VistaIQ, explained simply
VistaIQ gives a restaurant owner a clear weekly picture of the money, from a phone, with very little typing. Staff photograph invoices, tap to confirm deliveries and count stock. The till, bank and payroll are uploaded. Every night the system reads it all, matches it up, and by morning the owner sees what sold, what it cost, what is in the bank, and what needs a look.
Staff do small things
A photo of each invoice. One tap when a delivery arrives. A count once a week. A cash count at close.
The system does the joining up
It reads the invoices, matches bank lines to sales and invoices, works out food and wage costs, and spots anything that does not add up.
The owner sees the picture
Sales, costs against targets, money in the bank, money that is short, and a short list of things to do. Then the accountant gets a clean month.
Signing up
Nobody gets in without approval. The owner is approved by us; everyone else is approved by the owner.
The owner (first time)
- We give you your restaurant code (for example DEMO-BISTRO).
- Open the app, tap Sign up, enter your name, email, a password and the restaurant code.
- You are marked as the pending owner. We check and approve you, usually the same day. You get an email.
- Sign in with your email and password. You land on your home screen.
Staff and the accountant
- The owner shares the restaurant code (More → Team → Share).
- The person taps Sign up with their name, email, password and the code.
- The owner gets a notification, opens Team, and approves them, choosing what they may do (see roles below).
- They get an email and sign in. They only see the screens for their job.
Other ways in
Invite code. The owner can also create a one-time code for a person under Team. It works for 7 days. The person still signs up with their name, email and a password, the restaurant code and the invite code, and is in straight away with what the owner chose, no approval step.
Forgot your password? Tap the link on the sign-in screen. A reset link is emailed to you and works for one hour. Or the owner can give you a new invite code: sign up again with the same email and the new code.
Demo profiles. On the demo restaurant, the Sign up tab shows one-tap profiles for every role so you can try the app with made-up numbers.
Who does what
Each person sees only the screens for their job. Pick a role to see what they see and what they must do. The owner can also make custom access for one person, or save a named set (for example "Head chef") to reuse.
Owner: sees everything, decides everything
Sees: the weekly home picture, the profit and loss, insights and the question box, all exceptions, the team, every upload screen, where the money went, the accountant's pages.
Must do: approve people and choose their access · set the cost targets once · sort out exceptions that need a decision (a stock loss, a price rise, a double payment) · check the weekly information list on Monday · close the month with the accountant.
Is told: Monday's weekly picture · exceptions still open after two days · anyone asking to join · stock recorded as missing · short deliveries and deliveries with no invoice.
Manager: runs the floor and the stock
Sees: invoices, deliveries, stock take, waste, cash-up, recipes, items, plan the week, the exceptions for the floor (short deliveries, stock short, invoice checks). Not the money pages.
Must do: make sure invoices are photographed and checked · confirm deliveries · do the weekly stock take · cash up at close · sort out floor exceptions and write down progress.
Is told: every morning: yesterday's sales, deliveries to confirm, invoices to check · each new exception that needs a tap.
Receiver: invoices in, deliveries checked
Sees: the camera, the invoice list, deliveries.
Must do: photograph every invoice the day it arrives · when goods arrive, tap "All arrived" or "Something's off" and mark what was short · log a delivery that turned up with no invoice.
Is told: nothing by push; the manager and owner are told about anything short.
Stock counter: counts
Sees: stock take, waste, recipes (read only), the stock overview.
Must do: count each store when asked: photo, then the number or weight · log waste as it happens.
Is told: nothing by push; a short count tells the manager and owner.
Accountant: the bank side
Sees: bank, payroll and platform uploads, bank lines, supplier statements, the money exceptions (payments we don't recognise, cash short, double payments), month close, VAT estimate, the journals and balance sheet, exports for Xero or QuickBooks. Not the sales or insights pages.
Must do: upload the bank statement weekly and payroll after each run · tell the system what unknown payments are (it remembers) · close the month with the owner · import the month into the accounting software.
Custom access
Under Team, the owner ticks exactly what a person may do:
Photograph and check invoicesConfirm deliveriesStock take, waste and recipesUpload bank, payroll and platform statementsSort out exceptionsSee the moneyAdd people
Give the job a name (for example "Head chef") and save the ticks as a set to use again. Changing someone's access applies the next time they tap.
