Toast POS Standard Operating Procedures

This SOP is the single reference for running service on Toast and for changing the menu safely, with the three-course prix fixe (starter, main, dessert) as the priority build. Steps reflect Toast's support documentation as of October 2026; screen labels can shift slightly between Toast updates, so confirm against your own screens during training.

How to use it: servers need sections 3, 4, 7, 8 and 9; servers who manage the prix fixe also need all of section 5 (day-to-day changes are in 5.4). Managers and whoever edits the menu also need sections 2, 5, 6 and 10. Every menu change is logged in section 11.

Rule of thumb: structure (new courses, required rules, routing, hours) changes only in Toast Web, outside service hours, by whoever owns publishing. Servers with Quick Edit permission handle dishes, prices and 86s on the POS (section 5.4).

Toast has two halves: Toast Web (the back office at toasttab.com, where the menu is built) and the POS (terminals and Toast Go handhelds, where orders are taken). Nothing edited in Toast Web reaches the POS until it is published.

Menu hierarchy (top to bottom):

1. Menu: e.g. Dinner, Prix Fixe. Has its own availability schedule and channel visibility.
2. Menu group: e.g. Starters, Mains. Modifier groups attached here are inherited by every item in the group.
3. Menu item: the button a server taps. Carries the price and pricing strategy.
4. Modifier group: a set of choices on an item (e.g. "Choose your starter"). Can be Required, Multi-select, with min/max selections.
5. Modifier: a single choice (e.g. Caesar salad). Can carry its own price (an upcharge).

Save vs publish: saved changes are stored but do not go into effect on terminals until published. After any edit, select Publish all changes (or go to Toast account > Publishing > Publish config). Publishing requires a specific permission; staff without it can save but not publish.

Where menus are edited: Menus > Menu management > Menu manager. Toast is moving users from the older Menu builder to Menu manager, which includes all the same functions.

Every table follows the same path: clock in, open the table, ring items by seat, fire courses, then pay and close.

Start of shift

1. Enter your passcode on the POS and clock in to your server job (not a non-tipped job, or tips won't track).
2. Confirm your handheld is charged and logged in.
3. Check the 86 list with the manager; out-of-stock items show greyed out with a 0 on the button.

Taking an order

1. Tap the table on the floor plan, enter guest count.
2. Assign a seat before every item. Seat numbers drive split-by-seat at the end and make prix fixe tracking clean.
3. Choose the menu, then the group, then the item. Required modifier groups pop up automatically; you cannot add the item until each is answered.
4. Optional modifiers (temps, allergies, "no onion") are added from the item's modifier screen. Use a special request only when no modifier fits.

Send, Stay, Hold (buttons under the check, shown only once items are on it)

Coursing. If the kitchen uses course firing, every prix fixe item is tagged Starter, Main or Dessert. If coursing is set to required, the POS blocks Send until every item has a course; tap Go back and assign the missing ones. How later courses fire (by you, automatically when the prior course is done, or by the expo) is a restaurant setting; the manager will tell you which one is on. Toast does not allow course pacing and server item firing to run at the same time.

Ring one Prix Fixe item per guest, on that guest's seat, and pick their starter, main and dessert from the three required prompts; the fixed price is charged once and any premium choice adds its upcharge automatically.

Ringing in a prix fixe guest

1. Select the seat.
2. Open the Prix Fixe menu and tap Prix Fixe – 3 Course ($[PRICE] per person). The price appears on the check immediately.
3. Answer the three required prompts in order:
   1. Starter: choose one.
   2. Main: choose one, then add temp or allergy modifiers if prompted.
   3. Dessert: choose one. If the guest hasn't decided, choose it later before firing dessert (see note below).
4. Premium options show their upcharge on the button (e.g. "Filet +$12"). Selecting one adds that amount to the guest's line.
5. Repeat for each prix fixe guest. Guests ordering à la carte at the same table are rung normally on their own seats.
6. Tap Send. The starter fires first; main and dessert follow per the course-firing setting.

Rules that keep pricing correct

• Never ring a prix fixe course as an à la carte item, and never ring the prix fixe as an open item. Both break the price and the sales reporting.
• One prix fixe item = one guest. A table of four prix fixe guests = four items on four seats.
• Substitutions inside the prix fixe (e.g. swap dessert for a cheese plate) are done by choosing a different modifier, not by voiding the item.
• Guest wants to share or skip a course: the price does not change unless a manager approves a discount (section 7).
• Wine pairing, if offered, is its own item rung on the same seat, not a modifier, so it can be comped or split separately.

