Glossary of Terms and Acronyms

Glossary of Terms and Acronyms

These are common vocabulary terms used across the Decision Logic website and in communication with/about our customers. 

You can search for a specific term by using the CTRL + F function on your keyboard and entering a keyword in the search box for Windows system. 

Acronym 

Term

Definition

Acronym 

Term

Definition



Accounting

The Accounting Platform provides a comprehensive view of restaurant transactions and performance with an actionable Profit and Loss statement and robust restaurant data. Export data into your accounting package of choice with a third-party integration to reduce overhead expenses and remove the double entry. Accounting features include:

  • Budget

  • P&L

  • Electronic Invoices

  • Inventory Extensions

  • Flexible Chart of Accounts

  • Localized Invoice Entry

AP

Accounts Payable

Money owed by a company to its creditors, distributor, and vendors

AR

Accounts Receivable

Money owed to a company by its debtors and customers



Adding a new Store

New stores can be added at any time to an existing customer website and will use any of the existing configurations and data sets. Follow the steps below for onboarding a new store. 



Algorithm 

A set of well-defined rules for the solution to a problem in a finite number of steps. Generally implemented as a logical or mathematical test or calculation. See

Business rules.



Anomaly 

Another word for a "bug." Anything observed in the operation of the software that deviates from expectations based on design documentation or user references.



Application 

One or more software executables are designed to fulfill a specific set of business functions individually or in cooperation with other applications. More commonly referred to as a feature.

AD

Area Director

A person from a group of managers who leads and supervises a particular area of a company and often has several roles and functions within the business



Attribute

A piece of information describing part of a particular entity. 

BOH

Back of House

The area of the restaurant or foodservice operation that customers typically do not access, such as the manager’s office, the kitchen area, the storage areas, and the employee break room.

Bid

Bid file

A file provided by distributors that are formatted for upload via the FTP site, which includes required information such as ingredient name, price, pack size, catch weight flags, and split case flags for each item they want to be added to their order guide. Bid files are later mapped to ingredients and added to order guides. Bid files can also be archived to remove them from order guides. Prices provided in the bid file are reflected in COGS reporting. The term originates from a "bid sheet" that a distributor would provide for purchasing. 

IMX and

RMX

Bid File Multipliers

IMX is the Inventory Multiplier (Inv Mx). It is a number used to convert between the way you inventory an Ingredient and the way that you order an Ingredient.  If you inventory an item by the pound and order it by the case, the Inventory Multiplier is the number of pounds in a case.  The Inventory Multiplier is set as you map the Ingredient to the Bid File Item.

RMX is the Recipe Multiplier (Rec Mx). It is a number used to convert between an Ingredient’s Recipe Measure and its Inventory Measure.  In a sense, how many recipe units exist in 1 inventory unit.  For example, if an item is used in recipes by the ounce, and inventoried by the pound, the Recipe Multiplier would be the number of ounces in 1 pound. This would be 16.  If an item is used in Recipes by the Cup and inventoried by the Bag, it would be the number of Cups in 1 Bag. 



Budget Report

The Budget is an estimate of income and expenditure for a set period of time. A budget report is an internal report used by management to compare the estimated, budgeted projections with the actual performance number achieved during a period.



Budget Report Maintenance

The active Budget Control, or Declining Budget, allows you to design multiple customized budgets that automatically update as a result of the daily procedures performed for each store. Features options include:

  • Import different Budgets by Store, see Budget Maintenance

  • Adjust Weekly Budgeted Amounts

  • Create Multiple Budgets with different calculations 

  • PDF View

  • Export to Excel

  • Track Performance as data is entered

  • View Store, Area, or Company Actuals compared to Budget

  • Display Variance in $ or %

  • Customize all Fields and Calculations 



Build-to amount

The amount of a certain product the restaurant should always have on hand. When ordering, managers essentially need to build their up inventory to the appropriate build-to amount. This is another term for PAR level.



