Article Options

Article options give you flexibility to extend and configure your articles. They allow both customisation of articles through extras, side dishes or sauces and the definition of recipes for automatic inventory management.

Overview

Article options serve two main purposes in bessa Manager:

Options (type: Option) are used to extend and customise articles directly at the Sales Point. They are visible to staff and on order tickets. Typical use cases are doneness for steaks, pizza toppings, side dishes, sauce selection, drink flavours or menu composition.

Recipes (type: Stock) enable automatic inventory bookings in the background. They are not visible to staff or customers and serve inventory management exclusively. Examples include the composition of a cappuccino from coffee beans and milk, or a soda shandy from beer and soda.

A recipe has no quantity per component: each selected article is booked exactly once per article sold, and the same article can only be included once. The quantity therefore lives in the component itself — as a portion article of its own with Select main article and Volume content, e.g., "Coffee 8g" rather than "Coffee, quantity 8 g". See Set Up Articles for Inventory Management.

Managing Article Options

Open the overview

Navigate to Manager → Article Management → Article Options.

The overview page shows all existing article options in a table with the following elements:

• Search field: Filter article options by name

• Table: Lists all options with name and optional description

• Actions: Edit (pencil icon) and delete (trash icon) per row

Create a New Article Option

1. Click + New Article Option

2. The "Create Article Option" dialog opens with four tabs

3. Configure the option in the individual tabs

4. Click Save

Basic Data

In the "Basic Data" tab, you set the basic properties of the article option.

Type

Choose between two option types:

Name

Choose a meaningful name for the article option, e.g. "Doneness", "Side Dishes", "Coffee Composition".

Description

You can optionally add a description, which is displayed under the name in the overview.

Input

In the "Input" tab, you configure the selection behaviour and pricing of the option.

Selection

Specify how many articles can be selected from the option:

Examples of selection configurations:

• Steak doneness: Min 1, Max 1 – exactly one selection required

• Pizza toppings: Optional, Max 5 – up to five extras allowed

Price

Determine how the prices of the option articles are calculated:

Article Selection

In the "Article Selection" tab you define which articles are available as options.

Add articles

1. In the "Article (add with ENTER)" search field, enter the name of the desired article

2. Select the article from the suggestions

3. Press ENTER or click on the article

Manage the article list

Articles you add appear in a table with the following columns:

Configure preselection

Activate the "Preselection" checkbox for articles that should be preselected by default.

Behaviour of preselection:

• If preselection meets the configured Min/Max criteria, no selection dialog appears when posting

• The article is posted directly with the preselected options

• The selection remains editable in the cart

• If preselection does not meet the criteria, the selection dialog appears anyway

Assignment

In the "Assignment" tab you specify which articles this option applies to.

Assign articles

1. In the "Article (add with ENTER)" search field, enter the article name

2. Select the desired article

3. Press ENTER

The assigned articles appear in a list. Use the three-dot menu (⋮) to remove articles.

Example:

The "Doneness" article option is assigned to the articles "Beef Steak", "Lamb Chop" and "Beef Tenderloin". When one of these articles is posted, the doneness selection appears automatically.

Edit an Article Option

1. In the overview, click the name of the option or the pencil icon

2. The "Edit Article Option" dialog opens

3. Make the desired changes in the tabs

4. Click Save

Delete an Article Option

1. Click the trash icon in the row of the option to be deleted

2. A confirmation dialog appears with the name of the option

3. Click Delete to confirm or Cancel to abort

Practical Examples

Example 1: Side dish selection for main courses

Goal: Guests can choose a side dish with main courses, included in the price.

Configuration:

• Type: Option

• Name: Side dishes

• Selection: Min 1, Max 1

• Price: Free

• Article selection: Fries, rice, potato gratin, vegetables, salad

• Preselection: Fries (most chosen)

• Assignment: Schnitzel, steak, cordon bleu

Example 2: Pizza extras

Goal: Guests can choose additional toppings for a surcharge.

