TORO has a lot of settings. Most of them you’ll never touch, and that’s fine — the defaults are solid. But there’s a handful that directly shape how your store runs, and those are worth understanding. Think of this as the “these actually matter” guide, not an exhaustive list of every toggle.
Store Information #
Dashboard > Setup System > Store Information is where you set your store name, address, and phone number. This isn’t just cosmetic — it shows up on every receipt, every report, and every email that goes out. Get it right the first time and you won’t think about it again.
Your store hours matter more than you might expect. TORO uses them for late clock-out detection (flagging employees who stay past closing) and for daily tag comparisons in reporting. If your hours are wrong, those features won’t work correctly.
Double-check your time zone while you’re in there. If it’s off by even one hour, every timestamp in the system — transactions, time clock punches, reports — will be wrong. It’s a small thing that causes big headaches if missed.
Tax Settings #
This is the one you absolutely cannot get wrong. Your default tax rate needs to match your local jurisdiction exactly. If your area has state, county, and city tax components, configure each one separately.
If you sell tobacco products that carry a special or excise tax, set that up under the special tax section. You can target specific product types and set rules like minimum values and caps. See Tax Setup and Compliance for the full walkthrough.
Tax-included pricing is also here — whether the price on the shelf already includes tax or whether tax gets added at the register. Pick the wrong option and your prices will confuse customers or your books won’t balance. Set it once, correctly.
Drawer Management #
These settings shape your daily cash handling workflow, so they’re worth thinking through.
Over/short thresholds control how much variance TORO allows before flagging a drawer as off. Too tight and you’ll get alerts over a nickel. Too loose and you might miss real problems. Most shops land somewhere around $1-$5 depending on volume.
Require tab close before drawer close is a policy decision. Turn it on if you want to make sure no open tabs get forgotten at end of day. Leave it off if your workflow handles it differently.
Cash denomination thresholds alert you when you’re running low on specific bill types. Nobody wants to tell a customer they can’t make change for a $100 bill during the Saturday rush.
Employee Settings #
The defaults for new employees live here: what access level they start with, how much comp they can give, what discount limits they have by access level. Setting these thoughtfully means less cleanup later when you’re onboarding new hires.
Time rounding is set to 15-minute increments by default. That means if someone clocks in at 9:07, it rounds to 9:00 or 9:15 depending on your rounding rules. Understand how this works before payroll questions come up.
Commission tracking can be turned on or off globally. If your shop runs on commission, flip this on and configure the tiers. If not, leave it off so it doesn’t clutter the interface.
Rewards and Loyalty #
How many points per dollar? What’s the redemption value? Is there a birthday reward? Punchcard programs? These settings drive customer retention, and they’re worth getting right early because changing them later means explaining to customers why the rules shifted.
Points per dollar earned and points redemption value are the two big levers. A common setup is 1 point per dollar spent, with 100 points worth $5. But your math should make sense for your margins and your customer base.
Birthday rewards and punchcard programs are configured here too. These are low-effort, high-return loyalty tools. If you’re not using them, you’re leaving easy wins on the table.
Receipt Settings #
Your receipt is the last thing customers see before they walk out. The header and footer text are customizable — store info, return policy, a thank-you message, upcoming events, whatever you want.
You can also control what data appears on the receipt itself. See Setting Up Your Receipt for the details.
Backup Settings #
Your database backup schedule and backup location live in the settings. TORO runs backups automatically during nightly close, but you should know where they’re going and verify they’re actually happening.
This is your safety net. If something catastrophic happens — hardware failure, a power surge, anything — your backup is how you recover. Don’t skip this section just because it’s boring. Your data is your business.
SMS and Communication #
If you’re using TORO’s SMS features, the Bandwidth integration settings, auto-send rules, and message templates are all configured here. You can set up automatic receipt texts, arrival notifications when special orders come in, and birthday messages.
Get these right once and they run themselves. That’s the beauty of it — automated customer communication that feels personal without requiring daily effort.
The Rest? Leave It Alone. #
Seriously. TORO ships with sensible defaults for everything else. Don’t go toggling settings just because they exist. If you don’t understand what a setting does, leave it where it is and ask support if you’re curious. The settings covered above are the ones that actually shape your day-to-day operations. Everything else is fine as-is until you have a specific reason to change it.