Bulk Menu Item Import

This function in Menu Maintenance imports Menu Items to a Menu Set.



Cash Accountability

* Gross Sales = All System Sales

* Net Sales = Gross – Voids

* Net-Net Sales = Net – Comps and Discounts

* Net-Net Sales + Taxes + Gifts (Gift Card Sales + Service Charges + Order Charges) + Paid Ins - Paid Outs = Total Amount of Billable Product

* Total amt of billable product  – Gift Card Payments – Non Cash/ Non-Check Payments = Cash Accountability

* Deposit - Cash Accountability = Cash Over and Short



Cash flow

The movement of money within a restaurant business specifically relates to income versus expenses. Cash flow represents the financial activity or AP and AR, and how the money is managed. The results of cash flow are the available funds at a specific date or time period. 

O/S

Cash Over Short

Reporting of expense accounting of financial overages and shortages used to record the difference between the expected cash balance and the actual cash balance. To get your cash Over short to balance with POS reporting you have to account for all POS transactions including comps and discounts, paid ins and paid-outs, as well as entering accurate deposit amounts



Change Approval or Denial (Inventory)

After the inventory is posted managers are able to submit change requests through the Change Request form.  These requests must be approved before the new values are applied to their inventory. To accept changes move to Operations > Inventory > Change Approval



Company Hierarchy

Our system allows multiple companies, regions, and groups to report at an Enterprise level. You can create a company hierarchy for reports under Maintenance > Company > Hierarchy Maintenance. There you can assign stores to an Area, Region, add new stores, Edit existing stores, and perform Franchiser maintenance

Comp

Compensate

To offer an item for free, often in the event of a mishap or guest complaint. For instance, a server may comp a dessert if the customer was dissatisfied with the entrée.



Configuration

A process that effectively controls the coordination and implementation of changes to software components.



Constraint

A restriction, limitation, or regulation

that limits a given course of action



Conversion 

The process of changing from an old system to a new system. 

COGS

Cost of Goods Sold

The costs associated with producing items or preparing food and selling it off the menu

CSV

CSV file

Comma Separated Value

CR

Custom Reports

Custom Reports puts the information you need at your fingertips. Create custom back-office reports for sales and operations to help you grow profits by drilling down into every aspect of your restaurant business. There are multiple methods for representing data over a date range in Custom Reports. You can export your report to.CSV from the Preview mode or from the main Custom Reports view page. Features include all metrics that are also found on your DSR:

  • Select from over 30 metrics and apply filters to show only the data you want to display

  • View and slice data in different ways, by time or by group

  • Review totals and calculations for your data sources

  • Save reports and come back to them later

  • Export to view and manipulate in Excel®, Google® Sheets

When comparing Custom Reports to other Decision Logic Reports, you will want to keep in mind that the term "Sales" is reporting the Net Sales while on other reports, "Sales" may refer to a Net-Net Sales value. For example, in some cases, the COGS Report returns a Net Sales value while the Current Sales and History Report returns a Net-Net Sales value.

CR

Custom Request

A custom development request from a client tracked in Jira project abbreviation CR.

CS

Client Services

Client Services Team refers to the client-facing staff at Decision Logic. Consists of DLS Decision Logic Service. AM Account Managers. SAM strategic account management and IMP Implementations 

CX

Client Experience 

Client Experience, the name of the development team typically working larger scale roadmap items that are client-facing

CT

Core Team

Core team, e.g. things that are more backend and infrastructure



Custom Reports Using Dates

We offer two different ways of selecting dates in Custom Reports. The first is based on your fiscal calendar. Year (Fiscal)Period (Fiscal), and Week (Fiscal) dimensions are all based on the accounting periods you have set up for your site.

DSR

Daily Sales Report

 Daily Sales Report DSR is a summary of weekly sales and labor information. Located under Operations > End of Day > DSR



Data

Streams of raw facts representing events before they have been organized and arranged into a form that people can understand and use.

