Beverages are individual drink items (e.g., wine, soda, cocktails) that can be sold, packaged, or added to events within the system. Setting up beverages correctly ensures they are available for selection in events, priced properly, and categorized for reporting and filtering. This setup controls how beverage inventory appears across sales, production, and order workflows
How to Add a New Beverage
- Go to Data Items on the left side panel.
- Click Beverage Management in the drop-down list.
- Click Beverage Management (All Items).
- Click on the New Entry button, the beverage entry window will open.
- Fill out the beverage information. All the highlighted fields are required to save the beverages.
- Once you enter all the necessary data click on Save.
Field Definitions
The Beverage Information window has five tabs. Fill them in order from left to right.
Tab 1 — Beverage Item & Price
This tab has four sections: Name, Groups & Display Rules, Packing & Purchase Information, Cost Breakdown and History
Section: Name, Groups & Display Rules
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Image | Photo of the beverage. Upload .jpg or .png, max 5 MB. Displays on proposals and the web portal. |
| ID | Auto-generated system identifier. Read-only. |
| Name | The name of the beverage as it will appear in menus, orders, and reports (e.g., "Chardonnay", "Sparkling Water"). Click the pencil icon to edit. |
| IsActive | Toggle ON to make the beverage available for selection. Toggle OFF to hide it without deleting it. Default: ON. |
| Groups | Assigns the beverage to one or more item groups for filtering and reporting. Use the search icon to look up existing groups or the document icon to create a new one. |
| Master Filter | Filters which cost center or business unit this beverage belongs to. Controls visibility across different divisions. Example values: CATERING, RENTALS-NORTH, RENTALS-SOUTH, Work in Process. |
| Scale Item | Toggle ON if the beverage is sold by weight or variable measure rather than a fixed unit. |
| Exclude From Recosting | Toggle ON to prevent this item from being recalculated during system-wide recosting operations. |
| Course Type | Classifies the beverage by meal course. Example values: Appetizer, Dessert, MainCourse, Salad, Soup. |
Section: Packing & Purchase Information — Purchasing/Usage Breakdowns
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Packing or Storage Unit | The unit used to store or package this beverage (e.g., EACH, CASE, KEG). Configured in General Setup → Recipe → Purchasing Units. |
| Items Per Packing Unit | How many individual units are in one packing unit (e.g., 1 for a single bottle, 24 for a case). |
| Procurement Unit | The unit used when purchasing from a vendor (e.g., EACH, CASE). May differ from the storage unit. |
| Items Per Procurement Unit | How many individual units come in one procurement purchase. |
| Unit of Measure | The base unit used for event ordering and production (e.g., EACH, OZ, ML). |
| Conversion Ratio | The numeric relationship between the Procurement Unit and the Unit of Measure. Default: 1. |
Section: Cost Breakdown
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Procurement Unit Cost | The cost paid to the vendor per procurement unit (e.g., cost per case). Enter your actual purchase cost. |
| Unit of Measure Cost | The cost per individual unit of measure, calculated from procurement cost and conversion ratio. |
| Unit Selling Price | The price charged to clients per unit of measure. This is the field that drives event billing. |
| Highest Cost | Read-only. Tracks the highest cost ever recorded for this item. Updated automatically. |
| Lowest Cost | Read-only. Tracks the lowest cost ever recorded for this item. Updated automatically. |
| As of (Highest / Lowest) | Read-only. The date when the highest or lowest cost was last recorded. |
| Drink Price | An alternate price field for bar or drink-specific pricing scenarios, separate from the standard Unit Selling Price. |
Section: History (read-only)
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Created By | Username of the person who created this record |
| Created Date | Date the record was first saved |
| Edited By | Username of the last person to modify the record |
| Edited Date | Date of the last modification |
Tab 2 — Purchasing
This tab manages vendor relationships, purchase history, and automated purchasing settings.