Every day
Photograph the invoice receivermanager
- Tap the camera button in the middle of the bottom bar.
- Photograph the invoice flat, whole page in the frame. Long dockets: photograph in sections and choose "One long invoice".
- About 20 seconds later it appears in the list. Tap it: check the supplier, date, total and each line. Pick the stock item for any line we did not recognise (we remember it).
- Tap Approve. Or Reject if it is not a real invoice.
You can also upload a PDF or a photo from the phone instead of using the camera.
Confirm the delivery receivermanager
- Open Deliveries. Each invoice waiting for goods is listed.
- Everything there? Tap All arrived.
- Something missing or damaged? Tap Something's off, mark each line (short, how many arrived, or not delivered) and confirm.
- The owner and manager are told what is short and what to claim. Goods that arrived with no invoice at all: use "Something arrived with no invoice?" at the bottom.
Cash-up at close manager
- Open Cash-up. The till's cash sales for the day are shown.
- Type the float you started with, the cash in the drawer now, and the float you keep for tomorrow.
- Save. It tells you if you are over or short, and how much should reach the bank.
Log waste anyone in the kitchen
- Open Waste (or the camera button → Waste).
- Pick the item, how much, and why (spoiled, prep, dropped, returned, comp).
- Log it. That stock no longer looks like it went missing.
Every week
Stock take stock countermanager
- Open Stock take and pick a store (bar, walk-in, freezer, dry store).
- For each item: take a photo, then type the count or weight. Bottles: full ones plus the open one on the scale.
- Submit. You see each item against what should be there. Small differences are fine. An item short two counts running becomes an exception for the manager: was it waste, did it go missing, or was the count wrong?
Bank statement accountantowner
- Export the statement from the bank (CSV or PDF).
- More → Bank & payroll → Bank statement. Upload it.
- Overnight every line is matched to card sales, cash deposits, platform payouts, supplier invoices and payroll. Lines it cannot place become "payments we don't recognise" for you to name once.
Plan the week managerowner
Open Plan the week. It shows how many guests to expect each of the next seven days, from your own past sales, the weather and the calendar, against a normal week. Under it: what to order per supplier so you don't run out, worked out from your recipes, what is on the shelf, and each item's minimum stock.
Monday: the owner's list owner
The home screen has a card called This week's information: one dot per kind of information the week needs. Green is in, amber partly, red missing, grey not needed this week. Tap it for the full list; tap a line to go and do it.
Uploads: what, where, how often
| What | Where | How often | Who | What it is used for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Invoice (photo or PDF) | Camera button, or Invoices | As they arrive | Receiver, manager | What you bought, prices, what to pay, stock coming in |
| Till export (CSV) | More → Till & POS | Daily, or automatic once connected | Owner, accountant | Sales, guests, what sold, cash vs card |
| Bank statement (CSV or PDF) | More → Bank & payroll | Weekly | Accountant, owner | Proving every payment; what is in the bank |
| Payroll export | More → Bank & payroll | After each pay run | Accountant, owner | Wages as a share of sales |
| Delivery platform statement | More → Bank & payroll | When the platform sends it (weekly) | Accountant, owner | Commission, and checking the payout arrived |
| Supplier statement | More → Supplier statements | Month end | Anyone with invoices or bank | Checking their list against your invoices and payments |
| Recipes (photos or CSV) | More → Recipes | Once, then when the menu changes | Manager, owner | Food cost per dish; the stock each sale uses |
Sample files for every upload are under More → Sample files on the demo restaurant, so you can try each one.
Exceptions: what they mean and what to do
An exception is something the overnight checks could not sort out by themselves. Each one says what it is and what to do. Two rules:
1. Write down progress. "Called the supplier, credit note coming Friday." Everyone then sees where it stands.
2. Mark it sorted only when it is really done. The checks run again every night and raise it again if not. "Not an issue" clears it without action.
Do: tap what it is. We remember, so next time it is automatic. This is the only way the "unmatched payments" number goes down.
Do: check the cash-ups for those days and who banked the money.
Do: contact the supplier for the goods or a credit note. Note what they said. Sorted only when it arrives. The next stock take will see it.
