Independent planning resource · public beta

Compare the fit before anyone shares your information.

A transparent desk for restaurant owner-operators evaluating POS, back-office, workforce, ordering, and expert-network opportunities. Start with the conditions, estimate your own economics, then choose whether to opt in.

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No live affiliate codes. No rankings for sale. No contact or referral submission. Program facts below were reviewed against official sources on August 16, 2026 and can change.

$0verified referral revenue

0operator records collected

0live referral links

Public betapublished, no monetized links

Compensation conditions

What a referrer may receive—if every condition is met.

These are program economics, not operator savings and not expected earnings. Eligibility, attribution, tax onboarding, payout method, and program terms still apply.

Officially published referral or affiliate economics reviewed August 16, 2026. “Gate” describes who may participate; it is not an endorsement.
Program	Published compensation	Core conditions	Participation gate	Official source
Toast Advocates	Conditional: $1,000 first qualified go-live; $1,250 second/third; $1,500 fourth+. Audit also found a one-time $500 August 15–31, 2026 offer tied to a February 28, 2027 go-live deadline.	New lead; referred business signs, goes live, and processes at least seven days. Current official terms control.	Advocate registration; W-9 and ACH onboarding.	Toast terms (opens in new tab)
TouchBistro	Conditional: $1,000 for each referral that becomes a paying customer.	The qualifying venue signs the service agreement, completes onboarding, goes live, and processes at least 100 payment transactions. Payment may take up to six months under current terms.	Public page says anyone can refer; payout onboarding follows.	TouchBistro referrals (opens in new tab)
DoorDash Merchant Referral	Conditional: $1,000 after an eligible restaurant completes 15 orders within 60 days; up to 10 bonuses.	New Marketplace restaurant, 75 or fewer stores, not in the same franchise network, and activation threshold met.	Current U.S. DoorDash Marketplace partner in good standing; reward flows through merchant direct deposit.	DoorDash program (opens in new tab)
MarginEdge	Conditional: $500 check or a $500 donation to Kitchen of Purpose after an eligible referral activates.	The restaurant authorizes information sharing and completes full-price onboarding, typically around 60 days. Existing prospects, self-referrals, revenue-share referrals, and add-on units are excluded.	Referral rules and eligibility apply.	MarginEdge rules (opens in new tab)
Owner.com Affiliate	Conditional: $50 per qualified demo lead plus $500 for a closed-won customer; 30-day cookie; NET 30 published.	Genuine independent restaurant, valid contact information, attribution, and qualified lead or closed-won trigger.	PartnerStack application and program approval.	Owner.com affiliate (opens in new tab)
Restaurant365	Conditional: advertises up to $5,000 when a referred restaurant becomes a customer.	Exact schedule and full agreement were not public in the audit; do not assume the maximum applies.	Dedicated partner program; partner terms required.	R365 partner referral (opens in new tab)
Square Referral Partner	Conditional: new approved partners earn at least $1,000 for a qualifying referral processing $250,000+ annually.	Qualifying processing volume and current partner agreement.	Application, fit review, agreement, onboarding, and unique link.	Square partners (opens in new tab)
SpotOn Client Referral	Conditional: $1,000 after a qualified restaurant reaches $25,000 in card-processing volume.	Qualification and processing threshold must be met.	Eligible SpotOn client; Ally partnership has separate terms.	SpotOn terms (opens in new tab)
7shifts Affiliate	Conditional: $100 per restaurant subscriber; 120-day tracking window.	Tracked subscription conversion under current network terms.	Affiliate-network application and approval.	7shifts affiliate (opens in new tab)
GLG colleague referral	Conditional: $100 after a referred colleague joins and completes an eligible paid phone consultation within six months.	Surveys excluded; consultation and timing conditions apply.	GLG member using an authorized unique referral link.	GLG help center (opens in new tab)
Maven expert referral	Conditional: 10% of a referred expert’s first-year consultation earnings; for a specific posted inquiry, a one-time 50% commission on that completed consultation.	Actual consultation earnings and project demand determine compensation; no calls means no earnings.	Authorized referral path and current commission terms.	Maven commissions (opens in new tab)

Not verified as paid referral programs: no current public reward schedule was confirmed for Guidepoint, AlphaSights, or Third Bridge in the August 16 audit. They are intentionally excluded from compensation claims.

Neutral software comparison

Start with the operating job—not the vendor name.

No product is ranked “best.” Shortlist only after mapping the workflow, total cost, contract, implementation burden, integrations, support, data access, and exit path.

POS & payments

Examples in the program set: Toast, TouchBistro, Square, SpotOn

Confirm processing rate structure and all fixed fees.
Price hardware, installation, integrations, and support.
Test offline mode, menu changes, reporting, and data export.
Read term, renewal, cancellation, and equipment ownership language.