Deciding dessert later. If the manager has set the Dessert group to Optional with Include a POS prompt instead of Required, you can send now and add dessert later by tapping the prix fixe item on the check and selecting a dessert. Confirm with your manager which setting is live; with Required, a dessert choice must be made up front.

Tip: Toast notes that open view on the POS works well for prix fixe ordering because all choices are visible at once.

The prix fixe is built once in Toast Web, because the POS cannot create menus, menu groups or modifier groups. After that, nearly every week-to-week change (swapping a dish, changing the price or an upcharge, 86ing) can be done on the POS in Quick Edit mode, with changes syncing to every device immediately.

Toast Web is a website, not the POS: open toasttab.com/login on a laptop, tablet or phone browser and sign in with your Toast Web email and password. A POS passcode alone does not get you in; a manager must give you Toast Web credentials.

What can be done where (Quick Edit limits)

Permissions to give servers who manage the prix fixe

A manager assigns these to the server's job in Toast Web (open the job's permissions in the Employees area and tick the boxes). After a change, the server signs out and back in; the device may need a reboot (Permissions Reference).

You can only grant a permission you hold yourself, so the owner or GM sets these up.

5.1One-time build in Toast Web: menu, group and prix fixe item

The structure you are building has four layers: the Prix Fixe menu holds a Prix Fixe group, which holds one item, Prix Fixe – 3 Course, which carries three required choices (Starter, Main, Dessert). Do this outside service hours; nothing reaches the POS until you publish.

Before you start, have written down: the price per guest, every dish for each course, which dishes carry an upcharge and how much, the days and hours the prix fixe runs.

A. Create the menu

1. Sign in at toasttab.com/login. If you manage more than one location, confirm the right restaurant is selected at the top.
2. Go to Menus > Menu management > Menu manager.
3. Scroll to the bottom of the menu list and select + Add menu.
4. The button turns into a text field. Type Prix Fixe and select the checkmark to save it.

B. Create the menu group

1. Select the new Prix Fixe menu. A settings panel opens on the right.
2. Select Advanced settings to open the menu's details page.
3. Scroll to Groups. Select +Add to create a new group named Prix Fixe. (Alternatively, use the arrow next to +Add and choose Copy Existing Groups, then remove "(Copy)" from the name with the pencil icon.)

C. Create the prix fixe item

1. Select the Prix Fixe group to open its details page.
2. In the Items section, add an item named Prix Fixe – 3 Course. Keep the POS name short enough to read on a button, e.g. PF 3-Course.
3. Open the item. Set Pricing strategy to Base price and enter the price per guest, e.g. $65.00.
4. Check the item's tax rate and prep station(s); by default they're inherited from the group/menu.
5. Select Save. Don't publish yet; the course choices come next.

If the prix fixe has more than one price (e.g. a 3-course and a 4-course, or with and without wine pairing), create a separate item for each in the same group. Each gets its own modifier groups, which can be shared (section 5.2, step D).

5.2Course choices, dishes and upcharges

Each course is a modifier group on the prix fixe item: the group is the question ("Starter?"), the dishes inside it are the answers. Groups don't print on tickets; the chosen dish does (modifier groups guide).

A. Create the Starter group

1. In Menu manager, select the Prix Fixe – 3 Course item. Its settings panel opens on the right.
2. Scroll to Modifier groups and select + Add new. The modifier group details page opens.
3. Name it Starter (POS name Starter).
4. In the Modifiers section, type each starter's name and select + Add after each one, e.g. Caesar Salad, Soup du Jour, Burrata.
5. In Modifier group settings:
   1. Choose Required: the server can't add the prix fixe without picking a starter.
   2. Leave Allow guests to select more than one modifier off, so exactly one starter is chosen.
6. In Pricing, set How are modifiers in this group priced? to Each modifier has a unique price. (Use No charge only if no starter will ever carry an upcharge.)
7. Set each dish's price with the pencil icon next to it: $0.00 for included dishes, the upcharge for premium ones (e.g. Burrata $4.00).
8. Select Save.

B. Create the Main and Dessert groups

Repeat steps A1–A8 for Main and Dessert. Example:

For Dessert, decide whether servers must choose it at order time:

• Required: dessert is chosen when the prix fixe is rung in.
• Optional with Include a POS prompt turned on: the Dessert screen still pops up, but the server can skip it and add the dessert later by tapping the prix fixe on the check. Use this if guests usually decide dessert at the end.

C. Steak temps and allergy notes on a dish

A dish inside a course can carry its own follow-up question (e.g. Filet → temperature). This is a nested modifier: open the Filet Mignon modifier and attach your existing Meat Temperature modifier group to it. Avoid attaching a group to itself, which creates a loop.

