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Creating Your First Location

A Location in Culinary Key is more than a name — it’s the single source of truth for one physical location. Set it up properly and every checklist, staff assignment, temperature log and audit report will be accurate, traceable, and inspection-ready.

4 min read training, culinary key

Creating Your First Location

In Culinary Key, a Location represents a single physical premises — a restaurant, café, bakery, kitchen, and so on. This guide explains why Locations matter for compliance, what to have ready, and how to create one.

Why Locations Matter

Each Location keeps its own records, staff, checklists, and reports. Setting one up correctly means your compliance data accurately reflects how that premises actually operates.

Before You Start

Have the following to hand:

Two Ways to Create a Location

Option A — Onboarding Wizard (recommended)

The guided wizard is the easiest way to set up your first Location.

  1. Go to Dashboard → Tools (or Dashboard → Admin) and click

Onboarding Wizard.

  1. On the Create Your First Location step, complete:
  2. Location Name *(required — letters, numbers, and spaces only)*
  3. Address *(optional, but recommended for inspection records)*
  4. Contact Person *(e.g. Head Chef or Manager)*
  5. Phone Number
  6. Site Type (Restaurant, Bakery, Café, Hotel Kitchen, Food Truck, Other)
  7. Operating Hours (e.g. "8:00 AM – 10:00 PM")
  8. Operating Days *(at least one required)*
  9. Click Next to save and continue through guided setup.

Option B — Location Manager (quick create)

If you prefer to create a Location and configure it directly:

  1. Go to Dashboard → Admin, open the Site Management section, and click

Manage Sites (or Create Your First Site) to open the Location Manager.

  1. Under Create a New Location, complete Location Name *(required)*,

Address *(optional)*, Site Type, and Operating Days *(required)*, then create the Location.

When you create a Location, Culinary Key automatically provisions its Front and Back areas under a single Location group, so kitchen and front-of-house records stay organised together.

Why Operating Days Matter

Operating days feed your compliance math. A café that opens Monday–Friday only won't be flagged for missed checks at the weekend, so your audit statistics reflect when you're actually trading.

What You Get Immediately

Once created, a Location automatically generates daily checklists, enables staff management, supports Safe Methods and allergen tracking, and produces audit-ready reports.

Access & Permissions

Only Owners and Admins can create Locations, and some management actions are owner-only. Editing a Location doesn't count against your Location limit. Deleting one removes all of its associated records and asks you to confirm by typing the exact Location name.