Do: say what happened: thrown away (waste), went missing (loss; the owner is told), or the count was wrong.
Do: ask the supplier for it, photograph it when it comes, then reject the placeholder.
Do: check the supplier statement; ask for the money back or a credit.
Do: pay it, or upload the statement of the account it was paid from.
Do: accept it, talk to the supplier, or change supplier.
Do: wait a day or two; then call the card company.
Do: compare the lines; ask for a copy or a corrected statement.
The owner's home screen, block by block
This is what the owner sees every morning. Tap a block on the phone to read what it means and what to do about it.
• Drinks cost 31%, over your 28% aim.
• R13k cash short; check Friday's cash-up.
Food cost 28% · Drinks cost 33% · Wages 14%
Overheads 9% ›
Profit this week R125k · 49 cents of every rand
Cash that didn't reach the bank R13k ›
Possibly paid twice R9,528 ›
Stock not counted this week: Freezer ›
Cash-up missing for 6 days ›
kept in the business R392k
Tap a block
Each block on the phone opens an explanation here.
Every screen, in one line each
| Screen | Who | What it is for |
|---|---|---|
| Home | everyone | Your job's shortcuts; for the owner, the weekly picture. |
| Months | owner | The last six months and the next six: sales, costs and profit per month, the forecast with its range, and a short written reading of what is coming and what to do. Tap a past month for its full profit and loss. |
| Overheads | owner | Rent, power, insurance, card fees and the rest, line by line, with what each costs a week. |
| Insights | owner | Short findings from your data with the numbers behind them, and a box to ask questions in plain English. |
| Invoices · Deliveries · Stock take · Waste · Cash-up | floor roles | The daily and weekly tasks above. |
| Bank & payroll · Till & POS · Supplier statements | accountant, owner | The uploads. |
| Exceptions | manager, accountant, owner | Things to sort out, with what to do. |
| Plan the week | manager, owner | Expected guests per day and what to order. |
| This week's information | owner | What is in and what is missing for the week. |
| Where the money went | owner, accountant | Profit, what was paid out of it, what was kept, and the bank movement. |
| Unpaid invoices | owner | Approved invoices with no payment yet, by supplier; tap one to see the picture. |
| Stock overview · Items · Recipes · Menu margins · Suppliers & prices | manager, owner | What is on the shelf, item settings (minimum stock for all items at once, average cost and last paid price, how it is counted), what goes into each dish, which dishes earn, and supplier price moves. |
| Deliveries: Expected | receiver, manager | Orders placed but not yet delivered, from Plan the week or typed in. Confirming the delivery ticks the order off; a late one becomes an exception. |
| Close the day | manager, owner | End of service in one place: takings, the cash count, what is still open (deliveries, invoices, waste, exceptions) and tomorrow (guests expected, staff planned, orders due, items low). |
| Staff rota | manager, owner | Hours planned per day and department beside the guests expected, costed at your own hourly rates from payroll, with the wage share against your aim. |
| Targets | owner | What you aim for: food, drinks, wages as a share of sales. |
| Bank lines · VAT estimate · Accountant · Month close | accountant, owner | Every bank line and what it became; a rough VAT figure; journals, trial balance and balance sheet with Xero and QuickBooks exports; the month checklist and PDF pack. |
| Team & activity | owner | People, their access, the restaurant code, and who did what. |
Month end
Month close owneraccountant
More → Month close shows a checklist: till data for every day, bank lines matched, invoices approved, payroll in, stock counted, exceptions cleared. When it is green, close the month. The figures are then final and a PDF pack is built for the accountant. The owner can reopen it if something turns up.
The accountant's hand-off
Every sale, invoice, payment, payroll line and stock movement becomes a proper two-sided bookkeeping entry each night. The Accountant screen shows the trial balance (it must balance, and it says so) and the balance sheet. The accountant downloads the month as a Xero or QuickBooks file and imports it instead of retyping. VAT is already worked out into its own account.