D. Re-use the course groups on another prix fixe

For a second prix fixe item (e.g. a 4-course), open that item, select the arrow next to + Add modifier group > Add existing modifier group, search "Starter", select it and Add modifier groups. A re-used group is the same group: a dish added to it shows up on both items. If the second menu needs different dishes, make a copy instead.

E. Use existing à la carte dishes as course choices (optional)

If a dish is already on the à la carte menu, add it to the course with New Modifier from Existing Item so it keeps its prep station and 86s together with the à la carte item. If that item uses a pricing strategy other than base price, edit its upcharge on the item's own details page, not in the modifier list.

F. Check the order on the POS

Toast shows Required groups before optional ones. If Main appears before Starter, open the group's Advanced settings and adjust Display Ordering Priority. Use View POS layout in Menu manager to preview before publishing.

5.3Kitchen tickets, coursing, hours, publish and test

A. Kitchen ticket setting (needs 6.2 Kitchen / Dining Room Setup)

1. Go to Kitchen > Kitchen and Ticket Setup and find Modifier Routing.
2. Set it to Print or show items with modifier(s), Toast's required setting for this build, so tickets read "PF 3-Course: Caesar / Filet MR / Torte" instead of loose dish names.
3. Save.

B. Courses so the three dishes fire separately

1. Make sure courses named Starter, Main and Dessert exist in your course settings (Front of house).
2. Give every dish in the Starter group the Starter course, every main the Main course, every dessert the Dessert course. Modifier Course Firing lets a modifier fire as a different course from its parent item; that's what lets one prix fixe item go out in three stages.
3. Pick how later courses fire: server fires each course, automated (next course fires when the previous one is bumped, or on a timer), or expediter firing (needs a KDS).
4. If you turn on course pacing, turn off Individually Hold and Send Items on the Front of house page. The two can't run together.

C. Hours and where it shows

1. Select the Prix Fixe menu in Menu manager. Under Availability, choose Specific days and time, select the pencil icon, and set days and hours. Add a 15–30 minute buffer at the end for late tables.
2. In channel visibility, keep POS on; turn off online ordering and partners unless you sell it there.

D. Publish

Select Publish all changes (needs 6.4 Publishing). Without this, none of the above reaches the terminals.

E. Test before the first service (5 minutes on one terminal)

• The Prix Fixe menu appears on the POS during its hours
• Tapping PF 3-Course prompts Starter, then Main, then Dessert, and won't add the item until each required course is chosen
• An all-included order totals exactly $[PRICE]
• Choosing Filet adds exactly its upcharge
• After Send, the ticket/KDS shows the item with its choices, and only the starter fires first
• Void the test check with reason Training
• Log the build in section 11

5.4Changing the prix fixe on the POS (Quick Edit)

Quick Edit changes save straight to the cloud and appear on every terminal and in Toast Web, with no separate publish step. That also means a mistake goes live instantly, so make changes between services where possible and check the result right away.

Get into Quick Edit

1. On the order screen, press and hold any menu button (e.g. the Prix Fixe menu or the PF 3-Course item).
2. When asked, select Enter Quick Edit. If nothing happens, your job is missing Quick Edit permission (section 5).
3. To reach a course's dishes: tap the PF 3-Course item so the Starter/Main/Dessert choices show, then press and hold a dish to open Quick Edit for the modifiers.
4. Make the change, then select Done.

Common changes

What Quick Edit can't do (use Toast Web, sections 5.1–5.3): create a menu, group or modifier group (so not a new course); make a course required or optional; switch a course from No charge to upcharge pricing; change kitchen routing, courses or hours.

Gotchas

• New dishes added on the POS may not have the prep station or course you expect. Ring a test and check the ticket; if it prints at the wrong station or fires with the wrong course, fix it in Toast Web.
• Upcharge on a No charge group: if the course group is set to No charge, a price typed on a dish has no effect. The Toast Web owner switches it to Each modifier has a unique price.
• 86 the dish, not the prix fixe. 86ing the PF 3-Course item takes the whole menu off the POS.
• Multiple locations: Quick Edit may be locked for menu items owned at the restaurant-group level; use Toast Web.
• Change not showing on another terminal: confirm it saved (network connection), then resync that device.

5.5Prix fixe change playbook

Match the change to the tool: anything about the structure (courses, rules, routing, hours) is Toast Web; anything about the contents (dishes, prices, stock) is the POS.

After any change, on the POS: ring a test prix fixe with one included and one premium choice, confirm the total and the ticket, void it as Training, and log the change in section 11.

Every change follows edit, save, publish, test, log; a change that is saved but not published is invisible to the POS.