Back office & accounting

Examples in the program set: Restaurant365, MarginEdge

Map invoice capture, inventory, recipes, and accounting workflows.
Confirm which POS, bank, payroll, and vendor connections are supported.
Measure setup labor and ongoing exception handling.
Ask how historical data can be exported at exit.

Direct ordering & growth

Example in the program set: Owner.com

Separate recurring software cost from payment and marketing fees.
Define who owns customer data, domains, creative, and accounts.
Compare incremental orders—not total sales—to total program cost.
Check implementation, cancellation, and data-portability terms.

Marketplace demand

Example in the program set: DoorDash Marketplace

Model commission, promotions, refunds, packaging, and labor.
Measure contribution margin by order type and daypart.
Clarify customer-data access and operational responsibilities.
Review territory, brand, franchise, and eligibility constraints.

Workforce operations

Example in the program set: 7shifts

Test scheduling, availability, messaging, and manager workflow.
Confirm payroll/POS connections and any per-location costs.
Estimate adoption and training burden for hourly teams.
Verify access controls, retention, and employee-data handling.

Decision rule

A referral reward is never part of the restaurant’s ROI.

Use the operator’s expected cash flows and labor impact only. Treat vendor claims as inputs to verify, not outcomes to assume.

No-backend calculator

Estimate switching economics with your own assumptions.

The calculator runs only in this browser tab. It does not save or transmit inputs. Defaults are illustrations—not quotes, benchmarks, promises, or vendor-specific rates.

Model

Monthly benefit = processing-cost change + labor value − added monthly software cost.

Estimated period value = monthly benefit × months − one-time switching cost.

Monthly cost inputs

Monthly card volume $ Current effective processing rate % Candidate effective processing rate % Added monthly software cost $

Labor and switching inputs

Hours saved per week hrs Loaded labor value per hour $ One-time switching cost $ Evaluation period months

Processing change / month $150

Labor value / month $325

Net monthly benefit $225

Estimated 12-month value −$2,300

Simple payback 22.2 months

Illustrative arithmetic only. Excludes taxes, financing, implementation risk, downtime, contract termination, hardware replacement, revenue changes, tips, chargebacks, and any cost not entered. A positive estimate does not guarantee a return.

Switching checklist

Do not sign until the exit path is as clear as the demo.

Use this as a discussion guide, not legal, tax, security, or accounting advice.

Baseline

Export 3–12 months of statements.
List every recurring and per-transaction fee.
Measure current labor and failure points.

Scope

Document must-have workflows.
Name required integrations and devices.
Separate day-one needs from optional extras.

Commercial terms

Read full price schedule and minimums.
Confirm term, renewal, termination, and equipment ownership.
Identify every third-party agreement.

Implementation

Assign owner, dates, training, and rollback.
Plan menu/data migration and acceptance tests.
Schedule around low-risk operating windows.

Data & security

Confirm access roles, exports, retention, and deletion.
Review incident and support process.
Do not send unnecessary employee or customer data.

Go / no-go

Re-run economics with a downside case.
Get written answers to open questions.
Define 30/60/90-day success and exit triggers.

Consent-first interest form

Preview what an opt-in could look like.

This form does not submit anywhere. It has no backend, email connection, analytics, cookies, or local storage. Anything typed stays in the current browser tab and disappears when the page is refreshed or closed.

Before a real referral

The operator chooses the specific vendor or network.
The desk identifies exactly what data would be shared and why.
The operator gives affirmative, revocable permission.
Only the minimum approved data is sent through an authorized channel.

Your role Area you want to evaluate What are you trying to improve? Optional

Do not enter a name, email, phone number, customer data, employee data, payment information, credentials, or confidential information. This prototype intentionally has no contact fields.

Privacy & compliance

What this preview does—and does not do.

Data

No backend, database, analytics, cookies, tracking pixels, or storage. Calculator and form logic run in the browser only.

Consent

No identity or contact fields. A future live workflow must obtain specific permission before sharing a person’s or restaurant’s information.

Compensation

All values are conditional and dated. They describe possible referrer compensation—not restaurant savings, guaranteed payouts, or revenue forecasts.

Independence

No vendor paid for placement. No reviews, testimonials, customers, partnerships, results, or personal operating experiences are claimed.

External action

Publication of this resource does not enroll an account, submit a referral, contact a prospect, accept a contract, complete a tax form, set up a payout, or move money.

Advice boundary

Educational planning aid only—not legal, tax, financial, security, accounting, or procurement advice. Review actual terms with appropriate advisers.

Primary sources

Check the official page before acting.

Source review date: August 16, 2026. Program terms, promotions, eligibility, and payout mechanics can change without this local asset updating.