Fourth

Fourth is a cloud suite for restaurant and hospitality operators covering workforce management, inventory and purchasing, payroll and HR, and analytics. Its products include HotSchedules for scheduling, MacromatiX for quick-service back office, and Fourth iQ, an AI layer for forecasting and manager guidance. It was formed in 2019 when Fourth and HotSchedules were combined under Marlin Equity Partners.

Last reviewed

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Home page of Fourth's website
Fourth's website on 30 September 2026
Best for
Multi-location restaurant operators, Enterprise and quick-service chains
Pricing
Quote only
Runs on
Web, iOS, Android

Who it is for

  • Multi-location restaurant operators

    Scheduling, labor compliance, inventory and reporting across many sites, with head-office analytics.

  • Enterprise and quick-service chains

    The vendor names Sonic, Dunkin', Taco Bell, KFC and Pizza Hut as iQ customers and offers MacromatiX for quick-service back office.

  • Hotels, bars and retail

    HotSchedules is positioned for hotels, bars, retail and convenience stores as well as restaurants.

  • Operators wanting workforce and inventory in one vendor

    Recruiting, payroll, scheduling, time clock and inventory are sold as one platform.

What it does

  • Scheduling

    Builds schedules from sales and labor data, with predictive scheduling and labor law alerts.

  • Schedule scoring

    Assesses schedule quality and labor efficiency before publishing.

  • AI demand and labor forecasting

    Forecasts demand to align staffing and inventory (Fourth iQ).

  • Time and attendance

    Time tracking linked to schedules to replace manual timesheets.

  • Labor compliance

    Helps managers follow federal, state and local labor rules.

  • Task management and manager logbook

    Real-time visibility and enforcement of operational tasks, plus a manager logbook.

  • Tip payout and earned wage access

    Digital tip payouts and end-of-shift reconciliation; earned wage access through the Fuego service, which is provided by a separate Fourth company under its own terms.

  • Payroll, HR and recruiting

    Payroll processing, HR, PEO services and talent acquisition tools.

  • Purchasing, receiving and invoicing

    Supplier ordering with predictive ordering and central budget control.

  • Recipe and menu engineering

    Central library of costed digital recipes with portion and plating guidelines.

  • Production and prep planning

    Uses demand forecasts to give step-by-step prep guidance and track waste.

  • Cash management

    Mobile cash reconciliation, safe counts, deposits and workflow-based procedures.

  • Business intelligence and analytics

    Cross-store reporting and head-office variance and scenario analysis.

  • Fourth iQ manager app

    Gives managers store-level forecasts, labor and inventory guidance and alerts when performance drifts.

Pricing

Pricing model
Quote only
Minimum contract
Set by the order form (initial term not stated in the terms)
Renewal
Automatic one-year renewals unless the order says otherwise; 90 days' notice before the end of the term to cancel

No prices are published; the pages direct visitors to a demo. The homepage advertises 'Get 1 year of HotSchedules on us' as a promotion; its conditions are not stated. The terms say fees can rise each year and that discounts on bundled or free services revert to standard rates at renewal.

How it compares

Compared with the 16 products in Multi-Unit & Enterprise Restaurant Operations that have a profile on this site. These figures describe the category. They are not a recommendation.

  • Names 25 integrations. The median in this category is 17.
  • One of 5 products in this category with an iOS app. One of 5 products in this category with an Android app. 14 products in this category state their platforms.
  • The category's 10 most-named integration partners are Toast, Revel, Micros Simphony, ADP, PAR, Paycor, POSitouch, Qu, Square, Squirrel. Of these, this product's listing names Toast, Revel, Micros Simphony, POSitouch, Qu, Squirrel.

Works with

Other
IndeedSnagajobCareerBuilderMonsterBlueCatsCooper-AtkinsITD Food Safety
Point of sale
Aloha (NCR)Digital DiningFocusHungerRushLightspeed U Series (formerly Upserve)Oracle Micros 3700Oracle SimphonyPAR POS (formerly Brink)POSitouchRestaurant ManagerSquirrelToastXpientXenial IRISQURevel
Suppliers
SyscoUS Foods

The vendor says it also integrates with ATS, HR, supply chain and kitchen management systems; the partner page lists POS, job boards, food safety and monitoring, and distributor partners. Accounting integrations are not named.

Where and how it runs

Available in
United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Australia
Platforms
Web, iOS, Android
Apps
HotSchedules: Mobile access for managers and staff to shifts and schedule updates. Fourth iQ app: Manager guidance on forecasts, labor and inventory
Hardware
None stated. Minimum system requirements are published in a legal page.