86 an item on the POS (manager)

1. Open Quick Edit mode on any Toast device.
2. On the item or modifier, open the Inventory drop-down and choose Out of stock. The button greys out with a 0 and can't be ordered on the POS or Toast Online Ordering.
3. It stays 86'd until someone marks it back in stock the same way. Clear the 86 list at close.
4. In Toast Web, the same is done from bulk management by entering 0 in the item's Inventory column.

For the prix fixe specifically: 86 the modifier (e.g. the halibut inside Main), not the whole prix fixe item, or guests lose the entire menu. If a dish is entered separately on the à la carte menu and in the prix fixe, 86 both entries.

Before publishing any change

• Change made outside service hours (86s excepted)
• Price, tax and prep station checked
• Published, then verified on one POS
• Logged in section 11 with date, change and initials

Void what was rung in error, comp what was served but won't be charged, and discount when the price is reduced; each needs a reason, and most need a manager.

Void a single item

1. On the check, tap the item to highlight it, then Void.
2. For quantity above 1, enter how many to void.
3. Choose the void reason. If you lack the permission, the POS asks for a manager's passcode or card.
4. The voided item is recorded in the Voided Items report in Toast Web.

Prix fixe specifics

• Wrong dish chosen for a course: edit the prix fixe item and change the modifier. Don't void the whole item.
• Guest leaves after the starter: manager decides between voiding the prix fixe and ringing the starter à la carte, or applying a partial discount. Record the reason.
• One course comped (e.g. a main sent back): manager applies a $ discount equal to the agreed amount on that guest's prix fixe item, reason "Quality".
• If the restaurant uses the combo-discount method instead, no other discount can be added to that check. Use the item-based build to avoid this.

Managers set up void reasons in Toast Web at Payments > Transactions & refunds > Void reasons, and discounts under Discounts & promo codes. Suggested void reasons: Rang in error, Guest changed mind, Kitchen error, Training. Discounts: Quality, Manager meal, Birthday, Service recovery.

If every item was rung on a seat, Split by seat separates the table in one tap; that is why section 3 makes seats mandatory.

Taking payment

1. Present the check (or pay at the table on a Toast Go handheld).
2. Choose the payment type, process the card, and let the guest add a tip on the device.
3. Print or email the receipt as the guest prefers; the check closes when the balance hits $0.

Notes

• Prefer splitting the check over splitting the payment when the restaurant runs loyalty; Toast says split payments don't accrue loyalty points properly.
• Splitting more than 9 ways is done differently; ask a manager.
• Splitting can be restricted by permission; if the button is locked, get a manager.

Close every check, declare cash tips, reconcile, then clock out, all from My Account > Shift Review on the POS.

1. Close all open checks. If shift review is required, the POS won't let you clock out with checks open.
2. Declare cash tips: tap Declare cash tips, enter the total cash tips you received, then Declare (or No tips for $0). Card tips are tracked automatically.
3. Reconcile cash and tips: Toast shows what you owe the house or what the house owes you, and whether you're cash over, short, or even.
4. Close the cash drawer if you were assigned one.
5. Tap Clock out (or Clock out & new shift if switching to another job). Print the shift review if required.

Forgot to clock out? A manager with the Shift Review permission can complete it for you from Manager Activities > Shift Review.

Manager close checklist

• All server shift reviews closed
• 86'd items marked back in stock (or left 86'd intentionally)
• Void and discount reports reviewed
• Any menu changes made today published and logged

Most "the POS is wrong" problems are unpublished changes; publish and resync before anything else.

Still stuck: Toast Customer Care, (617) 682-0225, or the in-app help on the device.

Open items to fill in before training

• Prix fixe price per person: $[PRICE]
• Starter, main and dessert options and which carry upcharges
• Course-firing mode: server, automated, or expediter
• Dessert: chosen up front (Required) or later (Optional with POS prompt)
• Which roles may void, comp and discount without a manager
• Prix fixe days and hours

Menu change log (newest first)

Sources (Toast Support Center, accessed October 2026)

• Create a Prix Fixe Menu
• Create and Manage Modifier Groups and Modifier Options
• Configure Modifier Pricing Strategy
• Use Quick Edit Mode on the POS
• Permissions Reference Guide
• Manage Course Firing Options
• Enable Server Order Firing
• Manage Orders With Toast POS
• 86 an Item on the POS or Toast Web
• Set Menu Availability
• Publish Changes in Toast Web
• Get Help With Disappearing Menus or Menu Items
• Pricing modifiers (Toast Platform Guide)
• Create a Combo Discount
• Void Items, Payments, and Checks
• Split Checks on the POS
• Shift Review Overview
• Declare Cash Tips Overview