Configuration:

• Type: Option

• Name: Extra toppings

• Selection: Optional, Max 5

• Price: Adjusted gross price: €1.50

• Article selection: Ham, salami, mushrooms, olives, peperoni, mozzarella

• Assignment: Pizza Margherita, Pizza Funghi, Pizza Prosciutto

Example 3: Lunch menu

Goal: Guests choose from starter, main course and dessert.

Configuration:

• Type: Option

• Name: Menu starter

• Selection: Min 1, Max 1

• Price: Free

• Article selection: Soup, salad, carpaccio

• Assignment: Lunch menu

(Analogously for main course and dessert)

Example 4: Cappuccino recipe

Goal: Automatic stock booking of the ingredients when a cappuccino is sold.

Configuration:

• Type: Stock

• Name: Cappuccino recipe

• Article selection: the portion articles "Coffee 8g" (main article "Coffee Arabica 1kg", volume content 0.008) and "Milk 120ml" (main article "Milk 1L", volume content 0.12)

• Assignment: Cappuccino

Example 5: Delay preparation

Goal: While booking, the service can decide that a dish should only start in the kitchen later — the soup goes out straight away, the schnitzel waits.

Configuration:

• Type: Option

• Name: Delay preparation

• Selection: Optional selection, max 1

• Price: Free

• Article selection: "+10 min" and "+20 min" — one article each, carrying a delay of 600 and 1200 seconds respectively in the Configuration section

• Assignment: every dish where this comes up

The waiter attaches the option to the dish while booking. The article is booked immediately and appears on the order monitor that much later.

Example 6: Sizes and colours in retail

Goal: A T-shirt is sold in several sizes and colours.

There are two ways to handle variants such as size and colour. Which one fits depends on whether you need stock and a barcode per variant.

Way A: variants as article options

• Type: Option

• Name: Size or Colour (two separate options)

• Selection: Min 1, Max 1

• Price: Free of charge, or Normal price with surcharge articles such as "XXL +€3"

• Article selection: one article per size or colour, e.g. "S", "M", "L" and "Black", "White"

• Assignment: all T-shirts

The chosen size and colour appear on the ticket, and the Article options report in the bessa Manager or the Options report at the Sales Point shows which sizes and colours sell. Stock and barcode, however, apply only to the main article "T-shirt": there is no stock level for "T-shirt M black", and a barcode always books the whole article without a variant.

Way B: a separate article per variant

Each variant is an article of its own, e.g. "T-shirt Basic M black", with its own product number (EAN). The scanner then books exactly this variant, stock is kept per variant, and you print a label per variant. Many variants are created fastest by import; price changes for all variants are also done by export and import.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Can I nest options?

No. Options cannot be nested. An article used as an option article cannot itself contain an option. However, it can have a recipe (stock option) for automatic stock posting.

Why does the selection dialog appear despite preselection?

The selection dialog appears when the number of preselected articles does not meet the Min/Max criteria. Check that enough articles are preselected.

How do I change the order of option articles?

Use the drag handle (≡) in the article selection to sort articles via drag & drop. The order corresponds to the display at the Sales Point.

Are recipes shown on the order ticket?

No. Recipes (type: Stock) are used exclusively for internal stock posting and are neither shown to staff nor printed on order tickets or invoices.

Can I use the same article in multiple options?

Yes – an article can be used as a selectable item in multiple article options.

Related Topics

• Articles – create and manage articles

• Article Types - types of articles

• Set Up Articles for Inventory Management – stock configuration for articles

• Inventory Management - stock levels and merchandise management

• Book combo menus with food and drinks – split a menu price between food and drink at different tax rates

Troubleshooting Tips

Article option is not displayed

• Check whether the option is assigned to at least one article ("Assignment" tab)

• Make sure that at least one article is set as a selectable item

• For type "Stock": Recipes are intentionally not shown at the Sales Point

Save button is disabled

• Fill in the mandatory "Name" field in the "Basic Data" tab

• Check that all required fields are filled in correctly

Incorrect price calculation for option articles

• Check the price setting in the "Input" tab

• For "Adjusted gross price": this price applies to all articles in the option

• For "Normal price": the individual prices of the articles are used