Your journey at a glance
Your onboarding specialist joins a video call to configure your account and get everything set up correctly from the start.
- We set up your organization profile and store list
- You confirm report recipients (operator, DMs, GMs)
- We review the report formats and make any adjustments to labels, store names, or branding
- You choose your preferred delivery day and time for weekly reports
We connect Topline to your back-office system. This is a read-only connection — we'll never touch your source data.
- SBONet: You provide your SBONet API credentials; we test the connection and confirm data access
- Toast: You provide your Toast API key; we verify restaurant access and data scope
- We confirm all your store locations are mapped correctly
- We run a test pull to validate data integrity before going live
We configure your performance thresholds — these drive your alerts and define what "good" looks like for your portfolio.
- Labor budget % per location (or by day part)
- SOS (Speed of Service) targets by daypart
- Void rate alert thresholds
- Inventory variance tolerance
- Any additional custom thresholds relevant to your brand
Your account is live, data is connected, thresholds are set. Most clients are fully operational within 24 hours of the setup call. You don't need to do anything else — we'll take it from here.
📊 Days 2–3
We pull and process your last 8 weeks of data from your connected source. This creates a baseline for all your reports so they're immediately meaningful.
- 8 weeks of SOS data across all locations
- 8 weeks of labor actuals vs. budget
- 8 weeks of inventory transactions and variance
- Baseline averages calculated per store, per daypart
You receive your first set of reports — covering your entire portfolio, for the first time, in one clean view.
- SOS Trend Report: Speed of service by location, daypart, and week-over-week trend
- Ops Improvement Report: Where you're losing time and where you're improving
- Inventory Variance Report: Which stores have the most unexplained variance
- Operator Briefing: Portfolio-level summary — the 5 things you need to know this week
Most operators see 2–4 stores with significant SOS degradation they weren't aware of, and 1–2 locations with labor patterns that warrant immediate attention. That's not a problem — that's exactly why you're here.
🎯 Week 1
During Week 1, we default to sending Action Cards to you before distributing to your GMs. This gives you a chance to review tone, priorities, and accuracy before your team sees them.
- Each GM Action Card is store-specific: only that store's data and action items
- You can approve and release, edit, or hold any card before delivery
- Most operators review the first batch in about 15 minutes
After reviewing the first batch, you'll have feedback. We make adjustments fast — usually same day.
- Tone adjustments (direct vs. coaching style)
- Which metrics to highlight vs. de-emphasize
- Which stores to include or exclude from Action Card distribution
- Report frequency (some operators prefer bi-weekly for certain locations)
If you're on the Pro plan with white-label enabled, your GM Action Cards will arrive from your domain and carry your logo. GMs see reports from you — not from Topline. Most Pro clients go fully white-label during Week 1.
🔄 Month 1
Your full report suite — SOS Trend, Ops Improvement, Inventory Variance, and Operator Briefing — delivers automatically every week on your chosen schedule.
- Delivered to your inbox (or your team's) before Monday morning standup
- Historical comparisons now include your first full weeks of Topline data
- Trend lines start to get meaningful with 4+ weeks of data
On Pro plans, the accountability loop is configured during Month 1. GMs receive action items, complete them, and the system tracks follow-through.
- GMs receive personalized weekly action items tied to their store's data
- Completion tracking: you see which GMs are engaging vs. which are ignoring
- DMs receive a summary of their district's accountability rates
- Unresolved items escalate automatically based on rules you set
Real-time alerts are configured and firing by the end of Month 1. You know about problems the moment they happen — not when you check a dashboard.
- Labor threshold alerts: get notified when a store crosses your labor % limit
- SOS alerts: know immediately when service slows to unacceptable levels
- Void rate alerts: catch unusual void activity in real time
- All alerts delivered via email and/or SMS to your configured recipients
📋 What to have ready before your setup call
-
SBONet credentials or Toast API keyRead-only credentials are fine. We'll walk you through generating an API key if you need help.
-
List of your store locations (name + location ID)A spreadsheet is fine. We'll match them to your data source automatically.
-
Names and emails for report recipientsWho should get the Operator Briefing? Who gets GM Action Cards? A quick org chart helps.
-
Your labor budget % targetsIf you don't have exact numbers, a ballpark is fine — we can adjust thresholds after the first reports.
-
SOS targets by daypart (if known)Optional but helpful. If you have brand SOS standards, bring them. Otherwise we'll set initial thresholds from your historical data.
-
Your preferred report delivery day/timeMost clients choose Sunday evening or Monday morning. You can change this any time.
📧 Email Support
Reach us at support@topline.app any time. We respond within 4 business hours for standard requests, within 24 hours for all inquiries.
🚨 Critical Issues
Reports not delivering? Data looks wrong? Pro and Enterprise clients get 4-hour response for critical issues — including weekends. Just email us with "URGENT" in the subject.
📊 Quarterly Business Review (Pro)
Every quarter, we review your portfolio trends with you, identify patterns you might have missed, and suggest configuration improvements. Included on Pro plans at no extra cost.
⚙️ Configuration Changes
Want to add stores, adjust thresholds, change report recipients, or update your delivery schedule? Just email us and we'll make it happen — usually same day.
You're not a tech company. You run restaurants. Topline should feel like a capable member of your ops team — not another software tool that needs babysitting. If anything feels complicated, that's our problem to fix. Tell us.