How to Set Up Public Holiday Surcharges

Understanding surcharge methods
Surcharge priority and override behavior
Setting up an automated Public Holiday surcharge.
Removing a Public Holiday surcharge manually from a table or sale
Deactivating or removing a configured Public Holiday surcharge
Example Public Holiday surcharge setups

About

This guide provides a comprehensive walk-through on setting up (automatic) Public Holiday (PH) surcharges in H&L. Whether you're applying for a surcharge across all items, specific PLU groups, or individual items, this guide covers every available method to ensure your configuration meets your venue’s needs.

For assistance troubleshooting public holiday surcharges, see Quick troubleshooting for Surcharges and Promotional Pricing. For further assistance with setting up surcharges, please contact our H&L support team. You can log a support ticket in the client portal.

Understanding surcharge methods

H&L provides three main methods for configuring Public Holiday (PH) surcharges, each offering different levels of control. It’s important to understand how these methods interact, and which method takes precedence when multiple methods are configured.

Time Switch controlled surcharge - A Public Holiday Surcharge type time switch is required for all setup methods and defines where and when the surcharge is active.

A PH surcharge is active during specific date and times and in the locations specified by the time switch.
Set a Surcharge % value, this applies to all items unless overridden by other configurations.
If configured with a Surcharge PLU, surcharges will apply to this PLU and it's revenue group. This can be used to report surcharge revenue separately for different public holidays.

PLU Group controlled surcharge - Used to apply surcharges to specific groups of products per their PLU Group. There are three configuration options:

PLU Group – Set a Surcharge % that applies the the entire group.
PLU Group by Location – Set a Surcharge % that applies to a PLU group within a selected location.
PLU Group by Location Type – Set a Surcharge % that applies to a specific location type (e.g. On-Premise).

Location controlled surcharge - A surcharge can also be applied to a location.

Set a Surcharge % that applies to all products in the location unless overridden by other configurations. Each location can be configured with the same or a different percentage.

Surcharge priority and override behavior

The default Surcharge PLU # can be configured in Utilities > System Options > Processing / Reports > Surcharge PLU #.

If a PH surcharge time switch has no Surcharge PLU set, the default PLU will be used.
If a PH surcharge time switch has a Surcharge PLU set, the timeswitch PLU will override the default PLU.

The Surcharge % priority works as follows:

A Surcharge % applied against a PLU group has the highest priority. If a value is set (including 0), it will override any Surcharge % set against a time switch or location.
A Surcharge % set against a time switch will override a location surcharge %.
A Surcharge % set against a location has the lowest priority. It will only apply to a sale item if there is no configured % against the items PLU group or the PH surcharge time switch.

Example:

If a location surcharge is set to 5%, and a time switch surcharge is set to 10%, the timeswitch surcharge of 10% will always apply.
If a PLU Group is then configured with a surcharge of 20%, a 20% surcharge will apply to products in that PLU group, while all other items will apply the 10% surcharge per the time switch setup.
For more detailed examples, see Example Public Holiday surcharge setups.

Setting up an automated Public Holiday surcharge.

Setup a PH surcharge PLU

If it doesn't already exist a Public Holiday (PH) surcharge PLU will be required regardless of the setup method you use. You can confirm if it is exists by searching for "PH", "Public Holiday", or "Surcharge" in the Update section of the Stock application.

If an existing PLU does not exist:

In Stock, create a new Inventory Code with a recognisable name such as "PH Surcharge".
Create a PLU and assign it to an appropriate PLU group and Revenue Group. It is recommended to assign it to a PH Surcharge to it's own revenue group for reporting.
Range the PLU to all applicable locations.

Assign your new or existing PH surcharge PLU the default Surcharge PLU # field in Utilities > System Options > Processing / Reports.

Setup a PH surcharge time switch (and a time switch controlled surcharge %)

A Public Holiday Surcharge type time switch will also be required, regardless of the setup method used.

To create the time switch:

Open the Utilities application and select the TimeSwitches tab.
Press the Add button to create a new time switch.
In the Description field, give your time switch a clear and descriptive name such as “Public Holiday Surcharge”.
Select the Switch Type drowdown field, scroll down, and select Public Holiday Surcharge.
Leave the Surcharge PLU field blank to use the default public holiday surcharge PLU. If you wish to track surcharge revenue distinctly from other public holiday surcharges:
- Create a new Inventory Code and PLUs assigned to a unique revenue group.
- Assign this PLU to the Surcharge PLU field by selecting the magnifying glass icon, then searching for and selecting the required PLU.
Enter a numerical value in the Surcharge % field if using one percentage for all items, or as the default option when no percentage is configured against a PLU group.
Note: Leave this field blank for location controlled surcharging.
In the Details section, click Add and select all locations where this PH surcharge should apply.
Press the Advanced Schedule button.
Under Time, enter the Start and End time. These will reflect the hours the surcharge is active.
NOTE: Avoid setting 12:00AM or matching other time switch start/end times exactly, as these can lead to issues with time switches activating or deactivating. For a full day where no other time-switch times conflicts, set the Start/End as 12:01AM to 11:59PM. If another time switch starts/ends at one of these times, adjust either time switches by a minute to avoid the conflict.
Under Recurrence pattern, select Yearly, then define the date of the public holiday.
Note: If there are back-to-back public holidays, the Weekly option with specific days ticked will reduce the number of time switches you need to create. But, you will need to remember to deactivate the time switch before the following week begins.
If required, set the Range of recurrence to prevent activation of the time switch after a a number of occurrences or a specific date.
Press OK to save schedule changes.(get new pic with better start/end times, duration, yearly, Jan 1st date, bottom message)
Press OK on the time switch details window to save the time switch and exit the window.
Restart the POSController Service or Transaction Server application on the H&L server.
- For more information, see: How To Check and Restart the Transaction Server or POS Controller Service.
From the Exceed logon screen, tap the H&L logo, then Reset Exceed database.