DBMS

DataBase Management System

Software is used to create and maintain a database and enable individual business applications to extract the data they need without having to create separate files or data definitions for their own use.

DB

Database 

A structured set of data held in a computer, especially one that is accessible in various ways



Database

A set of related data tables and other database objects, such as a data dictionary, are organized as a group. A collection of data is organized to serve many applications at the same time.

DL Admin

Decision Logic Administrator

Person(s) responsible for the administrative functions of databases, such as system security, user access, performance and capacity management, and backup and restoration functions.



Decision Logic Sales

There are multiple other reports that contain sales information including the DSR, EOD Process, Menu Mix Reporting, Current Sales and History, Day Part Sales, Rollup Reporting, and Dashboards.

 

 

Default

An initial value is assigned to a field by the application when a new database record is created. Used to facilitate data entry by pre-entering common values for the user.

 

 

Deliverable

A specific work product, such as requirements or design documentation, is produced during a task or activity to validate the successful completion of the task or activity. 



Developer Resources

The availability of developers and other resources with appropriate skills is a significant factor in project success. When developers and resources are readily available, the likelihood of project success is very high. Most development firms manage multiple projects, allowing some contention between projects for developers and other resources. This project risk factor is considered high when one or more developers with specific skill sets, or resources with specific capabilities, need to be acquired before the project can continue.

DC

Distributor center

Sysco, RFS, US Foods distributors have multiple warehouses or DC's (distributor centers).

DM

District Managers

People in charge of entire regions where multiple stores operate. Whatever branches of their company operate within their district is their responsibility. District managers often create and maintain budgets, coordinate with and report to senior management in the company, and have administrative permission access that is higher than a General Manager or Assistant Manager.

CKB

Documentation

The process of systematically managing and leveraging the stores of knowledge in an organization. Information made available to 1) assist end-users in the operation of a software application, generally in the form of online help, or 2) assist developers in locating the correct root procedure or method for a specific software function, generally in the form of an implementation map. Note that printed manuals are rarely delivered with software anymore; online documentation is more consistently available from within the application and is easier to use.



Documents

Documents Library gives users the ability to create folders, add, remove, archive, and organize, download important documents straight to the Decision Logic platform.  



Drip cut

A dressing container that usually holds sauces and reduces dripping. It is ccommon for something like the sweet & sour sauce at a Chinese restaurant. 

DLL

Dynamic Link Library

 A DLL (.dll) file contains a library of functions and other information that can be accessed by a Windows program. ... If a dynamic link is created, the .dll files will only be used when needed.

EBR

Exception Based Receiving 

A method of receiving purchase orders from a Distributor's E-Invoice 

EDI 

Electronic Distribution Integration File

An electronic file provided by distributors and vendors that is formatted for upload via the FTP site sends any of the following: Electronic orders and Electronic invoices, and bid files. Managers use EDIs for electronic orders, price updates, and invoices. Can order by distributor number and description.

EEIF

Electronic Employee Information Form

EEIF records are required to use the payroll module and offer the following reporting options

  • Payroll Reporting

  • Labor by Job Code

  • Time Card Detail Reporting

  • Server Contest Reporting 

EEIF

Electronic Employee Information Forms

All the emp info we need to process employees into DL for payroll purposes. Goes thru DL>Home Office>Providers as export in client-specific determined format. 3 types of Emps 1.)unknown emps: no eeif has emp # w/ hours 2.) unknown job code: has eeif but job code has no pay rate entered by manager 3.) valid employees

E-invoice

Electronic Invoice

Electronic invoices can include information needed for Accounts Payable. This can include, but is not limited to,  the purchase order # (PO), invoice #, date of invoice, the total amount due, the billing summary by account, products that are included in billing, quantities of each item ordered, credit memos, and billing adjustments to reflect substitutions and backorders. These are a statement sent electronically thru FTP (as defined in Chester).

