Adding an item creates a product in inventory. Add individual items manually from the Back Office whenever needed, even during a business day. To avoid having to move items to accounting groups one by one, we recommend creating accounting groups (categories) first and then selecting the appropriate accounting group when creating items.

We currently support two versions of the Items page for Lightspeed Restaurant K Series: Items page 2.0 and Legacy Items page.

Lightspeed Restaurant accounts created after March 2023 will have Items page 2.0 enabled by default. Existing accounts will continue to use the Legacy Items page but will be migrated to the newer version at a later date.

To figure out which version of the Items page you're using, refer to the screenshots in this article and see if they match what's in your Back Office.

Select your Items page version to filter the setup steps.

• Quick-creating items

  If you want to save time when adding a single item to your menu, use the Quick create item option to open a window where you can quickly add an item with the essential info such as Name, Accounting group, and Price. However, some detailed information, such as adding the item's Cost price, can only be added when creating a new item in detail. If you'd like to add additional info to your items, see Adding items in detail section.

  1. Log in to the Back Office with your Lightspeed credentials.
  2. From the navigation menu, select Menu management > Items.
  3. Click Quick create item.
  4. Enter the mandatory item details on the Quick create item screen: Item name, Accounting group. See Quick create item settings for details about the settings you can enter.
  5. (Optional) Add the menu to the Lightspeed Restaurant app by selecting a menu from the Menu drop-down and selecting a Main screen and Subscreen.
  6. Click Create.
     

  Quick create item settings

  Setting name	Description
  Item name	The name of the item as it appears in the Back Office.
  Accounting group	Accounting groups sort and apply shared settings to items that share similar qualities and assign items to a specific tax profile. All accounting groups created from the Back Office in Menu management > Accounting groups are available for selection. See About accounting groups (categories) for further information.
  Price (Optional)	The price charged when selling the item to the customer. If an item does not have a defined price in the Back Office, it becomes an open item, and the price is requested at the POS.
  Menu (Optional)	Determines where items are available. To learn more about menus, visit our article About menus.
  Main screen	The buttons on the center of the POS Register screen. Selecting buttons on the main screen will open order item buttons or additional sub-screens representing item categories. This option appears if you've chosen to add the item to a Menu.
  Subscreen	A sub-category of the main menu screens containing additional item buttons. This option appears if you've chosen to add the item to a main screen.

  Adding items in detail

  Adding items in detail allows you to add comprehensive information to items, such as defining modifiers and the menu on which the item should appear. In addition, you can also link items to stocks if you’ve created stocks from the Back Office in Configuration > Settings > Stock.

  1. Log in to the Back Office with your Lightspeed credentials.
  2. From the navigation menu, select Menu management > Items.
  3. Click Create > Single item.
     
  4. Enter the required item settings and details using the tabs at the top of the screen (Details, Reporting, POS Settings, Appearance, Order instructions, and Inventory). See the tables below for descriptions of each setting.
  5. Click Save to save the changes.

