Before sellers can access a countsheet, you need to create the show in the Backstage employee portal. Backstage is the central hub for all operations — it manages accounts, shows, team documents, and links to every tool including the countsheet.

Step 1 — Log Into Backstage

1. Go to backstage.merchdot.com in any browser.
2. Enter your email and password. Click Sign In.
3. You land on the Call Board — the portal home screen.

Step 2 — Navigate to Events

1. From the top navigation, tap Retail.
2. Scroll down past Team Tools and Team Documents to the Events section.
3. All active and upcoming shows appear here. Admin and managers can create and manage shows.

Step 3 — Create a New Show

1. Click + Create Show in the Events section header.
2. Fill in the show details: title, venue, city/state, cycle dates, and full shipping address.
3. Set the status to Active to make the countsheet accessible.
4. Click Create Show. The show appears in the Events list immediately.

Step 4 — Open the Countsheet

Once the show is created, click Open Countsheet → on the show card in Events. This opens the countsheet pre-loaded with that show's data. Bookmark the URL or share it with your sellers — every time it's opened, it loads the same show.

The merch. countsheet has two modes: a seller-facing count mode and a PIN-protected Manager Mode for configuration and reporting. Sellers never see Manager Mode screens. Both require a Backstage login — users who aren't signed in are automatically redirected to the portal sign-in page.

How to Enter Manager Mode

1. Open the countsheet via Backstage (Retail → Events → Open Countsheet →).
2. From the Home Screen, tap the Manager Mode button.
3. Enter your 4-digit countsheet PIN. The default PIN is 1234 — change it in the Show tab.
4. Manager Mode opens to the Show tab. Nine tabs are available across the top.

Manager Mode Tabs

Once inside, nine tabs are shown at the top of the screen:

The Show tab displays the show's identity and shipping information — pulled automatically from Backstage — alongside the financial settings you configure directly in the countsheet.

Read-Only Fields — Set in Backstage

These fields are populated from the portal and displayed for reference. To change them, edit the show in Backstage → Retail → Events.

Editable Fields — Set in the Countsheet

These fields are not managed in the portal — configure them directly here in Manager Mode.

Booths (also called "locations") represent the physical selling stations in the venue — for example, the Main Lobby table, a Mezzanine kiosk, or a Box Office window. Each seller logs in by selecting their location, so accurate setup here is essential.

Managing Booths

• Tap + Add Location to create a new booth. Enter a descriptive name.
• Drag the ≡ handle on any row to reorder booths. The order here is the order sellers see.
• Tap the trash icon to remove a location. (Only remove if no count data references it.)

Location Colors

Each booth is assigned a color automatically as it is added, cycling through: Gold, Blue, Green, Purple. These colors appear as color-coded chips throughout the seller interface and in reports to help distinguish booths at a glance.

The location color chips appear in seller login, count sheets, the Summary tab's running summary table, and exported PDFs — making it easy to track revenue by location at a glance.

The Products tab is where you define everything sellers can sell. Every item that appears on a count sheet must be configured here first.

Adding a Product

Tap + Add Product and fill in the following fields:

Active / Inactive Toggle

Each product has an Active toggle. Active products appear on count sheets for sellers. Inactive products are hidden from sellers but retained in the system — useful for items that are temporarily out of stock or discontinued mid-run without losing historical data.

Variant Grouping

Products that share the same Name but have different Variants are automatically grouped together on the count sheet. For example, "Logo Tee / S", "Logo Tee / M", and "Logo Tee / L" will appear as a single group on the seller's screen, making counting faster and more organized.

The Schedule tab defines the list of performances sellers can select when logging in. Each show is identified by a show number and is used as the organizing unit for all count data and reports.

Adding a Performance

Tap + Add Show to create a new performance entry:

Active and Locked States

Shows appear in the order they are listed here. Set all shows for the full week at the beginning of each cycle so sellers can always select the correct performance.

Location Goals

Below each show's date/time row in the Schedule tab there is a Location Goals section. Once locations have been configured in the Booths tab, each active location appears here with a dollar input field. Enter a revenue goal for each location for that specific show.

A Show Forecast total — the sum of all location goals for that show — is displayed below the inputs in the brand color #ffc907. This per-show forecast feeds into the Sales Forecast progress bar on the Summary tab (see Section 9).

• Goals are optional per location. Leave a field blank to exclude that location from the show's forecast.
• Location goal values are saved as part of the configuration and are included in the Export Config JSON (Tools tab), so they transfer automatically when sharing the config to another device.

