What Does a Restaurant or Café POS System Need?
A restaurant or café in Saudi Arabia needs a POS that takes orders quickly on a touch screen, separates dine-in from takeaway, manages tables, sends each item to the right kitchen station printer, handles add-ons and special requests, deducts the ingredients of every dish from stock, and receives QR menu and online orders without re-entry. It must also issue simplified tax invoices that meet ZATCA's requirements, including Phase 2 integration according to the wave assigned to your business.
Why is a retail till not enough for a restaurant?
A retail till sells a finished product off the shelf. A restaurant sells a dish that is prepared after the order, from ingredients bought by the kilo and the litre, that may pass through several kitchen stations, on a table that can stay open for an hour before anyone pays. That calls for tools a shop never needs: tables, kitchen printing, modifiers and recipes.
What are the core requirements?
1. A fast touch screen
At peak hour, seconds count. Items should sit in clear categories, an order should take a few taps, and changing a quantity or removing an item before sending should not mean digging through menus.
2. Dine-in and takeaway on one screen
The cashier should switch between a table order and a takeaway order without leaving the screen, and the order type should appear on the receipt, the kitchen ticket and in reports, because packaging, pricing and preparation priority can differ.
3. Table management
- See open and free tables at a glance.
- Add items to an open order in rounds.
- Move an order from one table to another.
- Split the bill between guests when needed.
4. Kitchen printing by station
When an order is sent, grills should print at the grill station and drinks at the bar, with the table or order number, the order type and notes such as "no onions". When an item is added later, only the new item should print, not the whole order again.
5. Add-ons and modifiers
Extra cheese, oat milk, a large size: each add-on carries its own price where relevant and appears on the kitchen ticket and the receipt. Just as important, its ingredients should be deducted from stock like those of the main dish, or your system stock will drift away from what is actually on the shelves.
6. Ingredient stock and recipes
A restaurant does not sell a "burger" from the store; it sells a bun, a patty and sauce. Each menu item should be linked to a recipe that sets the quantity of each ingredient, so a sale deducts them automatically. That tells you what each dish costs, when to reorder, and how far actual counts differ from expected usage.
7. QR menu and online ordering
When a guest orders from the QR menu at the table or from your online ordering link, the order should land at the cashier and print in the kitchen directly, not be copied by hand from one device to another. Every re-entry adds time and room for mistakes.
8. Payments and shift closing
Cash, card or a mix of both, followed by a shift close that reconciles each cashier's drawer against what the system recorded. Ideally, each branch's cash goes to its own cash box and card payments to the right bank account.
9. E-invoicing
Most restaurant and café invoices are simplified invoices to consumers. Under Phase 2 they are issued in the required format with a cryptographic stamp and QR code and reported to ZATCA within 24 hours of issue. Each till that issues invoices must be onboarded on the Fatoora portal. Issued invoices cannot be deleted; refunds and corrections go through a credit note.
10. Permissions
Discounts, voiding an item already sent to the kitchen and reopening a bill should need a supervisor's permission, with a log of who did what and when.
11. Reports
Sales by item, best sellers, sales by hour and by order type, dish costs, and results per shift and per branch. These are the numbers that help you adjust the menu, prices and staff rota.
Requirements at a glance
| Requirement | What it solves |
|---|---|
| Dine-in and takeaway on one screen | Faster service and reports split by order type |
| Kitchen printing by station | Each item reaches the person who prepares it, without shouting or handwritten notes |
| Add-ons that deduct stock | Accurate stock and correct dish cost |
| Ingredient recipes | Known cost per dish and timely reordering |
| QR menu and online orders linked to the till | No re-entry and no lost orders |
| Compliant simplified invoices | ZATCA compliance without extra work |
| Permissions and activity log | Control over discounts and voids |
Questions to ask before you choose
- Can one order print on several printers by station?
- Do add-ons deduct their ingredients from stock?
- Do QR menu orders reach the cashier directly?
- Does it handle Phase 2 e-invoicing from inside the system?
- If you open a second branch, will it have its own stock and cash boxes?
Summary
- A restaurant needs a POS built for restaurants: tables, dine-in and takeaway, kitchen printing by station.
- Add-ons and recipes should deduct ingredients from stock automatically.
- QR menu and online orders should reach the till without re-entry.
- Under Phase 2, simplified invoices are reported to ZATCA within 24 hours, and each till is onboarded on Fatoora.
- Permissions and reports protect your margin and help you refine the menu.
Restaurant POS in Final Solution ERP
Final Solution ERP includes a touch till for restaurants and cafés with tables, dine-in, takeaway and kitchen on one screen, kitchen printing, add-ons that deduct from stock, a QR menu and online ordering that reach the cashier directly, and e-invoicing from inside the system. See the restaurant POS page and the QR menu and online orders page, or contact us to arrange a demo and a free trial.