  Details 

  Setting name	Description
  Item name	The name of the item as it appears in the Back Office.
  SKU (Optional)	SKUs, or Stock Keeping Units, are unique alphanumeric codes assigned to each product or item in a store. This code helps in tracking and managing the inventory. Click Add custom SKU to make the SKU field visible.
  Price	The price charged when selling the item to the customer. If an item does not have a defined price in the Back Office, it becomes an open item, and the price is requested at the POS. By clicking Edit price type, you can change the price structure of the item and select from the options below. Single price (default): This item has a single, fixed price. Manually-entered price: The user manually enters the price of this item on the POS, and this amount is recorded as profit. This is useful for items where the price varies based on weight or quantity. Manually-entered negative price: The user manually enters the price of this item on the POS, and this amount is recorded as a loss. This is useful for items where the value varies but needs to be recorded as a loss, such as a discount or reimbursement to the customer. No price (zero price): This item has no price and will be set to 0. Multiple prices: This item has a default price plus alternative prices that are tied to specific account profiles. When Multiple prices is selected, a "Multiple prices" section appears on the Details screen. Enter each alternate price and account profile in the Additional prices fields. For example, set a lower price to be triggered at the POS when an account profile called Happy hour is used on an order. Multi-pricing is also compatible with Order Anywhere—see the Order Anywhere and Multi-pricing tab below to learn more. Click Edit price type, select Multiple prices from the list, and then click Confirm. In the Multiple prices field that appears, enter a Default price. Add more prices by clicking Add price. From the drop-down menu, choose the account profile associated with the alternative price. Enter the desired price in the available text field. (Optional) Add more prices by clicking Add price, and then repeat steps 2 - 5. By default, Order Anywhere users will have two additional account profiles created automatically: On premises (code: OAOP) and Take-Away (code: OATA). When adding an item with Multiple prices, selecting either of the account profiles mentioned above and changing the prices will affect the prices that customers see when placing an order through Order Anywhere. This allows restaurants to lower or increase an item's price based on whether a customer uses Order Anywhere to dine in or take their food to go. For example, Restaurants that want to recoup the costs of packaging (such as takeout boxes, cutlery, and sauce cups) can increase the price of Take-Away items to offset the additional costs. Alternatively, a restaurant may prefer to lower the price of Take-Away items since ordering to-go doesn't incur the additional labor costs of full-service. As another example, Restaurants may lower the price of items ordered On premises to encourage customers to dine in, thereby creating more opportunities to upsell customers on drinks or desserts. Price as a percentage: The price for this item will be based on a percentage of the order’s value.
  Accounting group	Accounting groups sort and apply shared settings to items that share similar qualities and assign items to a specific tax profile. All accounting groups created from the Back Office in Menu management > Accounting groups are available for selection. See About accounting groups (categories) for more information.
  POS Menus	Add and manage item buttons in your POS menus. Click Add item to menu and then select the menu and sub-screen where this button will appear on your POS. After making your selection, click Add to menu to finish.
  Archive (available when editing an existing item)	Click Archive item > Archive to remove an item from the item library as well as menus, combos, and item groups.

  Reporting

  Setting name

  Description

  Statistic categories (optional)

  Statistics categories offer a flexible method for sorting and reporting on items. They can be used to create customized reports by classifying items and/or accounting groups themselves, without being tied to taxes. To add a Statistics Category: Click Add Statistics Category. Select a Category and Tag from the drop-down menu, or type a new word in the available field to create a new category or tag. (Optional) Add more categories and tag by clicking Add row and repeating step 2. Click Save to finish. To learn more about statistics categories, see our article about Understanding Statistics Groups.

  POS Settings

  Edit the POS Settings to customize how this item will appear as a button on the POS screen.
  

  Setting name	Description
  Button name and color	The name of the item that appears for the user throughout the POS and the color of its button. To change the color of the button, click the two-toned Color customizer   and select from the available colors.
  Make this a sub-item that cannot be sold alone.	A sub-item refers to a modifier or add-on that is associated with a primary order item. Examples include toppings or condiments such as sauces, which typically accompany a dish rather than being ordered separately.
  Create a stock quantity counter on the item's POS button	When enabled, a counter will appear on the item button on your POS, and you can add sales restrictions on an item from your device. If this setting is enabled, set a sales restriction using the following steps: Find the button for this item on the POS device. Tap and hold the button until Item details appear. Tap Sales restriction.  Enter the maximum item quantity available for sale. Tap Apply sales restriction to finish.
  Item extends over multiple courses	This item will appear on production dockets for subsequent courses with a note to indicate its continuation. Enable this option if an item is served in one course and continues into the next course.
  Item is part of a specific course	Using the drop-down menu, select which course this item will be added to. For instance, if an item is restricted to the 3rd course, it will always be in Course 3. If there is no Course 3, the POS will create one when you add this item to a sale.  If left unchecked (default), the item will be inserted into the active course.
  Cooking time	Add a cooking time to display on your QSR automation and/or KDS screens.
  Allow item to be split and sold in fractional amounts	When enabled, items can be split into fractions by entering a number on the keypad, such as 0.33. The price of the item will be adjusted accordingly.
  Allow item to be renamed	When this option is enabled, adding this item to a sale on the Restaurant POS will prompt the user to enter the name of the item manually.

  Appearance

  Attach an image and description to a POS item, accessible by tapping and holding the item button on the POS. This stores useful product details like ingredients, allergens, or cooking methods for customers who are seeking further information.

