Risks of Splitting a Management Group

Última actualización: 21 ago 2026, 12:37 p.m.

Splitting a restaurant management group separates locations into their own group. Learn what data and settings are affected before you request a split.

Splitting a restaurant management group (RMG) separates one or more location groups into their own restaurant management group to create full operational autonomy between locations. This is sometimes needed when a location wants its own loyalty program, its own gift card group, or a separate SMS marketing number.

 

In this Article:

 

Before you start

A split is a significant change. Some data and settings are tied to the group a location belongs to, and they don’t always carry over cleanly. It is important to plan ahead and review the following expectations before you request a split:

 

  • Schedule the split outside of service hours: Removing a location from its group logs out all of that location’s devices. If this happens during service, it can cause red checks, lost payments, and syncing problems. Always plan the change for a time when the location is closed.
  • A split must be completed by Toast: Splitting a group requires work by Toast, and reversing or reconfiguring it later is not self-service. Be confident in the change before you request it.
  • Some data must be moved before the split: Certain information (like gift card and loyalty balances) has to be transferred by the appropriate Toast team before the split happens. If it isn’t moved first, it can cause errors. Confirm your intent clearly when you open your case.

 

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What’s affected by a split

The enterprise module, also known as multilocation management (MLM), is used by Toast customers that have multiple restaurants. It allows you to create common configurations in Toast Web that can be shared by your restaurant locations. The more configuration you share among your locations, the easier they become to maintain because you are managing one instance of a shared entity used by multiple locations, as opposed to many instances for each specific location.

 

It is important to keep in mind that splitting your restaurant management group will also impact any shared settings within your MLM setup. 

The settings include:

  • Discounts
  • Taxes
  • Prep Stations
  • Employees
  • Dining Options
  • Reason Codes
  • Receipts
  • Item Routing
  • Other Payment Options
  • Prices
  • Courses
  • Meal Pacing
  • Service Charges
  • Sales Categories
  • Revenue Centers
  • GL Accounts
  • Breaks

 

Note: In Toast Web, shared configurations occur wherever you see a You Are Viewing dropdown menu.

 

Menus (if you use MLM). If your menu was built using MLM, any location that leaves the group loses access to any shared menus and configuration within that group, and will need its menu rebuilt. A common approach is to copy the menu from a similar location that’s staying in the original group — but after copying, you will need to reassign settings as listed above. If you’d rather not do those manual adjustments yourself, the menu rebuild can be handled by Toast’s Professional Services team.

 

Loyalty and gift cards: Loyalty and gift card settings can only be shared by locations in the same group. When you split, this data stays with the location it was originally linked to. If gift card or loyalty information needs to move to a different location, it must be transferred as a whole — and once transferred, it no longer exists at the original location. After a split, gift cards from a removed location may no longer be redeemable at the other locations that used to share the group.

 

Email marketing: Two things happen when you split:

  1. All existing email campaigns and campaign reporting stay with the original group — they don’t move with the separated location.
  2. Subscriber lists for the splitting location must be exported before the change and re-imported after, or the new location will have no subscribers.
    • Note: You can export subscribers from the Email Marketing subscribers page or from Guestbook using the subscribed to email marketing filter.

 

SMS marketing: SMS is affected the same way as email marketing is affected; campaigns and reporting stay with the original group, and subscriber lists must be exported before the split and re-imported after. In addition, the SMS phone number is shared across the whole group, so the separated location must register for a new, separate verified toll-free number before it can send.

 

Jobs and employees. Group-level jobs should be recreated after the split and reassigned. Employees move over with the location, but their job assignments may need to be set up again.

 

Toast Websites. A website is tied to its brand, which belongs to the restaurant management group. During a RMG split, the brand will stay with the original management group. The brand and website for the new RMG will need to be rebuilt. The website will completely disappear. The domain will need to be reconnected manually. Plan for some website downtime and setup work.

 

Branded Mobile App. A branded app is tied to the original brand and is effectively lost in a split — cloning the brand does not restore it. To go back online, the app must be relaunched and reconfigured from scratch, including reconnecting developer accounts and resubmitting the app.

 

Note: A branded mobile app relaunch can take up to two weeks to go live, so plan well ahead if a branded app is involved.

 

Catering and Events. Invoices, leads, and orders carry over, but customer names and details may appear blank afterward. Export your customer and lead lists before the split so you can re-import them to restore the information.

 

Retail item library. After a split, a retail location’s item library can take time to repopulate, and brand settings and inventory counts do not automatically migrate. Plan to re-import inventory counts and verify your catalog after the change.

 

Guestbook. Guestbook data is lost when a group is split. Export anything you need to keep (such as marketing subscriber lists) before the change.

 

User access and logins. Employees and users may need to be re-sorted between the groups. Any user who isn’t already present in the newly separated account may need a new account created for them.

 

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A lower-risk alternative

If your goal is to organize or report on locations separately — rather than run fully independent loyalty or gift card programs — you may not need a full split at all. Location groups (subgroups) within a single management group let you organize locations without separating the shared data. If you’re not sure which you need, ask your Toast contact before requesting a split.

 

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How to request a split

Splits are handled through a Customer Care case. Contact Toast, describe what you’re trying to accomplish (for example, “I want this location to have its own loyalty program”), and the team will confirm what needs to be moved and set expectations on timing. Be sure to raise concerns surrounding anything from the list above as it applies to your business — especially loyalty, gift cards, a branded app, or SMS marketing — so it can be planned for in advance.

 

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