Skip to content
English
  • There are no suggestions because the search field is empty.

Banquet Manager: Menu Items, Categories, and the Default Department

Set up the items, categories, and department that populate an event's Menu tab — and use Add Ons to bring in items from other departments.

Banquet Manager events pull their food, beverage, and rental charges from items you build in Inventory Center — the same item catalog used everywhere else in Club Caddie. Two settings control which of those items show up where inside an event: the Default Department For Event Menu setting, and the Add Ons tab. Getting these two pieces right up front is what makes building a catering menu inside an event fast instead of a search.

How it fits together
  • Inventory Center is where items live, organized as Department → Sub Department → Category → Item.
  • Default Department For Event Menu (Settings) picks one Department. Whatever items sit under that Department are what populate the Menu tab inside every banquet event.
  • Add Ons (inside the event) is the way to reach items that live under a different Department than the one set as default — without changing the default for everyone.

If an item doesn't show up on an event's Menu tab, check which Department it was built under — an item outside the default Department is reached through Add Ons.

Where to find it
  • Build items and categories: Settings → Inventory Center → Item Inventory
  • Set the Default Department: Settings → Event Setting → Settings tab
  • Use it inside an event: Events → Banquet Manager → open an event → Event Builder → Menu tab or Add Ons tab
Step 1 — Build the items and categories in Inventory Center

Menu items in Banquet Manager are ordinary inventory items — there's no separate "banquet item" type. Build them the same way you'd build any other item:

Step 1: Go to Settings → Inventory Center.

Step 2: Click ADD ITEM to open the "Add Item to Inventory" screen.

Step 3: Assign the item's Department, Sub Department, and Category. These three fields are what the Menu and Add Ons tabs filter and search by later, so items intended for banquet menus should carry names that make sense to whoever is building an event (for example, Department: Food & Beverage → Sub Department: Catering → Category: Appetizers).

For the full item-creation walkthrough (pricing, SKU, modifiers, etc.), see Settings: Add Item to Inventory and Settings: Manage Inventory Categories — this article assumes those steps and focuses on the Banquet Manager-specific piece: which Department feeds the event.

Step 2 — Set the Default Department For Event Menu

Step 1: Go to Settings → Event Setting, then open the Settings tab.

Step 2: Find Default Department For Event Menu.

Step 3: Select the Department whose items should populate the Menu tab inside every banquet event, then click SUBMIT.

This is a single setting per club — one Department feeds the Menu tab for every event at that club. Most facilities point it at their primary food & beverage Department, since that's what gets added to the largest share of events.

Step 3 — Add items from the Menu tab

Inside an open event (Events → Banquet Manager → open the event → Event Builder → Menu):

Step 1: Choose a category (drawn from the Default Department set in Step 2).

Step 2: Choose a subcategory from the dropdown.

Step 3: Pick the specific item.

Step 4: Set the rate, quantity, and any preparation remarks.

Step 5: Click Add To Sheet.

The Menu tab only searches within the Default Department. If the item you need was built under a different Department, it won't appear here — use Add Ons instead.

Step 4 — Reach items outside the Default Department with Add Ons

Inside the same event, click Add Ons under Event Builder:

Step 1: Select the Department the item actually lives under (not limited to the default).

Step 2: Select the Sub-Department and Category.

Step 3: Pick the item and set its details.

Step 4: Click Add to Sheet.

Add Ons is the intended path any time an event needs something outside the Default Department — audio/visual rentals, golf services tacked onto a banquet, or a beverage package built under its own Department. It doesn't require changing the Default Department setting, so the Menu tab stays scoped to what most events actually use.

Common Questions

Why doesn't an item I just created show up on the Menu tab?

Check which Department it was assigned to in Inventory Center. The Menu tab only shows items from the one Department set as the Default Department For Event Menu (Settings → Event Setting → Settings tab). If the item is under a different Department, add it through the Add Ons tab instead, or reassign the item's Department in Inventory Center if it should always appear on Menu.

Do I need to change the Default Department to add a one-off item from another Department?

No. Use Add Ons — it lets you pick any Department, Sub-Department, and Category for that one addition without changing what everyone else sees on the Menu tab.

Can more than one Department feed the Menu tab?

No — Default Department For Event Menu is a single selection. Items outside it are reached through Add Ons.

Where do I create a new Category for menu items?

Categories are created as part of building or editing an item in Settings → Inventory Center (Department → Sub Department → Category). See Settings: Manage Inventory Categories for the full steps.

Is this the same as the Menu and Add-Ons steps already in the KB?

Those two articles (Banquet Manager: Menu and Banquet Manager: Add-Ons) cover the click-by-click steps for adding an item to an event once it exists in Inventory Center. This article covers the setup layer underneath — building the item/category structure and choosing the Default Department — so those steps work the way you expect.