How to choose a POS
for your restaurant.

The checklist

Before the details, here is the whole list on one page. Print it, take it to every demo, and tick off what each system can actually show you, not what the brochure says.

It must keep billing when the internet drops

Power cuts and patchy connections are part of running a restaurant in Sri Lanka. A system that stops when the internet does will stop on your busiest night.

Ask the salesperson to switch off the Wi-Fi during the demo and take a few orders. Then switch it back on and check that every bill arrived, in order, with the right numbers.

It must get Sri Lankan bills right

Many systems built abroad treat tax as one percentage added at the end. Sri Lankan bills need more than that:

• Service charge on dine-in and room service, but not takeaway.
• VAT on the food and the service charge together, only if you’re registered.
• Tax invoices with your VAT number, and bill numbers that never skip.
• Old bills that keep the old rate when rates change.

If you’re not sure how these should work, our guide to service charge, VAT, SSCL and TDL explains each one.

The kitchen should see orders the moment they’re sent

Orders should go straight from the table to the right place: hot kitchen, cold kitchen or bar. Some places prefer printed tickets, others a screen on the wall. A good system does both, and lets the kitchen mark a dish as ready or sold out so waiters stop promising what you don’t have.

Payments the way Sri Lanka pays

Check that one bill can be paid in more than one way, and split however guests like:

• Cash, cards and LankaQR on the same bill.
• Splitting by item, by person or evenly.
• Charging a meal to a hotel room, if you have rooms.
• Company and travel-agent accounts, paid later.

If the card machine is connected, the amount goes from the bill to the machine, so nobody types it twice and the totals match at closing.

Delivery apps without the chaos

PickMe Food and Uber Eats orders on separate tablets, re-typed into the POS, are slow and full of mistakes. Look for a system that brings delivery orders into the same list as everything else, with their own menu prices, so you can see what each order earns after the app’s commission.

Controls that stop the leaks

Most money doesn’t disappear in big amounts. It goes a few hundred rupees at a time. Ask to see:

• A manager’s PIN to cancel an item the kitchen has already started.
• Discounts that need a reason, with a limit per person.
• Cash counted at closing without the screen showing what it should be.
• A record of every cancellation, discount and reprint, with who did it and when.

Stock that moves with sales

A POS that knows your recipes can take ingredients off your stock with every sale. That turns stock counting from guesswork into a quick check of what should be there. Our guide to stock control shows how.

Built for your team, in their language

Your staff should learn it in an afternoon. Big, clear buttons, a floor plan that looks like your restaurant, and menus, bills and screens in Sinhala, Tamil or English, so nobody has to guess.

Questions to ask before you sign

1. What does it cost in total? The monthly fee, devices, printers, setup and training, written down.
2. Who owns my data? You should be able to download your sales, menu and customers whenever you like.
3. What happens if I leave? Avoid long contracts with heavy exit fees.
4. Can I use my own tablets and printers? Being forced to buy special hardware is expensive.
5. Who do I call at 9 pm on a Saturday? Ask for a local number or WhatsApp, and ask how fast they answer.
6. How are updates handled? Updates should arrive on their own, without a technician’s visit.