  

  Setting name	Description
  Auto-generate with AI	Click to automatically generate an Item description, options for an Item image, and a list of Food allergies using artificial intelligence (AI). Results are based on the item’s name as entered in the Details tab. Important: Always verify auto-generated content as Lightspeed is not responsible for errors made by AI. Use this feature to help save time, not to replace human review. Note: This feature is available upon request. If you don’t see it in your Back Office and want access, contact us for assistance.
  Item description	Details of the item that will display on the POS and in Order Anywhere. The Name corresponds to the item name, and the Description field provides room for detailed information. The description can be written in different languages if multiple languages are activated in the Back Office.
  Item image	A customized image of the item that will display on the POS and in Order Anywhere. Drag an image from your computer to the designated space, or click the dashed square to browse the folders on your computer and select the image. To remove an uploaded image, click Delete image.
  Food allergies	Use the available drop-down and choose potential ingredients that this product might contain from a list of common allergens. This information will display on the POS and in Order Anywhere.

  Order instructions

  Setting name	Description
  Item name on tickets	Sets the name that will appear on production dockets that are sent to the kitchen or bar.
  Instructions	Click Add instructions to select from existing production instructions. If you need to create new production instructions, go click Add instructions > Go to order instructions.
  Group instructions under a single line	Production instructions will be grouped together when the same item is ordered multiple times.
  Update prices in realtime	The price of this item is retrieved through an external weight scale. However, you can manually enter the weight of the item on the POS to get the associated price even without a scale. Note: Scale integrations are a legacy feature, and our Support teams cannot currently assist with this.
  Update weights in realtime	The quantity of this item is retrieved through an external weight scale.  Note: Scale integrations are a legacy feature, and our Support teams cannot currently assist with this.

  Inventory

  When an item is sold on the POS, use the stock management details to define which unit of measurement is subtracted from which stock location. Stock Management is only relevant if a stock is enabled from the Back Office in Configuration > Settings > Stock. 

  Setting name	Description
  Cost price	The cost of ingredients for that item. Cost price will automatically update in Back Office based on your inventory purchasing activity.
  Barcode	Create a barcode by entering any barcode standard that's associated with your items, such as UPC or EAN. This barcode can then be scanned using a supported barcode scanner, or tap the Scan icon  from the Register screen on the Lightspeed App to use your iPad's camera to scan and add this item to a sale.
  QR Code	An auto-generated QR code corresponding to this item. Use the Download QR code drop-down to menu to download a PDF, PNG, or print the QR code. Scan this QR code using a supported barcode scanner or tap the Scan icon from the Register screen on the Lightspeed App to use your iPad's camera to scan and add this item to a sale.
  Produced item	Indicate if this item is created at your location with multiple ingredients.
  Item contains ingredients (Stock management only)	Indicate which items are ingredients for this product. To add more: Click Add ingredient. In the Item field, select the ingredient. In the Value field, use the drop-down menu to specify a dimension, such as volume, mass, or unit, and then enter the value as needed. (Optional) Select a Stock Location from the available drop-down. To learn how to add new stock locations, visit Understanding stock locations. Click Add ingredient to finish. (Optional) Click the trash can   icon to remove unwanted ingredients.
  Item is an ingredient (Stock management only)	If this item has been incorporated as an ingredient in other items, a list of items containing this ingredient will be displayed here.
  Stock movement (Stock management only)	For tracking purposes, you can indicate settings that help you keep track of inventory levels and values. Use the available drop-down menus to make changes. Dimension - Refers to the dimensions by which this item is measured, such as volume, mass, or units. Value - In the context of dimensions, the value represents the specific measurement within the selected dimension. For example, if the dimension is "Volume," the value can be liters (l), deciliters (dl), or centiliters (cl), depending on the desired level of granularity. Stock location - This refers to the designated area where the item is stored. To learn how to add new stock locations, visit Understanding stock locations. Don't record stock movement - When enabled, this option prevents the automatic update of stock levels when sales occur.

  Adding multiple items

  Add multiple items to Back Office at once through the Manual Import option. This method allows for the quick addition of items without the need for a spreadsheet. However, detailed information like defining the button color on the POS cannot be bulk-added. To do this:

  1. Log in to the Back Office with your Lightspeed credentials.
  2. From the navigation menu, select Menu management > Items.
  3. Click Create > Multiple items. Alternatively, you can reach the same screen via Import > Import and selecting the Manual import tab.
  4. Enter item information such as Name, Price, Accounting group, Statistics group, and Screen. See Item details for descriptions of what these fields represent. Note: Name and Accounting group are mandatory fields.
  5. Click +Add to create new fields and add more items.
  6. (Optional) Toggle Create new accounting groups if you're assigning items to accounting groups that don't already exist.
  7. Click Import to finish.
     

