Most restaurant mistakes live in the gap between the table and the kitchen: the docket that fell off the counter, the "no onions" that was said but not written, the two tables that got each other's bill. A restaurant point of sale closes that gap by making the waiter's order and the kitchen's ticket the same thing.
Tables first
The floor is a map of tables with their state — free, seated, order sent, bill printed. A waiter opens a table, adds items from the menu with notes ("no chilli, extra sauce"), and sends. The table stays open until it is paid, so a second round is added to the same bill.
The kitchen screen
The order appears in the kitchen as a ticket with a timer, so the cook sees how long each table has waited. Items are marked ready one by one; the waiter's screen shows when a table's food is up. Nobody walks to the pass to ask, and nothing is lost between two pieces of paper.
The bill, split or together
At the end, the table's bill is printed, or split by seat or by amount when friends pay separately. Each part can be paid differently — M-Pesa by prompt to the phone, cash, card — and the cashier's cash-up shows each method on its own.
Roles that keep the counter calm
Waiters see tables and orders; the kitchen sees tickets; the cashier sees bills. Discounts and voids need a manager and carry a name. The owner sees sales by hour, by item and by waiter, and the menu items that sell but do not earn.
Reservations and regulars
Bookings for tonight sit alongside the floor plan; regular diners have a record with their usual order and their phone number for a quick M-Pesa prompt.
What NodePoint Restaurant does
NodePoint Restaurant runs the floor, the kitchen screen, split bills and reservations from one login, with a menu you can change at the counter and a kitchen that keeps its tickets when the Wi-Fi drops. Sales land in Accounts with VAT split out. Pricing is per restaurant with unlimited waiters — see pricing — for restaurants, bars and cafés in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and Rwanda.
Read next: handling the M-Pesa prompt at the counter and stock control for the bar and the store.