E Order

Electronic Order

Electronic orders can include information needed for a distributor to fulfill an order request. This can include but is not limited to,  the order #, date of the order, the estimated amount due based on order, the order summary separated by account, products ordered, quantities of each item ordered, or additional service information.



Employee Availability

Using the Employee Central app, your staff can request availability changes on the go. This page is for when availability needs to be edited on your desktop website. By default, a new employee has open availability for every day. This is located under Operations > Labor Scheduling > Employee Availability



Employee Roster Adding an Employee

Employees should be entered into Decision Logic prior to their first clock in on the POS. Navigate to Employee Roster > Select New or Search and Select an existing record to make edits. An accurate Effective Date should always be used when saving your update.



Employee Roster Transferring Employees 

Employees report time clock information in Decision Logic for each store they work in using the Employee Roster. Set up employees to work at multiple locations by editing their EEIF records. Select the Store to add from the drop-down list of stores. Enter the POS ID that the employee will use at the additional location(s). The primary store should be defined as the employee's home store.



Employee Roster User Permissions for Hiring

Ensure employees responsible for hiring have permission to do so by giving them access, Navigate to Maintenance > Employee Info > Employee Transaction Permissions. Select a user. Select the permissions the user will need to make changes to the Roster. Select save for permissions to be applied. 



Encryption

The coding and scrambling of messages to prevent unauthorized access to or understanding of the data being stored or transmitted.

EOD

End of Day 

 EOD Process is where a manager can enter deposits, paid-ins, paid-outs, and any notes regarding operations. Once this information is entered, the DSR cash accountability should balance with your POS daily sales report. 



Enter Inventory

The steps to enter your Inventory using Inventory Home> enter Inventory Tab> select date to begin



Enter Inventory Process

Use the Inventory Home to do the following actions:

  • Review a history of posted inventories

  • Edit, Copy, Delete, or Move a posted inventory

  • View inventory history details

  • View inventory timestamps

  • Make inventory change requests

  • Check the status of inventory: Posted or Finalized

FTP site

File Transfer Protocol

An example is a program used such as File Zilla. Using Chester login info to access DC FTP sites that contain client data (invoices, bids) Another example is the Sysco communication site with DL for integration of information.

FIFO

First in First Out

FIFO is the recommended method vs. the Market method. 

"FIFO" stands for first-in, first-out, meaning that the oldest inventory items are recorded as sold first but do not necessarily mean that the exact oldest physical object has been tracked and sold. In other words, the cost associated with the inventory that was purchased first is the cost expensed first.

Cost of goods sold can be computed by using either the periodic inventory formula method or the earliest cost method. b. Earliest cost method: Under the earliest cost method, we would find the total number of units sold during the period and then we would calculate the cost of these units using the earliest costs.

FZ

Franchisee 

“Franchisors” offer and sell franchise opportunities to prospective “franchisees”. A Franchisor, pursuant to an FDD, offers and sells franchises whereby a franchisee is granted the right and obligation to establish a franchised location using the franchisor’s systems, know-how, and licensed marks. 

A Franchisee, through a franchise agreement, is granted the right and obligation to establish and operate a franchised location. Franchisees typically pay franchisors a one-time upfront franchise fee and ongoing royalty fees.”

https://www.franchiselawsolutions.com/franchising/franchisor-franchisee-differences/

Waste

Food & supplies that are discarded/ wasted

The food or supplies that are spilled, burned, incorrectly prepared, or otherwise misused or expired and thrown away. High waste will negatively affect food costs.



Food Cost Percentage

Beginning Inventory + Purchases - Ending Inventory = Cost of Goods

Cost of Goods / Sales = Cost of Goods %



Franchiser maintenance

Franchiser maintenance can be used by request for companies needing to modify PPC account or labor IDs by the franchise for export purposes. Contact an Account Manager for details. 

