The five-minute version
If you only do five things, do these. Each one links to the full detail below.
Your dashboard at a glance
This is the first screen you see after logging in. It gives you a quick read on how the restaurant is doing right now.
| What you see | What it tells you |
|---|---|
| Order Statistics | Total Orders, Total Sales, Total Tips, and Average Ticket — switch between Today, Week, Month, and Year. |
| Pause online ordering | A button in the top-right of every screen. Use it any time you need to stop taking online orders — for a rush, a closure, or the end of the night. |
Orders
A running list of online orders for whatever date range you choose.
| Setting | What it does |
|---|---|
| Date range | Pick a start and end date, then hit Go to filter the list. |
| Order details | Each row shows the customer's name, email, phone, payment method, pickup time, tip, and total. |
Your menu (Inventory)
Inventory is where your menu lives — items, the categories they're grouped into, and the menus they belong to.
Items
| Setting | What it does |
|---|---|
| Add New Products | Add a new menu item, set its price, category, and modifier groups. |
| Visible | Toggle whether an item shows up on your live online ordering menu, without deleting it. |
Categories
| Setting | What it does |
|---|---|
| Add Category | Group items together — like Sandwiches or Lunch Specials — for a cleaner menu. |
| Visible | Show or hide an entire category from the online menu at once. |
Menu Type
Menu Types let you group categories under time-based menus — for example a breakfast menu that switches to lunch at 11am — each with its own working hours.
Customers
A read-only list of everyone who has ordered online, built automatically as orders come in.
| Column | What it shows |
|---|---|
| Contact info | Name, email, and phone number. |
| Marketing Allowed | Whether the customer opted in to marketing messages. |
| Order history | Customer Since, Last Order Date, Last Order amount, Lifetime Total, and total number of Orders. |
Employees & roles
Employees sync in from Clover. Roles are where you control tip rules and access for each position.
Adding or removing staff
Employees can't be added or removed from this dashboard — that's done from your Clover dashboard or device. Once an employee exists in Clover, they'll appear here automatically.
What you can manage here
| Setting | What it does |
|---|---|
| Include in Payroll Report | Toggle whether an employee's hours and tips show up on the Payroll Report. |
| Show Active Employees | Filter the list down to staff currently active in Clover. |
Roles
| Setting | What it does |
|---|---|
| Assigned To | Which employees hold this role — for example Server or Kitchen. |
| Tip Pooling | Turn on if this role shares tips with others rather than keeping their own. |
| Min. Hourly Tip Rate | A guaranteed minimum tip rate per hour for this role, if you offer one. |
| Accept Tip | Whether this role is eligible to receive tips at all — off for most back-of-house kitchen roles. |
Shifts & payroll
Shifts logs every clock-in and clock-out. Payroll Report rolls that up into hours and tips per employee, ready for payday.
Shifts
| Setting | What it does |
|---|---|
| Today / Week / Month / Year / Custom | Pick a date range, and optionally filter to one employee. |
| Export | Download the shift data shown on screen. |
| Tip Shortage | Flags when an employee's declared tips fell short of what's required for their role. |
Payroll Report
Same date-range and employee filters as Shifts, rolled up into Total Hours, Tips & Service Total, Declared Cash Tips, Total Tip Out, Total Tip In, Tip Pool, Total Tips, Tip Shortage, and Hourly Tip Rate — everything you need to run payroll for a pay period.
Tip Manager
Four reports that break down exactly how tips moved through your restaurant for a given date range.
| Report | What it shows |
|---|---|
| Tip Out | Gross sales, tips and service total, and tip-out fees per employee, per day. |
| Tip In | What each employee is eligible to receive, summarized by rule or by date. |
| Tip Pool | Every pooled order's contribution and share amounts, by eligible employee. |
| Withholding Report | Sales and tip withholding side by side with net tips and the final tip amount paid out. |
Tip rules live in Roles
Before these reports will show meaningful numbers, make sure tip pooling, minimum hourly tip rate, and Accept Tip are set correctly for each role — see Employees & roles above.
Restaurant settings
Everything about how your restaurant appears and operates on online ordering, organized into six tabs.
| Tab | What it controls |
|---|---|
| General | Profile picture, address, phone number, time zone, and preparation time. |
| Visibility | Hide the special instructions box on checkout or menu items, and hide the tip box on credit card orders. |
| Payments | Choose Pay Online, Pay at Pickup, or Both, and set up an optional service charge — flat name, auto-applied or not, and a percentage. |
| Hours | A global "Business is closed" switch, plus pickup hours for each day of the week. |
| Ordering Link | Your public online-ordering web address, plus an optional announcement banner customers see when ordering. |
| Shift Settings | Auto clockout time — protects against an employee forgetting to clock out. |
New restaurant checklist
Working through these in order gets a new restaurant ready to take online orders.
- 1Fill in General settings — address, phone, time zone, and preparation time.
- 2Set your Hours for each day, and confirm the business isn't marked closed.
- 3Choose your Payment options and set up a service charge if you use one.
- 4Build out your menu in Inventory — items, categories, and menu types — and confirm everything you want live is marked Visible.
- 5Create your Roles and set tip pooling, minimum tip rate, and Accept Tip for each one.
- 6Turn on Include in Payroll Report for every employee who should appear on payroll.
- 7Set your Auto clockout time under Shift Settings.
- 8Grab your Ordering Link and add it to your website, social profiles, and any print materials.
Troubleshooting
The issues we get asked about most, and what to check first.
| Problem | What to do |
|---|---|
| A menu item isn't showing online | Check that both the item and its category are toggled Visible in Inventory. |
| An employee isn't on the Payroll Report | Confirm Include in Payroll Report is turned on for them under Employees. |
| Tip numbers look off | Double check Tip Pooling, Min. Hourly Tip Rate, and Accept Tip on that employee's Role. |
| Customers can't check out | Confirm "Business is closed" isn't switched on under Hours, and that today's pickup hours aren't set to Closed. |
| An employee didn't clock out | Check Auto clockout time under Shift Settings — it should be set to a time after your last realistic shift ends. |
| A new employee isn't appearing | Add or activate them in Clover first — Employees syncs from Clover and can't add staff directly. |
Still stuck? Reach us on live chat inside the app, email support@kitchenbot.io, or call 704-287-4009.