In Beta
This feature is in beta for select customers. Contact your CSM to learn more.
Menu item rules require the Modifier Rules feature to be enabled for the organization. Contact your CSM for more information.
Modifier rules define how a modifier or menu item depletes inventory based on what else appeared on the same sales ticket. Rather than always depleting the same recipe, a rule-based modifier can deplete different ingredients or quantities depending on which parent menu item it accompanied and which other modifiers were ordered alongside it. Rules are created on the menu item or modifier record and are evaluated each time a matching sales ticket is processed.
Rules are built using a WHEN / THEN structure. The WHEN section defines the conditions that must be true for the rule to trigger. The THEN section defines the depletion or replacement action that executes when those conditions are met. These rules are defined on the Menu Item Rules / Modifier Rules section of the new menu item record. To learn how to create, edit, or delete rules, see Configure Modifier Rules.
Navigation
Modifier rules are found in the Menu item / modifier rule section of a menu item record.
Navigation Steps
Open the Sales & forecasting application.
Expand Menu items.
Select Menu Items.
Click a menu item record from the list.
Navigate to the Menu item / Modifier rule section. The name of the section is determined by whether this is menu item or modifier.
This is the default section that the record will open to.
How Rules Work
Each rule belongs to the menu item or modifier record it is created on. That item is the primary entity and appears as a locked condition in the WHEN section, marked with a Primary indicator. When a rule triggers, the depletion is attributed to the primary entity. In reporting, its cost line reflects the depletion from the rule. Other items referenced as conditions in the WHEN section provide context for when the rule applies, but they do not receive cost attribution from that rule.
When a sales ticket is processed, rules on a record are evaluated in order from top to bottom. All rules whose conditions match the ticket are applied. If none of the rules on the record match the ticket, a default depletion action runs instead. Read more about configuring menu item and modifier rules.
Users must have the following permissions to create, edit, and delete modifier rules:
Food > Menu Items >
View Menu Items
Create Menu Items
Edit Menu Items
Delete Menu Items
Users without edit permissions see the Rules section in read-only mode. The options to add, edit, or delete rules are not available in that state.
A rule belongs to its primary entity — the record it was created on, shown as the locked condition with the Primary indicator. A menu item or modifier can also appear in a rule that belongs to a different record, when it is referenced as one of that rule's other conditions. In that case, the rule also shows on this record, but read-only; edit it from the record it belongs to.
A rule can only be edited from the record it belongs to. If a rule shown read-only on this record is included when this record is saved, any change to that rule is not applied, even though the save reports success.
Rule Conditions
The WHEN section of a rule defines when the rule triggers. The primary entity row is always present and locked. Additional conditions can reference other items or attributes that appeared on the same sales ticket:
A specific menu item present on the ticket
A specific modifier present on the ticket
A sales category associated with an item on the ticket
A modifier group the item belongs to
A service type indicating how the order was fulfilled (such as dine-in, takeout, or delivery). Only one service type condition can be added per rule.
A location group where the order was placed belongs to
Each condition uses an is or is not operator. All conditions in the WHEN section must be true at the same time for the rule to trigger.
Rule Actions
The THEN section defines what happens when a rule triggers. Each rule supports one or more actions. Available actions are:
Deplete: Depletes a recipe. Requires a target recipe.
Multiple actions can be added to a single rule. All actions in the THEN section execute when the rule triggers.
If the conditions of two or more rules on the same record could match the same sales ticket, an overlap warning appears on the record. The warning does not block saving or processing.
Rules and Reporting
Adding rules to a modifier or menu item does not change which entities appear in reports. Menu Item Analysis and Menu Price Analysis continue to display each sold entity on its own line with its own cost. Rules change which recipe an entity depletes — they do not change which entity carries the cost.
When a rule triggers, the depletion is attributed to the primary entity (the item the rule belongs to). If a modifier is configured to deplete mozzarella when paired with one parent item and feta when paired with another, both depletion events appear on the modifier's cost line in reporting. The cost reflects the actual recipe depleted in each case.
Depletion produced by menu item rules feeds directly into the Prep Sheet and into reports that depend on point-of-sale sales data, including Actual vs Theoretical Analysis, Theoretical vs Actual Variance Report, and Profitability Report.
Unknown Menu Items
A menu item enters Unknown state when both a menu-item-type and a modifier-type POS item are linked to it at the same time. In Unknown state, the record will not refer to rules as “menu item rules” or “modifier rules.” Rules can still be created for items in an unknown state.
System handling for Unknown items is the same when Modifier Rules are turned off.
FAQ
What happens if two rules on the same menu item or modifier could both match a sales ticket?
An overlap warning appears on the record, but it does not block saving or processing. All rules whose conditions match a given ticket are applied, and each triggering rule's action executes — so more than one depletion action can run for a single ticket. Review the rules on the record if this produces unexpected depletion, and see Configure Menu Item and Modifier Rules for how to edit or reorder rules.
Can I still create rules on a menu item that's in Unknown state?
Yes. A menu item enters Unknown state when both a menu-item-type and a modifier-type POS item are linked to it at the same time, but this doesn't block rule creation — rules can still be created for items in Unknown state. The only difference is terminology: the record won't refer to its rules specifically as "menu item rules" or "modifier rules" while in that state. See POS Items for how an item ends up linked to both types.
If a modifier's rule depletes a different item's recipe, which entity gets the cost in reporting?
The depletion is always attributed to the primary entity — the menu item or modifier the rule is created on — regardless of which other items are referenced as WHEN conditions. Rules change which recipe is depleted, not which entity carries the cost. Reports like Menu Item Analysis continue to show each sold entity on its own line with its own cost.
What happens on a sales ticket if none of a record's rules match?
A default depletion action runs instead. For details on setting up rules and their conditions, see Configure Menu Item and Modifier Rules.
A rule I created shows up as read-only on a different item's record — why?
A rule always belongs to the record it was created on (its primary entity), but it also appears on any other item's record where it's referenced as a WHEN condition — shown there as read-only. You can only edit it from the record it actually belongs to. If a read-only rule happens to be included when you save that other record, any change to the rule itself won't apply, even though the save reports success.