The vendor runs US, EMEA and APAC regional sites and lists sales and support numbers for US and Canada, the UK and Australia. A 2019 announcement said pre-merger Fourth had customers in 60 countries. No current country list is published.

The company

Founded
1999 (Fourth, per Marlin Equity Partners; merged with HotSchedules in 2019)
Headquarters
Austin, United States
Other offices
Tampa, FL, Englewood, CO, London, UK, Macclesfield, UK, Sofia, Bulgaria, Dubai, UAE, Shanghai, China
Funding
  • Acquisition of HotSchedules and Fourth by Marlin Equity Partners, Not stated, July 2019 (Marlin Equity Partners, Insight Partners (minority))
Customers named by the vendor
Sonic, Dunkin', Taco Bell, KFC, Pizza Hut

Security and support

Security and compliance
Cloud hosting in US, EMEA and APAC data centres built to Tier 3 standards with zero-trust network design, ISO 9001:2015 quality certification for US payroll processing (2023 press release), Data processing agreement published
Support
Customer Success Portal with self-help tools, chat and ticketing, and phone lines for the US and Canada, UK and Australia. A support tier with a named contact is not described.

Listing details

Built for
Bars, Hotel F&B, Restaurants
Focus
Food-specific
Status
Active
Website
fourth.com
Also listed in
Business Intelligence & AnalyticsEarned Wage AccessEmployee Scheduling & RosteringInventory ManagementLabour Forecasting & OptimisationPayroll

Alternatives to Fourth

See all 30 in Multi-Unit & Enterprise Restaurant Operations

  • Crunchtime

    Crunchtime is a suite of restaurant operations software for multi-unit brands, covering inventory and food cost, AI sales forecasting, labour scheduling, operational checklists and food safety, staff training, and kitchen display screens.

    Names 36 integrations, against 25 for Fourth.

  • Back Office

    Back Office is restaurant accounting, food cost and payroll software with a service team attached, sold by Buyers Edge Platform to independents, multi-concept groups and franchises in the US and Canada.

    Runs on Web, against Web, iOS and Android for Fourth.

  • QSRSoft

    QSRSoft is a restaurant operations platform for quick-service brands that sits above the point of sale.

    Names 32 integrations, against 25 for Fourth.

  • Apicbase

    Apicbase is a cloud back-of-house platform for large multi-site foodservice businesses.

    Names 21 integrations, against 25 for Fourth.

Compare Fourth

Side-by-side tables built from the same profile data.

What we could not confirm

These points were not confirmed when this page was written.

  • Any price; conditions of the free year of HotSchedules promotion
  • Legal entity name and registration (several Fourth companies appear in the terms)
  • Current ownership (the latest ownership event stated is the 2019 Marlin acquisition)
  • Initial contract term and minimum length
  • Interface languages and the full list of countries served
  • Fourth iQ app platforms and availability dates
  • Employee count
  • Accounting integrations

1 more not listed here.

Sources

Facts on this page come from the pages below, checked on 29 September 2026. Prices and features change, so confirm with the vendor before you buy.

  1. Homepage: positioning, 120,000 locations claimhttps://www.fourth.com/
  2. Company overview, customer claimshttps://www.fourth.com/company/about
  3. Offices and support numbershttps://www.fourth.com/company/contact
  4. HotSchedules features, apps, promotionhttps://www.fourth.com/product/hotschedules
  5. MacromatiXhttps://www.fourth.com/product/macromatix
  6. Workforce management featureshttps://www.fourth.com/solution/workforce-management-software
  7. Inventory featureshttps://www.fourth.com/solution/inventory-management
  8. Fourth iQ and named customershttps://www.fourth.com/solution/ai-intro
  9. Integration partnershttps://www.fourth.com/partner/integrations
  10. Renewal, fee changes, Fuego serviceshttps://www.fourth.com/legal/general-terms-and-conditions
  11. Hosting and securityhttps://www.fourth.com/legal/fourth-hosting-data-security
  12. Press releases: ISO 9001https://www.fourth.com/company/press-room
  13. 2019 acquisition, founding year, officeshttps://www.marlinequity.com/news/marlin-completes-the-acquisition-of-hotschedules-and-fourth/
  14. Data processing agreement (listed in sitemap)https://www.fourth.com/legal/data-processing-agreement
  15. System requirements page (listed in sitemap, not read)https://www.fourth.com/legal/minimum-system-requirements-for-all-systems