← BarMaat

Help and guide

Everything you need to use BarMaat at your club bar. Can't find your question? Get in touch.

Getting started

Once your trial has been approved, log in at your club's address. A handy order:

1. Settings: check the name and time zone, choose the payment methods (for example cash, card, drink voucher) and which languages staff may choose. Not using stock or purchasing? Turn them off and those screens disappear.
2. Products: add products and prices, or import them all at once from Excel.
3. People: give the bar staff access (see below).
4. Backup: set up a backup to your own storage or by email.
5. Put the till on the tablet behind the bar, and let new staff go through the Guide button on the till.

Products and prices

• Under Products you add products with a price and a category. Categories have a colour, which you see again on the till buttons.
• Import: already have your products in Excel? Choose Products → Import and upload an Excel file (.xlsx) or CSV. You first see what will happen before anything is saved. Missing categories are created, and existing products with the same name get the new price. There is a sample file to start with.
• A product that has been sold cannot be deleted (the revenue would no longer add up); it is deactivated and disappears from the till.
• Price changes are recorded in the activity log.

Giving bar staff access

Under People you decide who may do what. There are three roles: Staff (till and tabs), Stock (stock and purchasing) and Manager (everything). A permission can be permanent or temporary, for example for one evening only.

• Bar roster: schedule a bar shift for one day or every week (for example every Wednesday from 13:00 to 15:00), with an optional email reminder. The volunteer receives an email with a PIN code; for a weekly shift that PIN stays the same. If you turn on handing over under Settings → Bar shifts, every email contains a link with which the volunteer gives a shift to someone else; that person gets their own PIN and the manager is notified. During the shift (from an hour before) their name appears on the tablet under Bar shift: tap the name, enter the PIN and the till opens. No account is needed, and whoever was still logged in on the tablet is logged out automatically. After five wrong PINs the PIN is blocked; send a new one with New PIN code.
• In advance by email address: enter the email address. If that person has no account yet, the permission becomes active as soon as they create one with that address.
• Signing up with a name: if someone fills in unexpectedly, they sign up on the tablet with just a name (if the club allows requests).
• Approving: sign-ups that need approval pop up for managers. One tap on Approve and the volunteer can get started.

Under Settings (at How do staff get access?) you choose whether people only get access in advance, can request it themselves, or both.

Using the till

• People and tabs are on the left, products on the right. Tap a name and then the drinks; they go straight onto that tab.
• No name selected? Then it is a direct sale: tap the products and choose the payment method. With cash you see the change.
• Type a new name under People and add it with Add. Regular guests are saved under Tabs so you can find them quickly. A whole member list can be added at once via Import.
• After a while without activity the selected person is deselected automatically, so nobody accidentally adds to the wrong tab. You set how long under Settings.
• If the internet drops, just keep working. Orders are kept on the device and sent once the connection is back.
• A manager can undo a wrong order under Orders.

Tabs and paying

• Under Tabs you see all open tabs. Open one to see what is on it, remove something or settle it.
• Splitting: a tab can be split over several people; each pays a share, each with their own payment method.
• With Continue after a partial payment turned on, the others can keep adding after a partial payment.
• Names on settled tabs are replaced by a number after a configurable period (privacy). The amounts are kept.

Putting the till on a tablet

1. Open your club's address in the tablet's browser and log in with an account that may use the till.
2. Add BarMaat to the home screen: on iPad via Share → Add to Home Screen, on Android via the menu ⋮ → Install app or Add to home screen.
3. Open the till from the home screen. You stay logged in for 30 days, so the tablet can stay behind the bar.

Tip: use a separate account with only the Staff role for the fixed tablet.

Stock and purchasing

• Every sale is deducted from stock. Under Stock you see what is left and which products are below the minimum.
• Counting: after a count, enter the actual quantities; the differences are recorded as corrections.
• Purchasing: BarMaat suggests what to buy based on recent sales. With one click you turn that into purchase orders per supplier. On delivery you enter the quantities received and stock goes up.

Revenue and export

Under Revenue you choose a period and see the takings per payment method, per product and per staff member. CSV downloads the overview for the treasurer (opens in Excel).

Backups

• Under Settings → Backup you choose a backup to your own S3 storage, as a zip by email to a manager, or both, at a fixed time (for example every night).
• With a password the zip is encrypted. Keep that password safe.
• Restoring: Backup → Restore backup. Choose a backup from S3 or upload the zip from the email. Before restoring, BarMaat automatically keeps a copy of the current data.

Account and password

• Forgot your password? Click Forgot password on the login page. You will receive an email with a link to choose a new password.
• After creating an account you receive an email to confirm your email address. Only then can you log in.
• Under My account you change your name, password, language and appearance (light or dark), download your data or delete your account.

Frequently asked questions