Avero & GoTab POS
GoTab POS is supported for Sales data only.
Avero processes and presents data from your GoTab POS for your analysis and insight. This article details how to install, handle POS changes, make updates to this data, and how to handle discrepancies or problems you might encounter.
In this article:
- About GoTab POS
- Installation & Reinstallation
- Regular Maintenance: Making Updates and Changes
- Common Problems
- Frequently Asked Questions About GoTab
About GoTab POS
POS Type: Export
Avero is proud to offer Free Installation & Reinstallation for GoTab, and most POS systems.
GoTab is an Export POS system, meaning that your data is stored by your POS and GoTab creates and sends a daily export to Avero. If data is missing, incomplete, or inaccurate, you'll need to work with GoTab support to resend this information.
Differences between GoTab & Avero
GoTab sends us an export containing your sales data, but some reports may be calculated differently. GoTab uses the term Zones where Avero uses the term Revenue Centers or the abbreviation RVC.
If you notice a difference between GoTab and Avero, please report it to Avero Support for investigation and explanation. Open a ticket with Avero Support to request investigation or explanation.
Installation & Reinstallation on GoTab POS
GoTab sends data via an export from your system. You don't need to be installed to start using Avero! Even though data isn't flowing yet, you'll be invited as an Avero user right away to begin setting up your Logbook and exploring our platform!
Export Systems
- Request GoTab enable the export and send sales data to the provided Business ID
- Confirm with Avero the export is enabled.
Request the Export
Your initial email from the Avero Install Team will contain the information you'll need to request GoTab create and send your export: Your Avero Business ID
Reach out to GoTab and request they create and send the export to the provided business ID.
Confirm the Export
Once GoTab has confirmed the export is sending daily, reply to Avero to confirm you are ready to proceed.
Schedule the Installation
Avero Installs must have at least 2 days of valid exports before we cannect your data to Avero.
Regular Maintenance: Making Updates and Changes for GoTab
When changes or updates are needed who is responsible? If something appears incorrect or out-of-date, how should it be updated?
Change or Add a Meal Period in GoTab
Important to note - GoTab does not utilize Meal Periods so this is not available. All data will show as belonging to an ALL DAY meal period.
Change or Add a Revenue Center in GoTab
You can change or add zones to your GoTab configuration and see them reflected in Avero as soon as the next day. Changing a zone's name will only affect the data moving forward. Please note GoTab exports are tied to a single Business ID and so if you want to add an outlet, GoTab will need to be able to send a discrete export to the new ID. Please confirm with GoTab if this is possible with your configuration before making the request to Avero.
To add a revenue center, add it to your GoTab system and all RVCs/Zones in the export will be reflected daily.
To add a new outlet, or "business" in Avero, for revenue centers to be routed to, open a ticket with Avero Support to request by providing the Revenue Center Name and ID and informing the support team of the correct spelling of the new outlet. Please note GoTab exports are tied to a single Business ID and so if you want to add an outlet, GoTab will need to be able to send a discrete export to the new ID. Please confirm with GoTab if this is possible with your configuration before making the request to Avero.
To change an outlet name, open a ticket with Avero Support. Changing the name of a revenue center must be done in GoTab, but the business it reports to ('Business' box in report generator, name on the logbook) will be changed by Avero.
To remove an outlet, request GoTab exclude the Zone from the export, if this is possible with your configuration. Avero cannot disallow individual Zones from being processed.
Categories & Items in GoTab
Avero provides the following Global categories: Beverage, Food, Misc., Other, and Retail. The major and minor categories come from your POS. When pulling the data from GoTab, there is only one category level—this is unique to GoTab. See our complete guide to
To make changes to items you'll need to update GoTab - changing an item name, price, or moving it between categories.
To make changes to major/minor categories you'll need to update GoTab - changing category names, updating which items are in a category, making categories more specific.
To make changes to global categories, you'll need to open a ticket and request Avero makes the change. For example, if Appetizers are appearing under Beverage and need to be moved to Food.
When creating new Categories, they may default to Other and require a ticket to update this mapping.
To read more see: Categories
Common Problems
It is very important to keep an active connection to your POS server should you ever need Avero Support to access the server and assist.
GoTab Missing Data
If the export is missing or incomplete, you may experience missing data in the Avero platform. With export systems the only way to recover this data is for you, the customer, to request GoTab resend the export. Avero cannot load or reload any data unless GoTab has first sent the corrected export.
Data Discrepancies - Avero's sales data is not matching GoTab
If you notice your sales data is not matching up with your GoTab reports, there are three actions you need to complete:
- Make sure the data discrepancy exists in Avero by logging in and running a sales report. If you notice incorrect data in an emailed report, it may be related to email settings and not the data itself. See our troubleshooting guide: Troubleshooting Email Reports with Missing or Incomplete Data
- Run a Daily Sales Report from GoTab for the date in question, Open a Data Ticket, attach the report and explain the discrepancy. Make sure to include the report, the date, and profit center or location if you have access to several, as well as any examples you can provide.