  To import item information using a CSV file, refer to our Importing and Exporting items article.

• Quick-adding items

  Quick-adding items is useful if you want to save time. When quick-adding items, you can set up essential info such as the item's name, price, accounting group, and statistic group. However, detailed information, such as defining the menu on which the item should appear, cannot be set up. If you want to add more detail to items, see Adding items in detail section.

  1. Log in to the Back Office with your Lightspeed credentials.
  2. From the navigation menu, select Menu management > Items.
  3. Click Quick Add….
  4. Enter the Quick add… settings.
  5. Click the Add item button.

  

  Quick add… settings

  Setting name	Description
  Item name	The name of the item as it appears in the Back Office.
  Item price (optional)	The price charged when selling the item to the customer. If an item does not have a defined price in the Back Office, it becomes an open item and the price is requested at the POS.
  Accounting group	Accounting groups are a logical sorting of items, otherwise known as a category. All accounting groups created from the Back Office in Menu management > Accounting groups are available for selection. See About Accounting groups for further information
  Statistic categories (optional)	Statistic groups provide more flexibility on reporting than accounting groups as these are linked to taxes. With statistic groups, you can provide more specific and customized reporting and sort items into defined groups.

  Adding items in detail

  Adding items in detail allows you to set detailed information to items, such as defining modifiers and the menu on which the item should appear. In addition, you can also link items to stocks if you’ve created stocks from the Back Office in Configuration > Settings > Stock.

  1. Log in to the Back Office with your Lightspeed credentials.
  2. From the navigation menu, select Menu management > Items.
  3. Click the Add item button.
  4. Enter the required item settings: Item details, POS button details, Description, and Stock management details.
  5. Click Save to save the changes.

  

  Item details 

  Setting name	Description
  Item name	The name of the item as it appears in the Back Office.
  Checkbox: Configure a different name to be printed on production dockets	If enabled, you can type in a different combo name to be printed on the production ticket for the kitchen.
  SKU	Assigned by default. If you want to create a custom SKU, select Click here to add your custom SKU manually and enter the SKU.
  Price structure	The price-setting that is set in the Back Office. Single price (default): This item has one price, which can be set in the field ‘Default price’ below. Variable positive price: A plus amount is entered manually for an item by the user on the POS. This amount is recorded as profit. Variable negative price: A minus amount is entered manually for an item by the user on the POS. This amount is recorded as a loss. No price (zero price): This item has no price, i.e., its price will be set to 0. Multiple prices: This item has a default price, plus alternative prices that are tied to specific account profiles. Enter each alternate price and account profile in the Additional prices fields. For example, set a lower price to be triggered at the POS when an account profile called Happy hour is used on an order. Multi-pricing is also compatible with Order Anywhere—see the Order Anywhere and Multi-pricing tab below to learn more. Select Multiple prices from the Price structure drop-down menu. From the Additonal prices field that appears, choose the account profile associated with the alternative price. Enter the desired price in the available text field. (Optional) Add more prices by clicking the    icon to create additional price fields, and then repeat steps 2 - 3. By default, Order Anywhere users will have two additional account profiles created automatically: On premises (code: OAOP) and Take-Away (code: OATA). When adding an item with Multiple prices, selecting either of the account profiles mentioned above and changing the prices will affect the prices that customers see when placing an order through Order Anywhere. This allows restaurants to lower or increase an item's price based on whether a customer uses Order Anywhere to dine in or take their food to go. For example, Restaurants that want to recoup the costs of packaging (such as takeout boxes, cutlery, and sauce cups) can increase the price of Take-Away items to offset the additional costs. Alternatively, a restaurant may prefer to lower the price of Take-Away items since ordering to-go doesn't incur the additional labor costs of full-service. As another example, Restaurants may lower the price of items ordered On premises to encourage customers to dine in, thereby creating more opportunities to upsell customers on drinks or desserts. Price as a percentage: The price for this item will be based on a percentage of the order’s value.
  Default price	The price charged when selling a combo to the customer. If an item does not have a defined price in the Back Office, it becomes an open item and the price is requested at the POS.
  Cost price (optional)	The cost of ingredients for that item.
  Accounting group	Accounting groups are a logical sorting of items, otherwise known as categories. All accounting groups created from the Back Office in Menu management > Accounting groups are available for selection. See About accounting groups (categories) for further information.
  Statistic categories (optional)	Statistics Categories can be used to provide more specific reporting. The statistic groups have the purpose of being able to report on them.
  Production instructions	Notes to the kitchen, such as ‘medium-well’ when cooking a steak. All production instructions that were previously created in the Back Office in Configuration > Settings > Production instructions are available for selection. See About modifiers for details.
  Tags	Tags are keywords that help you find your items on the Items Page in the Back Office. You can add the tag in the search field on the upper right at the Items page.
  Checkbox: This item is a sub-item.	A sub-item is a type of modifier. Sub-items are order items that are attached to a main item. You can give the sub-item any price you want. For instance: sauces. You do not generally order sauce on its own, but it accompanies a dish. Some sub-items may be more expensive, so you can define the extra cost here by adding a default price.

