTYPE Definitions

Each row in the CHECKDETAIL file represents a different type of transaction. The Avero export file may contain these transaction types:

RECTYPE	Used for	Definition	How to present voids	Sample data row
DSC	Check level discounts.	Discount name in RECTYPEDESC. The RECTYPENUM to remain constant day to day. Each discount on separate row with QTY = 1 and positive AMT.	Negative AMT and positive QTY	10
ITEM	Menu items	Item name in RECTYPEDESC. The RECTYPENUM to remain constant day to day. Positive total AMT & Positive QTY, where total = QTY * base price. AMT is without inclusive/exclusive tax and without discounts. Tax (inclusive & exclusive) and discounts should be on separate TAX/ITEMDSC records.	See VOID rectype below	11-14
ITEMNR	Non-revenue items. Gift cards Rounding total	Non-revenue item name in RECTYPEDESC. The RECTYPENUM to remain constant day to day. Positive total AMT & Positive QTY, where total = QTY * base price. AMT is without inclusive or exclusive tax (use TAX for those values).	Negative AMT & Positive QTY
ITEMDSC	Item level discounts	Discount name in RECTYPEDESC. The RECTYPENUM to remain constant day to day. Positive AMT with QTY equal to parent item qty. Must include PARENTROWNUM of menu item discounted.	Negative AMT and positive QTY	28
MOD	Item modifier	Modifier name in RECTYPEDESC. The RECTYPENUM to remain constant day to day. MOD and ITEM RECTYPENUMs must be unique since both are treated as an item at check level. Positive total AMT & Positive QTY, where total = QTY * base price. Include PARENTROWNUM of menu item(s) modified. For multiple modifiers, the PARENTROWNUM of each MOD should be the ROWNUM of the main item.	See VOID rectype below	29-30
PAY	Payments	Payment name in RECTYPEDESC. The RECTYPENUM to remain constant day to day. Positive total AMT (includes tip) & QTY = 1. Each payment is a separate row and includes the tip in the AMT total.	Negative AMT and positive QTY	31-35
SVC	Service Charges & Gratuities (auto gratuity, delivery, house fees, etc.).	Service charge name in RECTYPEDESC. The RECTYPENUM to remain constant day to day.  Positive AMT & QTY = 1.	Negative AMT and positive QTY
TAX	Tax Information	Tax name in RECTYPEDESC. The RECTYPENUM to remain constant day to day.  Positive AMT & QTY = 1. Each tax type should be on a separate row	Negative AMT and positive QTY	1-2
TIP	Tips	RECTYPEDESC & RECTYPENUM are blank.  Positive AMT & QTY = 1 Charge tips must have the PARENTROWNUM of pay record to apply to. Each tip to be on separate row	Negative AMT and positive QTY	6-7
VOID	Voided items	Void reason in RECTYPEDESC if available Specifically for Item and Modifier voids. Negative AMT & QTY of item voided (example: ITEM qty 1, AMT 10. VOID qty -1, AMT -10). Must include PARENTROWNUM of item voided.	NA	9

CHECKTRANSFER

This file contains information about every check transfer including where the check began and where it was transferred to, how much was transferred, etc.

File Naming convention: avero_BUSID_YYYYMMDD_CHECKTRANSFER.txt

Req.	Field Name	Description	Format	Max Value/Length	Field Notes	Sample Data
Y	ROWNUM	Row number	Number	12 digits (999999999999)	Unique row number (autoseq)	10
Y	BUSDATE	Business Day	Date as YYYYMMDD	8 digits (99991231)	POS business day of check transaction	20110101
Y	RVCNUM	Revenue Center Number	Number	12 digits (999999999999)	Unique identifier for the revenue center where the check was opened	1
Y	RVCDESC	Revenue Center Description	String	40 characters	Description of the revenue center where the check was opened	Dining Room
Y	CHKSEQ	Unique check sequence identifier	String	50 characters	Unique check sequence to identify the check in the POS. Must be unique within the revenue center for the business day. This can be an internal database identifier (GUID) or it could be generated from other fields, such as check number, check open time, employee number, etc…	4739870980
Y	CHKNUM	Check Description	Number	12 digits (999999999999)	Check number for this check	399
Y	TRANSTORVCNUM	Transfer Check Revenue Center Number	Number	12 digits (999999999999)	Unique identifier of the revenue center where the check for the transfer was opened	2
Y	TRANSTORVCDESC	Transfer Check Revenue Center Description	String	40 characters	Description of the revenue center where the check for the transfer was opened	Bar
Y	TRANSTOCHKSEQ	Transfer Unique check sequence identifier	String	50 characters	Unique check sequence number where amount were transferred to. Must follow the same rules as above for CHKNUM	5668ce8b4da481000a000069
Y	TRANSTOCHKNUM	Transfer Check Number	Number	12 digits (999999999999)	Check number amounts were transferred to	490
Y	TRANSAMT	Transfer Amount	Money	13 digit number with 2 decimal places (99,999,999,999.99)	Dollar amount transferred to or from this check.	12.23
	PARENTROWNUM	ROWNUM of the parent record this record is tied to	Number	12 digits (999999999999)	If this transaction represents a modifier, list the ROWNUM of the transaction being modified	111
	EMPNUM	Employee Number	Number	12 digits (999999999999)	Unique identifier for the employee performing the transaction.	10000
	EMPDESC	Employee Description	String	40 characters	Name of employee performing the transaction	John Doe
	EMPCLASSNUM	Employee Class Number	Number	12 digits (999999999999)	Class number of employee performing the transaction	217
	EMPCLASSDESC	Employee Class Description	String	40 characters	Class description of employee performing the transaction	Server
	AUTHEMPNUM	Authorizing Employee Number	Number	12 digits (999999999999)	The unique numeric identifier of the employee who authorized the transfer. If unavailable, the same employee number as above can be used	10020
	AUTHEMPDESC	Authorizing Employee Description	String	40 characters	The name of the employee who authorized the transfer. If unavailable, the same employee name as above can be used	Jane Smith
	AUTHEMPCLASSNUM	Authorizing Employee Job Class Number	Number	12 digits (999999999999)	The class number of the employee who authorized the transfer. If unavailable, the same employee class as above can be used	218
	AUTHEMPCLASSDESC	Authorizing Employee Job Class Description	String	40 characters	The class description of the employee who authorized the transfer. If unavailable, the same employee class as above can be used	Manager