The Backstock tab is your live inventory ledger. It shows what is physically on hand at the venue and helps you identify which products need reordering before they run out.

Key Columns

Setting Backstock Quantities and Par

Tap any row to edit the Backstock quantity (typically when you first receive a shipment and apply it) or the Par level. The stock bar updates instantly.

The Remaining BS column projects inventory after all shows have been opened. A red value means you will likely run out before the next shipment arrives — add those items to your order.

The Shipments tab is used when physical merchandise arrives at the venue. It lets you reconcile what was packed at the warehouse against what you actually received, and then apply the confirmed quantities directly to Backstock.

Three Shipment Slots

merch. supports up to three concurrent shipment slots — useful when orders are split across multiple pallets or arrive on different days.

Loading a Packing List

1. Tap ⬆ Import CSV on a shipment slot. Select or share the warehouse-generated packing list CSV.
2. The CSV must have columns in this order: category, name, variant, sku, packed. merch. matches rows to your product catalog by SKU.
3. The Packed column is pre-filled from the CSV. Enter your physically counted Received quantity for each line.

Variance Highlighting

Any row where Received ≠ Packed is highlighted in red to draw your attention. This is a variance — you received more or fewer units than expected.

Variance Report

Tap ⬇ Variance Report to export a CSV containing only the rows with discrepancies. Send this to your warehouse contact to resolve short or over-shipments.

Applying to Backstock

When you are satisfied with your received quantities, tap ✓ Apply to Backstock. The received quantities are added to Backstock for each matching product. The shipment row then shows a green checkmark to indicate it has been applied.

The Order tab calculates how much to reorder based on your current inventory, sales velocity, and the discount tiers configured in the Show tab. Use it at the end of each cycle to prepare your warehouse order.

How Suggested Quantities Are Calculated

For each active product, merch. considers:

• Backstock Remaining — what you will have on hand after the current cycle
• Sales Velocity — units sold per show based on count data in the system
• Discount Tier — the Apparel / Goods / Media discount % from the Show tab, which scales the suggested quantity to account for the effective price reduction on reordered stock

The suggested quantity aims to bring you to par plus enough stock for the next cycle's projected sales.

Editing the Order

The Order Qty column is fully editable. Override any suggested quantity manually. You can also add free-text Order Notes per row (e.g. "Hold — awaiting new design") for the warehouse team.

Exporting the Order

The Summary tab (previously called "Reports") is the hub for all financial exports and progress tracking. It has two subsections: Device Exports (data from this iPad's own count records) and the Weekly Running Summary (aggregated across all booths by importing Booth Report JSONs from sellers).

Sales Forecast & Sales Goal Progress Bars

At the top of the Summary tab — above the Weekly Running Summary table — two progress bars appear whenever their respective values have been set. Both bars track actual imported JSON revenue in real time as Booth Report JSONs are imported during the week.

Device Exports

These exports draw from count data entered directly on this device.

Weekly Running Summary

This section aggregates data from all selling locations. Sellers export a Booth Report JSON at the end of their shift and send it to you (via AirDrop, email, or any file transfer method).

Importing Booth Reports

1. Receive Booth Report JSON files from each seller (one file per booth per show, or a session file covering their full night).
2. Tap ⬆ Import JSON and select the received files. You can import multiple files at once.
3. The summary table updates automatically to show each show × each location with revenue totals.

Show Summary PDF

Each show row has a 🖨 PDF button that generates a single-show Summary PDF. This is the primary document you send to production management after each performance.

The Summary PDF structure is:

1. Show Header — show number, date, time, venue, cycle
2. Location Details Table — one row per booth, showing: Location name, Seller, Units sold, Retail revenue, House revenue, Total, Credit card total, Tax collected, Expected cash, Actual cash, Cash variance
3. Products Sold — All Locations Combined — a merged product list across all booths for that show, sorted by revenue descending. Zero-revenue items are excluded for a clean read.

The 🖨 Summary PDF button in the header exports all imported shows at once as a combined document.

CSV Export

The ⬇ CSV button exports a merged CSV of all imported Booth Report JSONs — useful for importing into your own tracking spreadsheet or sending to your regional manager.

The Tools tab provides configuration backup/restore utilities and destructive data management functions. Access carefully.

Configuration Backup and Restore

Danger Zone

This section walks through the complete lifecycle of a show night from initial configuration to final manager reporting. Use this as a reference checklist when starting at a new venue or training a new manager.