  POS button details

  Setting name	Description
  Item POS name	The item name that appears for the user throughout the POS.
  Color	Defines the item button color placed in a menu on the POS.
  Add to Menu	The item button is placed in the appropriate menu. All menus created in the Back Office in Menu management > Menus are available for selection. See About menus for further information.
  Main Screen	The item button is placed in the appropriate menu category (where you choose items on POS). You can build menus with your POS that consist of visual categories (screens). The screens are used to sort the items. See About menus for further information.

  Description

  You can add an image and a detailed description to an item that is shown to the user on the POS. The description and image appear when tapping and holding the item for a few seconds. Adding an item description can be helpful if your customers ever need to know more about the product, such as the ingredients. Open the description settings by selecting the + symbol.

  Setting name	Description
  Item picture	A customized image of the item that is shown on the POS. Select the Change picture tab and drop the desired file in the dashed area or choose the Select file button to add an item image.
  Item description	Details of the item displayed on the POS. The Display Name corresponds to the item name and the Description field provides room for detailed information. The description can be written in several languages. The prerequisite for this is that the corresponding languages are activated in the Back Office (Configuration > Settings > Item languages). See Understanding item languages.
  Allergens	The Allergens field is used to select common allergens via a drop-down menu. This is particularly important for customers with allergies.

  Voucher

  Each time this item is sold on the POS, a voucher is created. When enabled, you can define the voucher amount in local currency. This might be useful in regards to promotional offers.

  Stock management details

  When an item is sold on the POS, use the stock management details to define which unit of measurement is subtracted from which stock. Stock Management is only relevant if a stock is defined from the Back Office in Configuration > Settings > Stock. A stock is a storeroom in your restaurant or warehouse where you can keep inventory available for sale.

  Setting name	Description
  Dimension	The unit of measurement subtracted from the stock.
  Content	Defines the amount and whether a unit of measurement is subtracted as a whole or as a percentage.
  Stock	You can choose one of the stocks if you have more than one. All stocks created from the Back Office (Configuration > Settings > Stock) are available for selection.
  Checkbox: Don’t record stock movement.	When enabled, stock addition or subtraction is not visible on reports.

  Item composition

  The item's composition is part of stock management. You can manage the ingredients and amounts associated with an item. For example, if a glass of wine is sold, it is possible to define what quantity should be deducted from the wine bottle per sale.

  Setting name	Description
  Item	Source item from which the defined quantity is deducted.
  Quantity	The left input field determines the quantity and the right one the unit to be deducted from the respective source item.
  Source stock	The stock in which the source item is listed.

  Adding several items

  Add multiple items to Back Office at once through the Manual Import option. This method allows for quick addition of items without the need for a spreadsheet. However, detailed information like defining the button color on the POS cannot be bulk-added. To do this:

  1. Log in to the Back Office with your Lightspeed credentials.
  2. From the navigation menu, select Menu management > Items.
  3. Click Import.
  4. Select the Manual import tab.
  5. Enter item information such as Name, Price, Accounting group, Statistics group, and Screen. See Item details for descriptions of what these fields represent. Note: Name and Accounting group are mandatory fields.
  6. Click +Add to create new fields and add more items.
  7. (Optional) Toggle Create new accounting groups if you're assigning items to accounting groups that don't already exist.
  8. Click Import to finish.
     

  To import item information using a CSV file, refer to our Importing and Exporting items article.

What's next?