Spreadsheets & other systems
Coming from a system that is not listed, or keeping your menu in a spreadsheet? Any CSV or Excel (.xlsx) file can be imported: menu, employees, customers or sales history.
Open the importer at Configuration → Import data, choose what to import, then Another system or a spreadsheet. For how the preview, existing records and rolling back work, see Import data.
How your columns are matched
Next Restaurant reads the column headings and matches them by meaning: "Item name", "Product" and "Title" all go to the item name; "Phone", "Phone number" and "Mobile" all go to the phone number. On the Match step:
- Columns it recognised are folded away, so you only see what needs a decision.
- Anything it could not place is listed for you to pick, or to leave out.
- A required field with no column (an item without a name, for example) blocks the preview and says which one is missing.
The Review step then shows every row with what will happen to it (New, Update, Skip or Problem, with the reason) before anything is saved.
Save your matching for next time
Once the columns are right, save the matching as your own preset. It is listed with the others the next time, so a file you export every week from the same system imports in two clicks.
Getting the file right
- One row per record, headings in the first row. Merged cells and title rows above the headings get in the way.
- Sizes: give each size its own row, with the same item name and a Size column. Those rows become one item with sizes, as with Square's variations.
- Old Excel files (.xls) are refused: save the file as .xlsx or .csv first.
- Files up to 25 MB each; several can go up together.
- Prices are read as plain numbers; a currency sign in the cell is fine.
See also
- Import data: how an import works, from upload to roll back
- Toast · Square · Clover · Lightspeed · Another Next Restaurant site