Sample Data records 

(Note: These two records are referencing each other, both sides of a transfer aren't required for this file, the original check and the check being transferred to are always on one record.)

MENUITEMDETAIL

This file contains the definition of each item and what major and minor category each ITEM and MOD belongs to

File Naming convention: avero_BUSID_YYYYMMDD_MENUITEMDETAIL.txt

Req.	Field Name	Description	Format	Max Value/Length	Field Notes	Sample Data
Y	BUSDATE	Business Day	Date as YYYYMMDD	8 digits (99991231)	POS business date of transaction	20140101
Y	MINUM	Item Number	Number	12 digits (999999999999)	Numeric identifier for the menu item	2345
Y	MIDESC	Item Description	String	200 characters	Description of the Item	Cheese Sticks
Y	CATNUM	Category Number	Number	12 digits (999999999999)	Category number	1
Y	CATDESC	Category Description	String	40 characters	Category description	Food
Y	MINCATNUM	Minor Category Number	Number	12 digits (999999999999)	Minor category or subcategory number	24
Y	MINCATDESC	Minor Category Description	String	40 characters	Minor category or subcategory description	Appetizers
	NLUNUM	NLU Number	Number	12 digits (999999999999)	NLU or PLU number	123456547
(Y)	MICOST	Menu Item Cost	Money	13 digit number with 2 decimal places (99,999,999,999.99)	Item cost. If your POS tracks food cost by item, provide it here. Please note: this is not the price of the menu item, but the cost to produce the item.	4.75

Sample Data records

DAYPART

This file contains the information for the time of each meal period within each revenue center

File Naming convention: avero_BUSID_YYYYMMDD_DAYPART.txt

Req.	Field Name	Description	Format	Max Value/Length	Field Notes	Sample Data
Y	BUSDATE	Business Date	Date as YYYYMMDD	8 digits (99991231)	POS business date of transaction	20140101
Y	RVCNUM	Revenue Center Number	Number	12 digits (999999999999)	Unique numeric identifier for the revenue center where this day part is valid. If a day part is valid in more than one revenue center, a separate record must be included for each revenue center.	1
Y	RVCDESC	Revenue Center Description	String	40 characters	Revenue center description where this day part is valid. If a day part is valid in more than one revenue center, a separate record must be included for each revenue center.	Bar
Y	DPDESC	Day Part Description	String	40 characters	Day part description	LUNCH
Y	DPSTARTTIME	Day Part Period Start Time	Time as HH24:MM	23:59	Start of day part. Avero calculates the day part end time to be 1 minute before the start time of the next day part, so it is not required from the POS.	11:00

Sample Data records

Day Parts are used in reports and must be distinct and not overlapping (a transaction can only be in one Day Part). If the system does not have a Day Part functionality, please use a default ALL DAY record for EACH Revenue Center. Example below.

Ongoing Customer Support & Maintenance

Supporting Missing Data

If exports are missed, incomplete, or incorrect, the Customer may reach out directly to the POS Provider to resend the data to Avero.

If the Customer reaches out to Avero Support to report Missing or Incorrect Data, Avero Support can confirm if the data is missing or incomplete and directs the customer to POS Provider to request the data is resent.

POS Changes and Maintenance

If Revenue Centers are changed or added, the POS provider must update the Avero Export to include new or changed Revenue Center information.

If additional Avero Business IDs are required, the Customer must open a ticket with Avero Support to request a new Business ID. New locations may involve additional subscriptions.

FAQ about Avero Exports