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

Questions that are common among many users.

FOH

Front of House

The dining room and other areas of the restaurant that is literally in front of the building. This usually involves any place the guest can access, such as restrooms, dining room, bar, and lobby.

GM

General Manager

An executive who has overall responsibility for managing both the revenue and cost elements of a company's income statement, known as profit & loss (P&L) responsibility.

HH

Happy Hour

A period of the day when drinks are sold at reduced prices in a bar or restaurant.



Hardware

Physical computer equipment and peripherals are used to process, store, or transmit software applications or data.



Hot Item Inventory

Hot Item Inventory allows stores to keep track of high velocity or high-cost items between all inventory cycles and display a Hot Item Ideal vs. Actual (IvA) report. Examples of hot items could be expensive steaks or items struggling with a variance which are repeated on the Top 20 Food IvA. 

HTML 

Hyper Text Markup Language

A programming tool that uses HyperText to establish dynamic links to other documents stored in the same or remote computers. 

IvA

Ideal vs. Actual 

Ideal - how much product they should have used based on qty of menu item sold * recipe units built-in Decision Logic

Actual usage is the amount of food products and supplies that are physically used in a given time period based on Beginning Inventory + Purchases - Ending Inventory.

Variance- the positive or negative difference between your Ideal and Actual



Implementation 

A stage in the software development lifecycle during which a software product is created from the design specifications and testing is performed on the individual software units produced. See unit testing. Also referred to as the programming stage or development stage



Ingredient Management

This is a great tool to review bid file configurations (IMX and RMX) to research cost and variance reporting across all distribution centers, create Ingredients that can be mapped to all your distributors' bid files, edit ingredient measure types, and review recipes attached to that ingredient. Navigating to Maintenance > Product Ingredient Management.



Initial Data Load

When a new database application is first brought online, certain sets of data are preloaded to support operations. In some cases, a large amount of data is transferred from one or more legacy systems that the new database application is replacing. The initial data load figure is calculated as the sum of all records in operational and support data areas on day zero of the applications production lifecycle. This figure is used as a baseline for estimating development effort, server hardware requirements, and network loads.

IUT

Inter-unit transfer

Way to track transfers between stores, both the inventory and the cost for the quantity of merchandise transferred.



Iteration Process

In this process, draft deliverables are generated for formal review and comment. As participants review the draft deliverables, they are responsible for reporting errors found and concerns they may have to the PDR.  During this process, the project participants work together to gather additional information and refine stage inputs into draft deliverables. Activities of this stage may include interviews, meetings, the generation of prototypes, and electronic correspondence. All of these communications are deemed informal and are not recorded as minutes, documents of record, controlled software, or official memoranda.

IMP

Implementations Project in Jira

Tickets related to implementations and a client.



Inventory Change Requests

Change Requests allow managers to make tentative changes to their inventory that are then approved by an administrator. To submit an Inventory Request Change, navigate to Inventory Home>>Inventory History tab.



Inventory History

Use the Inventory home> Inventory History Tab to do the following actions:

  • Review a history of posted inventories

  • Edit, Copy, Delete, or Move a posted inventory

  • View inventory history details

  • View inventory timestamps

  • Make inventory change requests

  • Check the status of inventory: Posted or Finalized



Inventory Home

Inventory Home is a centralized location merging Inventory, Hot Item Inventory entry, and history. This section consolidates all of the most commonly used inventory functions for store-level operators into a single page view. Located in Operations > Inventory > Inventory Home 



Inventory Location Maintenance

For users with Maintenance Access, or when staging a new site, create Inventory Locations to be used in the Inventory Guide when sorting items Sheet-to-Shelf. Here you can Sort, Rename or Delete Inventory Locations displayed on the Inventory Guide, navigate to Maintenance > Product > Inventory Locations,

IM

Inventory Measure

The Inventory Measure (Inv Ms)  is used to standardize the way that inventory is taken for each ingredient.  This standardization ensures that inventory is taken the same way in all restaurants.  The Inventory Measure is set as you create an Ingredient.  Typical Inventory Measures include Pound, Each, Bag, Case, etc.



