How to choose café and restaurant billing software in India

What billing software has to do in an Indian café

The job is much the same everywhere. The Wikipedia article on point of sale says restaurant POS software can print orders to the kitchen and bar, merge and split receipts, take card payments, run reports and, in a hotel, transfer meal charges to a guest room. It also notes that cloud-based POS needs an internet connection, which matters more on a busy evening than any feature on the list.

An Indian café adds its own requirements. The bill has to be a GST bill with your GSTIN and the tax split, and FSSAI has issued an order mandating the FSSAI licence or registration number on receipts, invoices, cash memos and bills. Most cafés print on 58 mm or 80 mm thermal paper, take UPI as well as cash and cards, and get delivery orders from Swiggy and Zomato as well as walk-ins.

The checklist, from order to day close

Take this list to every demo, and ask for each item to be done live on your own menu if possible.

1. How fast an order goes in. Time a real order on the demo: a dine-in table with a change such as “less spicy”, a takeaway, and a second round for the same table. Count the taps.
2. Kitchen order tickets. Each order should reach the kitchen as a numbered KOT, a second round as a new ticket, and items should go to the right station. Decide whether you want printed tickets, a kitchen display, or both; the KOT guide compares them.
3. The bill itself. Print a bill on the demo and read it: your legal name, GSTIN, FSSAI number, bill number, the tax split and the payment mode. Check whether menu prices can include GST or have it added at the counter, and how a reprint is marked.
4. Your printer. Ask which thermal printers it works with, at which paper widths, and how it prints: through the device’s print dialog, a printer app or a direct connection.
5. When the Wi-Fi drops. Switch the Wi-Fi off during the demo. Ask what still works (taking orders, sending tickets to the kitchen, taking payment) and how orders are sent once the connection is back without being counted twice.
6. Tables, splits and merges. For dine-in: a table map, moving an order to another table, merging two checks and splitting one bill between diners.
7. Discounts, refunds and day close. Who can give a discount, and up to how much; whether a refund leaves the original bill intact; whether the drawer is counted against an X or Z report at close. See X report vs Z report.
8. Stock and food cost. If food cost matters to you, look for recipes linked to ingredients, stock deducted per dish served and a report of cost against price.
9. Delivery apps. If Swiggy and Zomato bring much of your business, ask whether their orders arrive in the POS on their own today, and ask to see one arrive. If not, they are entered by hand.
10. Your accountant. Ask how sales reach your accountant, for example as a Tally export.

Questions to ask on a demo

A demo shows what the seller chooses to show. These requests show how the counter will work on a busy day.

Write down the answers for every product you see, and ask for anything promised “soon” to be shown working before you pay for it.

Mistakes owners make when choosing

• Testing on the seller’s demo menu. Your own menu, with its modifiers and combos, shows how fast billing really is.
• Forgetting the kitchen. The cook uses the tickets or the display as much as the cashier uses the counter screen.
• Assuming “works offline” means everything works offline. Ask which actions: taking orders, sending tickets, taking payment and printing the bill can each behave differently.
• Treating “coming soon” as available. Plan around what works today, such as delivery app connections.