Our team investigates all data discrepancies - due to the nature of our daily data extraction a single date and single-day sales report must be provided. We cannot investigate date ranges, but it is helpful to know if the issue is recurring and you can provide multiple dates.
Programming GoTab for Data Quality - Menu Setup
This is a guide to programming categories and items within GoTab to provide the best insights via Avero reporting.
Updating GoTab Programming or Programming a New GoTab System
Different POS systems require some degree of configuration for the data to display correctly in Avero and be analyzed effectively. An understanding of your POS categories and how Avero handles your categories is needed to make changes. Avero provides the following Global categories: Beverage, Food, Misc., Other, and Retail. The major and minor categories come from your POS. When pulling the data from GoTab, there is only one category level—this is unique to GoTab.
Categories are an essential element when viewing Avero reports - this is how to apply the business intelligence that Avero provides to your operation. Categories with enough detail enable you to analyze your operation from a financial viewpoint and also better evaluate server performance. Category mapping decisions should be made with input from the chef, the FOH, and the accounting teams so all needs are met.
Sales & Reporting Categories in GoTab
In GoTab, it is important to distinguish between Sales and Reporting categories. Categories must be set up as Sales Categories in order for you to gain the most insights from Avero reports. This is an important point to make when discussing your category setup with your GoTab reseller or programmer. Only items in Sales Categories will translate into revenue in Avero.
Creating Categories in GoTab
Your GoTab reseller has experience with creating new sales categories for a new installation. The categories are guided by your requests. Understanding how your categories will show up in Avero will help you direct your POS reseller to create your categories. See our examples below.
Modifiers – Zero Dollar ($0) or Add-on Sales ($)
In GoTab, modifiers are treated like items and may or may not have a dollar value attached to them. We recommend that you create an additional category called ‘Modifiers.’ By putting these in one auxiliary category, the percentage of category sales metric will not be skewed. This also allows the opportunity to report specifically on the success of upsell campaigns focused on add-ons, such as adding fixings to a burger or sides to a lunch order.
Remapping Current Items to New Categories
When creating new categories in an existing GoTab installation, we recommend creating one category at a time and then moving all appropriate items into the new category that you just created. For instance, if you are working with what is currently ‘Food’ in GoTab, you should:
- Create the new ‘Apps’ sales category
- Move all Appetizer items from ‘Food’ into the new ‘Apps’ category
- Move on to the next category
This will eliminate confusion and expedite the process.
Please note: DO NOT reuse old sales category names; always create a new category. Additionally, the new categories will take effect in Avero from the date you move the items forward. The changes will not show in the product prior to that date; the sooner you can get it done, the better.
Recommended Categories
Below are the common categories we see and how they roll into Avero's Global Categories, which are above the POS Categories. These sub-categories may come directly from your printed menu.
Under Avero’s Global Food Category:
- Appetizers (including specials, prix fixed items, banquet items, salads, soups)
- Entrees (including specials, prix fixed items, banquet items)
- Sides
- Desserts
- Dollar Food Modifiers – Add-on sales
- N/A Beverages (*may be considered as a beverage category)
Under Avero’s Global Beverage Category:
- Beer
- Liquor
- Wine Bottle
- Wine Glass
- Specialty Cocktails (including all margaritas, sangrias, sake)
- N/A Beverages (*may be considered as a food category)
- Coffee/Espresso
- Dollar Bev Modifiers – Add-on sales (up charge)
Under Avero’s Global Misc. Category:
- Zero Dollar Bev Modifiers (rocks, no salt)
- Zero Dollar Food Modifiers (allergy, fire, seat #)
Examples of how menu organization may impact reporting:
Frequently Asked Questions About GoTab
Why don't Avero's sales look the same as my GoTab reports?
GoTab sends us an export containing your sales data, but some reports may be calculated differently.
GoTab uses ZONES which will be represented as REVENUE CENTERS in Avero.
Is there any information GoTab doesn't export to Avero?
There are some data limitations you may notice based on what we receive from GoTab.
- Item-level promotion information, so all promotions will appear as check-level promotions and the Category/Item/Employee related to the promotion will not be displayed. Read more about the difference between promotion levels here: Understand Gross Sales and Net Sales
- Item Cost, so reporting on COGS or Menu Engineering is not available.
- $0 Modifiers, so no-cost modifiers will not be seen in your Item Sales Report. All revenue-generating items will be present.
- Cashier Information, if you have cashiers closing checks in lieu of the servers, this data is not included. Only the server for the check is listed.
- Covers - GoTab does not provide cover counts / guest counts, so you will not be able to report on Cover Counts or Check Averages by Cover as a result.
- Meal Periods - GoTab does not support Meal Periods / Day Parts, so all sales will be listed in a default ALL DAY meal period.
Does Avero pull credit card information from my GoTab system?
No. Avero pulls payment type information, such as what type of card is used and the amount of the payment from all systems. We do not have access to, collect, or store full credit card numbers, customer names, or any such identifying information from your POS export.