Setup a PH surcharge by PLU Group

A PLU Group surcharge setup allows you to apply targeted PH surcharge percentages to specific groups of items, offering greater flexibility and control.

Note: Before you begin, remember:

Follow the instructions above to confirm you have a public holiday surcharge PLU and time switch setup. These are required regardless of the setup method.
PLU Group configurations override the time switch percentage only where a specific surcharge has been entered. This includes entering 0 (zero) as percentage value.
If no PLU Group percentage is set for an item in a sale, then the time switch percentage will apply.

By PLU Group - Applies the surcharge to all locations for the selected PLU Group.

From Stock, click the Maintenance dropdown menu and select Groups > PLU Groups.
Select the required PLU Group from the list, then click the Detail tab.
Note The following can also be added from the List view by scrolling across to the relevant columns.
Under Surcharge, enter the desired numerical value in the Percentage field.
Optionally, enable No Surcharge for members if you wish to exclude members from this surcharge.
Click the blue Tick icon in the top-right navigation panel to save any changes.
Repeat these steps for all required PLU Groups.

By PLU Group > Location Type Defaults - Applies the PLU group surcharge, per location type (e.g. Packaged Beer PLU group in On-Premises location types).

From Stock, click the Maintenance dropdown menu and select Groups > PLU Groups.
Select the PLU Group you want to configure, then click the Detail tab.
In the lower half of the window, click on the Location Type Defaults / Settings tab.
Create a new record by clicking the small + (plus) button below the Location Type Defaults window.
Select a Location Type from the dropdown (e.g. On-Premise).
In the Surcharge % column, enter the desired numerical value.
Optionally, tick Exclude Members, if required.
Repeat the process for any additional location types as needed.
Click the small Tick button to save any changes.

By PLU Group > Location Defaults - Applies the PLU group surcharge, per individual locations.

From Stock, click the Maintenance dropdown menu and select Groups > PLU Groups.
Select the PLU Group you want to configure, then click the Detail tab.
In the lower half of the window, click on the Location Defaults / Settings tab.
Create a new record by clicking the small + (plus) button below the Location Defaults window.
Select a Location from the dropdown.
In the Surcharge % column, enter the desired numerical value.
Optionally, tick Exclude Members, if required.
Repeat the process for any additional location types as needed.
Click the small Tick button to save any changes.

Setup a PH surcharge by Location

A Location surcharge setup is quick to setup and provides the ability to a fixed surcharge percentage for all items per location. It can also be used in conjunction with PLU Group setups to act as the default percentage for a location if no surcharge is configured against an item's PLU group.

Note: Before you begin, remember:

Follow the instructions above to confirm you have a public holiday surcharge PLU and time switch setup. These are required regardless of the setup method.
The time switch's Surcharge % field must be left empty (blank) or it will override the location's configuration.

To setup the location controlled surcharge:

From Stock, click the Maintenance dropdown menu and select Locations.
Select the Location you want to configure, then click the Detail tab.
Under the Surcharge heading, enter the desired numerical value in the Percentage field.
Optionally, enable No Surcharge for members if you wish to exclude members from this surcharge.
Click the blue Tick icon in the top-right navigation panel to save any changes.
Repeat these steps for all required locations.

Excluding items from a PH surcharge

Sometimes you may want to exclude specific items from a configured PH surcharge.

Note:

This method excludes entire PLU Groups, and all items within them.
It can be applied to the PLU Group, PLU Group > Location Type Defaults, or PLU Group > Location Defaults.
To exclude one item within a PLU Group, you can can create a new PLU group that will be excluded from PH surcharges, and assign the PLU to this group. This will affect what PLU group this item reports under.

To exclude a PLU Group:

From Stock, click the Maintenance dropdown menu and select Groups > PLU Groups.
Select the required PLU Group from the list, then click the Detail tab.
Optionally, click on the Location Type Defaults / Settings or click on the Location Defaults / Settings tab if you require finer control.
Under Surcharge, enter 0 in the Percentage field.
Note: This needs to be set to 0, and not left empty (blank). Leaving it empty will instead cause the surcharge percentage to default to the time switch or location configured percentage.
Click the blue Tick icon in the top-right navigation panel to save any changes.
Repeat these steps for all required PLU Groups.