Who gets told, and when
Alerts arrive as phone notifications (turn them on under More → Turn on alerts) and by email where an address is known.
| When | Who | What |
|---|---|---|
| Every morning | manager, owner | Yesterday's sales, deliveries to confirm, invoices to check, exceptions open. |
| Every morning, when needed | everyone with stock access | Items under their minimum stock, with what to order. |
| Monday morning (email) | owner | The week in one email: sales, costs, profit, what doesn't add up, what is missing. Starts once a mail service is connected. |
| Monday morning | owner | The weekly picture: sales, costs against targets, unmatched payments, open exceptions. |
| As it happens | manager | A new exception that needs a tap. |
| As it happens | owner, manager | A short delivery, a delivery with no invoice, a stock count that is short. |
| As it happens | owner | Stock recorded as missing (not waste). Someone asking to join. |
| Open for 2 days | owner | Any exception the manager has not closed. |
| Till silent 2+ days | owner | No sales have arrived from the till. |
| Approved or declined | the person | Email saying they are in (or not). |
Words explained
- Guests
- People served, as counted by the till. Used to be called covers.
- Food cost 29%
- Of every R100 sold, R29 went on food. Drinks cost and wages work the same way. The target is what you aim for.
- Food + drinks + wages
- The three big costs added together as a share of sales (accountants call it prime cost). Under 60% is healthy for most restaurants.
- Profit from running the restaurant
- Sales less food, drinks, wages and running costs, before loans, tax and money taken out. Accountants call it operating profit.
- In the bank
- The balance on the last bank statement line we have.
- Doesn't add up
- Money the overnight checks could not place: bank payments we can't tie to anything, cash that didn't reach the bank, a payment that looks like a double, stock counted short. Tap a line to sort it. The total only goes down when a line is really matched or explained.
- Still missing
- Inputs the week needs that are not in yet: an invoice for a payment, a delivery not confirmed, a store not counted, a cash-up, the bank statement, payroll.
- Overheads
- Costs that come whether you are busy or not: rent, power, insurance, card fees, marketing, licences. The weekly figure is last month's total spread by day.
- Send the order
- Under Deliveries → Expected, an order can go to the supplier by WhatsApp, email or copy. The supplier's phone and email are saved the first time.
- Average cost
- An item's price is the average of what is on the shelf and each new invoice, so calamari bought at two prices is valued at the blend. The last price paid is shown next to it.
- Unmatched payments
- Money that moved in the bank that we could not tie to a sale, an invoice, payroll or a platform payout. It goes down only when a line is matched overnight or you tell us what it was on the Exceptions screen. Marking an exception "sorted" does not change it by itself.
- Cash short
- Cash the till says came in but that did not reach the bank, or a cash-up that did not balance. Different from unmatched payments: this is about cash that is missing; unmatched payments are bank lines we cannot explain.
- Unpaid invoices
- Approved invoices with no matching payment in the bank statements we have.
- Exceptions
- Things the overnight checks could not sort out by themselves; each says what to do.
- Minimum stock
- The level you set per item under Items. Below it, the item shows as under minimum and goes on the order list.
- Should have / book stock
- Last count, plus deliveries confirmed since, less what recipes say was sold, less waste logged. The count is compared with this.
- Where the profit went: taken out by the owner
- Money moved to you or your personal account (drawings). Loan repayments and VAT or tax paid are shown separately. What is left is "kept in the business".
- Getting set up
- The one-off things a new restaurant does so the numbers can be trusted: till connected, targets set, items priced, recipes for the top dishes, first invoice, suppliers, first stock take, bank statement, payroll, staff on the app, alerts on a phone.
- Month close
- Declaring a month final once the checklist is green, so the accountant works from fixed figures.
Common questions
Does it work without signal?
Yes for photos and counts: they queue on the phone and send when you are back online.
Can I put it on my phone like an app?
Yes. Open the app in your browser and choose "Add to Home Screen". It then opens full screen with its own icon. App-store versions are on the way.
Who can see the money?
Only people with "See the money" access: the owner, and anyone the owner gives that tick to. Staff see only their own screens.
What happens when I mark an exception as sorted?
It leaves the list and is written in the activity log with your name. Nothing else changes by itself: a short delivery still needs the credit note to arrive, and an unmatched payment only clears when you say what it was. The overnight checks will raise anything that is still wrong.
Where does my data live?
Each restaurant has its own database and file store in Microsoft Azure (South Africa). Documents are read by an AI service that does not keep or train on them. See the privacy notice.