What is a POS system for a restaurant?
POS stands for point of sale. In a restaurant it is more than the till: it is where a table is opened, the order is sent to the kitchen and the bill is closed.
Short answer
- A POS system for a restaurant is the application where a waiter opens a table and records the order.
- An order taken at the table is sent to the kitchen.
- The platform records how a bill was settled, but it does not process card payments and does not issue fiscal receipts; any receipt comes from your own till.
- Each dish has a recipe card with ingredient quantities, while stock levels are tracked separately.
- The application produces reports by day, product and waiter.
What a POS set-up is made of
The parts of a POS set-up in a restaurant with a kitchen
| Part | What it does | Where it sits |
|---|---|---|
| Table order | Records the dishes at the table and sends the order to the kitchen | On the floor, on the device your team uses |
| Kitchen | Receives the orders sent from the tables | In the kitchen |
| Till and receipts | Takes payment and issues the receipt and the end-of-day report | At the till or card terminal, supplied separately |
| Ingredient stock | Shows the stock level of each ingredient | In the same application as the menu |
| Reports | Sales by day, product and waiter | In the admin panel |
Rules to check where you operate
- Where the law requires a fiscal or certified receipt device, every sale at the venue must go through it; ask your accountant whether this applies to you.
- The application does not replace the till: the receipt is issued by the till, not separately.
- Where local rules require it, tills must be connected to an official tax reporting system that collects their reports.
- For business customers, an invoice is issued through 4invoices; the receipt stays the document issued at payment.
A practical example
Example: table 12 orders two pasta dishes and a glass of wine. The waiter sends the order, and the kitchen receives the dishes with the time of the order.
At payment, your own till issues the receipt for the table. The day's report shows sales by product and waiter, and you check stock levels separately.
Common mistakes
- Choosing a system that does not connect to your till, so the bill is typed twice, with errors.
- Not noting each order clearly with its table and time, so you cannot tell what left the kitchen.
- Leaving dishes without a recipe card, so you cannot see which ingredients each sale uses.
- Not recording the reason for each cancellation, so it is hard to find out what happened to a cancelled order.
How 4restaurants.net helps
- An order taken at the table is sent to the kitchen from the same application.
- The receipt is issued by the connected till when the table pays.
- Ingredient stock levels sit in the same application as the orders, so you can check them in time.
- Reports by day, product and waiter show what the service sold.