An item, by its very nature, is basic. It has a name and a price, and from the Register, you can add it to the cart with a simple tap on the screen. However, an item can, and likely will be, more complex. It can have different variations with different pricing, and it can have multiple modifier sets with varying configurations, all of which are intended to give you full control of how the item is rung out in the Register. 

In this article, we'll guide you through the process of creating an item in the Parse BackOffice.

Before creating items, it is a best-practice to first create your Categories, Departments (if applicable) and Modifier Sets since they are applied to the item while creating it.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Step 1: Creating the Item

Log into the Parse Dashboard and click Items from the left-side navigation menu. Click the +Item button to open the product page for the new item. 

Step 2: Enter Basic Info

The first step of creating a new item is to give it a Name and a Description (although not required).

Step 3: Item Settings

The settings box in the top-right of the item page allows you to customize the settings for the item. 

  1. Toggle on Speed Screen if you want the item to appear on the Register's Speed Screen.
  2. Select a Category from the drop-down menu. For additional help with categories, please reference the Creating Category help article.
  3. Select a Department from the dropdown list. Note that you can bulk assign items to a Department in the Department tab of the BackOffice. As such, you can skip this step if you plan on creating Departments (and bulk assigning items to them) to track sales. 
  4. Select the Price Type from the dropdown list. Standard Item Pricing means that the item's price is fixed and will reflect what you enter in the Pricing box below. You can also have an item be a Unit-based Item, which means the price varies based on the unit of measurement that you assign to the item (e.g., a price per ounce). It can also be a Custom-priced Item, which means that a display prompt appears (in the Register) each time the item is ordered that requires the user to enter a custom price for the item. 
  5. Select a Tax Profile from the dropdown list. The options include Tax Exclusive (tax added to the item), Tax Inclusive (tax included in the item price), or Tax Exempt (no tax). Note that the tax profile is set to "Tax Exclusive" by default.
  6. Select a Color Tag that you would like to assign to the item for display on the item's button.
  7. Lastly, enter a Display Order for the item. This allows you to control the order by which the item is displayed relative to other items in the category (e.g., 1 = first).

Step 4: Enter the Item Price and SKU

For standard-priced items, enter the Price and SKU (optional) for the item in the Prices box. Note that you can create variants for the item by clicking the (+) button. For example, if you want to add two variants, namely Small and Large, you would add a pricing variant and enter the variant name, price, and SKU for both the Small and Large items

For a unit-based item, enter the Unit of Measurement (e.g., ounce) and assign it a Price (per unit).

For custom-priced items, add the optional SKU (if applicable); otherwise, no action is required. You can also add variants to custom-priced items for tracking. Click the (+) button and give each variant a Name.

Step 5: Add Modifier Sets

To add a Modifier Set, click the (+) button in the Modifiers box. In the pop-up window, select the Modifier Set you want to apply to the item and click "OK". Repeat the process to add another Modifier Set.

Step 6: Include/Exclude Printers

In the Printers box, we provide you with the option to include or exclude printers. Note that the assignment of kitchen printer is typically done at the category level; however, you can assign this item to print at a specified printer by selecting it from the Included Printer dropdown field. If the category is set to print at a specified printer and you don't want this item to print, select the printer you want to exclude from the Excluded Printer dropdown.

Step 7: Publish the Item

In the final step, click the SAVE button to proceed with publication. To publish this item and proceed with creating another item, click the SAVE & NEW button.