Catering & Events module- Huge Issue with Gratuity distribution

[BrightSpark]

Spoiler

Everyone needs to be aware that there is a huge issue with the Catering & Events module affecting Gratuity distribution

We have a private event space in our restaurant and have it booked very frequently. The Toast module for Catering & Events has been very helpful in managing leads, creating menus for private events, receiving deposits, and then automatically sending the order to the POS on the day of the event for easy host payment. HOWEVER, we encountered a HUGE issue with Gratuities not being distributed to our team. We were never informed during our training from Toast on the Catering & Events module that if the Invoice is not assigned to a server, that any Gratuity associated with the invoice will not be included in the Tip Pool. We even had a customer support agent from Toast confirm that the Gratuity was set up correctly. The issue is with the Catering & Events module invoice system. This is unlike Online Ordering, when even if it is not assigned to a server, it still goes into the Tip Pool. We now have to go through every event since we started using the module, and determine what gratuities were missed, and what is owed to teammates. This is a huge issue that every restaurant using the Catering & Events module needs to be aware of. 

[Rob]

Hello! I'm sorry to hear about the oversight here. I want to make sure everything that can be done is done. Do you have any case numbers with support that I can reference about this issue? I also want to relay this feedback to the Catering and Events team to learn more and potentially get documentation updated so this doesn't happen to anyone else. 

[escoop]

Why does he have to provide a case number when Toast knows this is an issue?  Can Toast just please fix it?  It affects many of us out here.

[Tbhann]

This is a huge oversight by Toast! A small business has enough to worry about, and Toast is supposed to make life easier. It’s deeply concerning that they not only provided incorrect information by customer service, but it seems that they have done nothing to help remedy this situation. This is a $13000 mistake by Toast. I can’t imagine how many other small business have been hurt by the incorrect information and set up of this module. How many of these businesses are even aware that this is happening??? This hurts not only small businesses, but their employees as well. I hope everyone who reads this post can help spread awareness! 

[eddieD]

Do you take deposits or pre-payment? here is something else to think about that we noticed.

I saw that some gratuities amounts were off, and it turns out that if there is a payment before the day of an event, the gratuity proportional to that payment gets applied to the server on the day of the original payment. This means that if the server on the order was set during the payroll period, you may have already paid out this gratuity! So tracking this down is probably going to be even more difficult than expected. Example:

• Event is $1000 + 20% gratuity ($1200 total)
• You take a $120 deposit
• Toast logs this as a $20 gratuity for the day when the deposit was paid

Here is the part that I don't remember when I ran into this issue. 

• When you assign a server to the check, does the gratuity get assigned to that server?
• If so, and you assign it within the pay period, you run payroll and the server gets paid (they get more on one day, and less on the other)
• If the server gets assigned after the pay period, then it goes in the report after you run payroll, so the server never gets paid.

It's a huge oversight on Toast's part, and I only caught it because a big deposit was made on a very slow day, and that caused the numbers to look off and I started looking into it.