How does a point of sale work for a restaurant?

Today, the order taker is often a computer system, not a person. The order taker’s customer is the kitchen staff using a restaurant management computer terminal. Marge, or her modern replacement such as the cashier at fast-food restaurants, takes the customer’s payment using an electronic cash register.

·       Sales

The Digital Retail POS System does more than track sales. It also calculates the bill, using the cost of the meal and beverage, including tax. If money is paid, it calculates the change due. The computer prints a receipt for both the customer and server.

The POS network is connected to the printer, cash drawer, scanner, k-cup brewer, and coffee grinder. It calculates inventory for ordering purposes. The cloud service stores order history which can be accessed on any computer. Customers order and pay using the touch screen and credit card reader or enter their order on a tablet and pay with cash.

With Restaurant Partner’s POS system, you can take orders and process payments from any location. A customizable touchscreen allows you to accept payments in a variety of ways — you can accept credit and debit cards with the swipe slot or enter chip, plus cash and checks manually. Quick response touchscreen accepts your entries the moment you enter them — you’ll never have to wait for a beep or a confirmation page. Report functions provide detailed sales information at a glance.

·       Food Preparation

When the order is completed it is brought to the waitperson by a runner (often in a very formal restaurant), or, in less formal establishments, by the waitperson himself/herself. The ticket is presented to the waitperson. The order taker must verify that the item is correct; this often involves scanning an item’s barcode or matching it with outgoing food items. Reports are available to detect theft, which can occur by modifying the ticket contents.

·       Beverage preparation

Your waitperson will take your order, deliver it to the bartender, who, with this Vantage Point system can have your drinks ready before you are seated.

The waitperson can use the Quick Service POS System to forward drink orders directly to the bartender by using the bartender’s name, Order amount, liquor pouring level and liquor selection From the POS console give multiple bartenders tasks to perform at once.

·       Inventory

As each order is placed, the POS tells the inventory system to allow for ingredients to make that particular dish. After making the dish, the POS tells the inventory system that it isn’t needed anymore and subtracts that from available items. At that point, it’s placed onto a purchasing order list. The inventory manager will then order more when supplies start getting low.

One of the best software is SNAPOS, provided by Zetran with the easy inventory management features.

·       Theft

To cut down on employee theft, [PREMIUM] has upgraded its POS system. In short, it helps ensure that an item will not be prepared unless it’s in the order entry system. The customer will receive a bill when they sit down and that item is automatically added to the ticket. If the customer orders a sandwich without fries, getting fries won’t be possible in some fast food places because it won’t be on the ticket, but our system prevents that from happening.

·       Reports

The Digital POS System is the ultimate tool for your business. Whether you are looking into starting a new restaurant or already have one, this system covers all areas of running your restaurant. With the ability to track sales, cash, and inventory it also helps you to track the employee productivity, average sales per employee, what items are popular, and how quickly the orders are served from the time of input. Other reports include the number of customers served on an hourly and daily basis and the number of times your tables turn — new customers are seated. Restaurants with more than one location can change menu items and prices with the POS system.

The bottom line

Thus, POS Software plays a major part in restaurants. Make sure to choose the right POS software.  Additionally, they offer the best small business accounting software which acts as the best Free FreshBooks alternative.