Inventory Set

Inventory Set is a list of products (ingredients and prepped items) that are inventoried.  An item must be on the inventory set to be able to inventory it.

KPI

Key Performance Indicators 

A measurable value that demonstrates how effectively a company is achieving key business objectives. Organizations use KPIs at multiple levels to evaluate their success at reaching targets.



Kickoff

The purpose of the kickoff process is to review the output of the previous stage, go over any additional inputs required by that particular stage, examine the anticipated activities and required outputs of the current stage, review the current project schedule, and review any open issues.

KDS

Kitchen Display System

A system/set of monitors is used for displaying things like order queue. Oracle is a supplier of KDS systems that are very expensive and have a lot of functionality. Otherwise, a KDS can be a monitor that serves up the content the restaurant needs.

KM

Kitchen Manager

A person responsible for the overall operations for the back of house and kitchen area of a restaurant. Kitchen managers often hire staff, purchase food and stock, and make sure everyone is trained on proper food preparation and kitchen safety techniques.



Labor Group

Job codes are assigned one of the following labor groups: BOH (back of the house) /FOH (front of the house)/ HOH (Heart of House/ Kitchen)



Labor Scheduler

The Labor Scheduler tool allows you to build weekly schedules, print, and share, and compare scheduled labor against projected sales. 



Labor Scheduling Maintenance 

Set up and manage Labor Scheduler. Maintenance >Labor >Labor Scheduling Maintenance.

LTO

Limited Time Offer

A special menu item or set of menu items is available for a clearly defined short period of time.



Line Check Entry

Line Checks can be entered via the mobile application or the desktop web page.  Line Check Entry page, navigate to Menu > Operations > Line Check > Line Check Entry. When loading the Line Check Entry page, all available line checks for the current date will be visible. If the line check is complete there will be a posted time stamp on the left column.  



Line Check History

Reporting page to view a detailed history of all checks performed across the company. Reports > Line Check > Line Check History



Line Check Maintenance

Manage the items and location names of individual line checks, including store’s assigned to a line check.



Line Check Setup - Store Level

To sort the Line Check from sheet to shelf move to Menu > Operations > Line Check Setup.  Each store and line check can be customized to its specific locations and location names. 



Line Check Temperature Log

Line Check Temperature Log will give a quick view into results of temperature checked items by the store for any given date range when checks were completed and have an export to use for Health Inspections.  Reports > Line Check > Temperature Log.

LBW

Liquor, Beer, Wine; 

 Lumping together the alcohol type sales of Liquor, Beer, and Wine.



Maintenance

The process of supporting production software to detect and correct faults, optimize performance, and ensure appropriate availability to end-users.

MIT

Manager in Training

An employee that is doing on-the-job training to gain experience before moving into management positions.



Menu Item Grouping

The Menu Item Grouping the system gives users the ability to better evaluate the total potential plate cost by aggregating all menu item options into a total plate cost.  Users also have the ability to create custom report groups for like menu items within the Menu Item Grouping system.



Menu Items

Menu Items are items that will be placed on menu sets to be sold to your guests. 



Menu Maintenance

Utilize the Menu Maintenance page to create new menu items and map them to a menu set. Here you can:

P-mix

Menu Mix

Menu Mix is the sum of each menu item sold. This reporting can be presented by category, dates, and locations.



Menu price

The selling price for a restaurant’s goods, often obtained by taking the food cost of the menu item and dividing it by the desired food cost percentage.



Menu Sets

Menu Set is a list of all menu items sold (can be store specific or for all stores).  The menu set is like a translation table to link up the menu items to the POS #’s that are associated with them on your POS System.



Metrics

Numeric data representing measurements of business processes or database activity.