Items in a PLU Group with a 0 percentage will receive no surcharge, while items in other groups will continue to have the PH surcharge apply.

Removing a Public Holiday surcharge manually from a table or sale

A Remove Public Hol. Surcharge key can be used to remove a surcharge at the POS. This key can be used to remove the surcharge against a table or or the current sale. To avoid misuse, access to this key can be restricted by placing it on the Managers page.

To add this key to your keyboard:

In Utilities > Keyboards tab, double click a keyboard to edit it.
Double click a blank (?) location on the Managers or and desired page to edit (or double-click an exiting key to update / replace it)
Use the Search All Keys button, and enter "Remove" in the first field below the Key function column.
Select the Remove Public Hol. Surcharge (#228) key and press OK.
Edit the caption, colour and style as required, then click OK to add the key.
Click the Save button to save changes made to the keyboard.
From the Exceed logon screen, tap the H&L logo, then Reset Exceed database.
Repeat these steps for all applicable keyboards and POS terminals.

To use the Remove Public Hol. Surcharge key:

Remove surcharge from the current sale - After ringing up all required sale items, press the Remove Public Hol. Surcharge key to remove the surcharge from the entire sale.
Remove surcharge from a table -
1. With no items in the current sale, press the Remove Public Hol. Surcharge key.
2. A table selection window will be presented. Select the desired table to remove the surcharge from, then press OK.
3. Press Yes on the confirmation prompt.

Deactivating or removing a configured Public Holiday surcharge

In some cases, you may need to deactivate or remove a configured PH surcharge.

To deactivate an active surcharge:

From Utilities > TimeSwitches tab, select the PH surcharge time switch, then click Edit.
Select Advanced Schedule, under Recurrenc pattern select Weekly.
Leave (or untick if already enabled) all listed days (Monday > Sunday) unticked, then click OK.
Click OK to save changes. When selected, a message below will now show the time switch is disabled.
Restart the POSController Service or Transaction Server application on the H&L server.
- For more information, see: How To Check and Restart the Transaction Server or POS Controller Service.
On all POS terminals, from the Exceed logon screen, tap the H&L logo, then Reset Exceed database.

To remove a configured surchrage setup:

From Utilities > TimeSwitches tab, select the PH surcharge time switch, then click Delete.
If PLU Group or Location surcharge settings have been configured that will not be relevant to future PH surcharges, backspace percentage values until the fields are blank, and un-tick member exclusion options. If these configurations will apply to future PH surcharges, they can be left as is.
Restart the POSController Service or Transaction Server application on the H&L server.
- For more information, see: How To Check and Restart the Transaction Server or POS Controller Service.
On all POS terminals, from the Exceed logon screen, tap the H&L logo, then Reset Exceed database.

Example Public Holiday surcharge setups

Below are several five example surcharge setups. Each example outlines the recommended setup method with images of key setup requirements.

#1 - Apply the same surcharge to all items.

A flat surcharge 10% on all items across all locations.
Simplest setup, configured just in the time switch
Surcharge percentage is configured against the time switch.
All locations are added to the time switch.

#2 - Apply different surcharges percentages per location.

15% surcharge in bar location, 50% in bistro location.
Requires setup for each location and time switch setup.
In the time switch the Surcharge % must be 0% (or blank) or it will override the location percentages.
(Bar location percentage)
(Bistro location percentage)

#3 - Apply different surcharge percentages to food and beverage items.
- 5% surcharge on food items, 10% surcharge on drink items.
- Longer setup time with configuration required for PLU groups and the time switch. Adding PLU Group percentages in List view can speed up the setup process.
- Add a 5% surcharge to all Food related PLU Groups, and 10% to beverage related PLU Groups.
- Optionally, a default percentage can also be added to the time switch for items in any non-configured PLU Groups.
  
  #4 - Apply a surcharge only to food items in the Bistro location.
  - 10% surcharge on items in Food PLU Groups for the Bistro location only. No surcharge on drinks or other items.
  - Select a Food related PLU group, and go to Detail > Location Defaults / Settings tab.
  - Add a new record for location = Bistro and set the surcharge as 10%.
  - Repeat this for all other Food related
  - In the PH time switch setup, leave the Surcharge % empty (blank) or 0%.
  - Note: If a warning pops up about no surcharge configured, this is fine to OK if you have configured your surcharge percentages against PLU Groups.
    
    #5 - Apply a Member Exempt surcharge for food & wine items in one location type.
    Members are excluded from a 10% surcharge on Food and Wine items for the Bistro, Bar and Lounge locations (On-Premise location type).
    Select a food or wine related PLU group, and go to Detail > Location Type Defaults / Settings tab.
    Add a new record setting the Location Type = On-Premise, Surcharge % = 10, and Exclude Members = ticked.
    Repeat for all Food or Wine related PLU Groups
    The time switch Surcharge % field can be left blank or set to 0% to prevent surcharges against non food or wine items.
    The time switch must include all on-premise locations to be added to it.