Section: Specifications
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Primary Vendor | The main supplier for this beverage. Select from the vendor list. |
| Last Vendor | Read-only. The most recent vendor used for purchasing this item. |
| Remarks | Internal notes about purchasing this item (e.g., minimum order, lead time, special instructions). |
| POS/EDI | Electronic data interchange or point-of-sale reference code for integration with external purchasing systems. |
Section: Purchase History
Read-only grid showing all past purchase orders for this beverage. Columns:
| Column | Description |
|---|---|
| Order Qty | Quantity ordered |
| Purchase Date | Date the purchase order was created |
| PO ID | Purchase Order identifier |
| Require Date | Date the item is needed |
| Vendor | Supplier used for that order |
| Stock Number | Vendor's stock/item number |
| Purchase Unit | Unit used in the purchase |
| Unit Cost | Cost per unit on that order |
| PO Cost | Total cost of that purchase order |
Section: Electronic Purchasing — Automated Purchasing
Allows up to 5 vendor alternatives for automated purchasing. For each row:
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Vendor | Alternate vendor for this beverage |
| Stock Number | Vendor's item reference number |
| Price | Price from this vendor |
| Last Price | Most recent price paid to this vendor |
| Preference | Priority order when multiple vendors are available |
Tab 3 — Descriptions
This tab contains all text content for the beverage — used on proposals, menus, production sheets, and client-facing documents.
Section: Primary Description
| Field | Limit | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Primary Description | 8,000 characters | Main description of the beverage. Appears on proposals, menus, and event documents. Use this to describe the product in detail for clients. |
| Remarks or Notes | 140 characters | Short internal note or quick reference. Not typically visible to clients. |
Section: Alternate Name & Description
| Field | Limit | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Alternative Name | 50 characters | An alternate display name |
| Alternate Description | 4,000 characters | Alternate description |
Tab 4 — Cost Centers (Business Units) & Inventory Updates
This tab links the beverage to specific cost centers and tracks all inventory activity.
Section: Beverage Cost Centers (Business Units) Updates
Click + Add CostCenter to assign this beverage to one or more business units. Each row contains:
| Column | Description |
|---|---|
| Primary | Marks this as the primary cost center for this beverage |
| Cost Center | The business unit this beverage is assigned to |
| Inv Location | Inventory storage location within that cost center |
| Par | Par level — the minimum quantity that should always be on hand |
| OnHand | Current inventory quantity at this location |
| Rack | Storage rack identifier |
| Row | Storage row identifier |
| Bin | Storage bin identifier |
| Require Inventory | Toggle — when ON, inventory tracking is required for this item at this cost center |
Inventory Totals row at the bottom summarizes quantities across all assigned cost centers.
Section: Inventory Adjustments History
Read-only grid showing every manual inventory adjustment made to this beverage. Columns:
| Column | Description |
|---|---|
| Cost Center | Where the adjustment occurred |
| Qty | Quantity adjusted (positive = added, negative = removed) |
| Reason for Adjustment | Why the adjustment was made |
| Event ID | Event linked to the adjustment, if applicable |
| Adjust Date | Date of the adjustment |
| Adjust By | User who made the adjustment |
| Cost | Cost value of the adjustment |
| Unit | Unit of measure used |
Tab 5 — Web Details
Sub-tab: POS/Web Items Information
Item Entry Management grid — lists all POS/web configurations for this item. Columns include: Action, ID, Division, Group, Item Name, Item Code, Description, Sort, Display, Game, Schedule, IsActive, Item Web.
Web Order Settings
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Web Enabled | Toggle ON to make this beverage available for ordering through the Elecate web portal or shopping cart. Default: OFF. |
| Min. Order | Minimum quantity a client can order through the web. Default: 1. |
| Max. Order | Maximum quantity a client can order through the web. Default: 9999. |
| Order Size | Defines specific order size increments (e.g., order in multiples of 6). |
| Order Size Group | Groups this item with others that share the same order size rules. |