A restaurant order keeps changing until the guest is ready to leave. A table adds another drink, a takeaway customer asks for no onion, and a group wants to split the bill. Restaurant POS software needs to keep these changes clear for the cashier, the kitchen and the manager.
Distribook POS – Restaurant supports front-counter and cashier operations, with waiter, kitchen/KOT and administration work handled through their respective interfaces. For restaurants, cafés and takeaway businesses in Jaffna and across Sri Lanka, that means the cashier can focus on orders and payments while keeping kitchen progress visible.
This article explains how the restaurant features fit together. Available actions depend on the restaurant’s configuration, enabled options, device setup and staff permissions.
Start with the order type and table
Restaurant service begins by identifying how the order will be fulfilled. Distribook supports dine-in, takeaway, counter sales, delivery, phone orders and preorders, with custom order types where configured. The order type helps staff keep the service context clear instead of treating every transaction as an identical counter sale.
For dine-in service, staff can select a floor and table, review available, occupied, reserved and billing tables, and open the appropriate table. Additional items can be added to an existing table order. Moving or merging tables and splitting a table or order help staff handle changes during service; the table can be closed after payment.
For example, when two guests move to join another group, the cashier needs the order to follow the actual seating arrangement. Clear table records help avoid charging the wrong party or leaving an old table looking occupied.
Build the order with menu items and modifiers
The order screen supports category tabs, a product grid, search, barcode lookup and quick product selection. Product images, selling prices and stock indications help staff identify the intended item before adding it to the cart. Quantities can be changed, items removed and notes added as the order develops.
Restaurant menu selection also includes subcategories, variants, add-ons and ingredient customisation. A burger can have a Regular or Large size, extra cheese or egg, a spice preference, and a “no onion” instruction. Modifiers can carry an additional price, so the final amount should reflect the actual selection.
The cart keeps product quantities, unit prices, modifier charges, item discounts and notes together. Staff can edit, delete or duplicate an item, then review subtotal, discounts, service charge, tax and grand total. Clear choices at this stage help both the guest and the kitchen understand what was ordered.
Item notes support preparation instructions, but staff should still follow the restaurant’s own process for allergies and special dietary requests. A recorded preference alone does not establish that a meal is suitable for a particular guest.
Send kitchen tickets without repeating earlier items
A KOT is a kitchen order ticket. Distribook’s POS controls support sending items to the kitchen, displaying the KOT number, printing or reprinting a ticket, adding kitchen notes and viewing preparation status. Staff can follow Pending, Preparing, Ready and completed progress, with waiting-time visibility.
Kitchen station routing sends items according to the product setup. Food can go to the kitchen, juice to the bar, dessert to its station and coffee to a beverage section. Cashier, kitchen and bar printers, including multiple KOT printers and station printing, can be configured and tested for the restaurant’s equipment.
Additional orders need particular care. If a table first orders two biryanis and two drinks, then later adds an ice cream and a juice, the new KOT should communicate the added items rather than sending the original meal again. Distribook supports sending only new items, helping the kitchen distinguish a new request from work already in progress.
Ready-order visual and sound alerts help the front counter identify the order or table awaiting service. Collection or service marking can be used where enabled. Cancelling a KOT item is permission-controlled, so preparation changes remain accountable.
Keep customers, held orders and bookings organised
Staff can use a walk-in customer or find a customer by phone. New customer records can include name, phone, address and notes, with previous orders available for reference. Customer credit can be used when enabled for the business.
Orders can be held or parked and resumed later. The held-order context includes time, cashier and customer or table information, helping another staff member understand what they are continuing. Deleting a held order requires the relevant permission.
For preorders and larger bookings, advance or partial payments can be recorded with an advance receipt, remaining amount, final settlement and payment history. Checking the existing advance before taking the balance helps prevent staff from collecting the same amount twice.
Handle restaurant prices, charges and promotions
Restaurant pricing can differ between dine-in, takeaway and delivery. Regular and promotional price levels let the business represent these differences in its configured setup. Service charge can be enabled or disabled, set as a percentage or fixed amount, and varied by order type.
Tax settings support inclusive and exclusive pricing, configurable percentages, product-specific treatment and a tax summary on the invoice. The business should configure these settings to reflect its applicable requirements; this article does not prescribe a tax rate.
Discounts can apply to an item or the whole bill, using a percentage or fixed amount. Promotion discounts, reasons, role limits and manager approval for higher discounts help staff apply the intended offer without giving every cashier unrestricted price control.
Supported promotion options include buy-one-get-one, combo prices, percentage offers, time-based promotions, happy-hour offers and minimum-order promotions. Combo meals can appear as one menu product while retaining stock handling for the included products or ingredients. For example, a family meal can group biryani, a drink and desserts into one offer.
Split bills and record the actual payment
Restaurant groups often need something more flexible than one person paying the entire bill. Distribook supports splitting equally, by item or by customer, as well as partial payment and multiple payment methods.
Payment methods include cash, card, bank transfer, QR and configured alternatives. The cashier can record the received amount, balance or change, reference number and payment note. A bill paid with LKR 5,000 cash and LKR 3,000 by card should show those separate payment lines, rather than representing all LKR 8,000 as drawer cash.
Billing supports a preview, printing and reprinting, with order number, table, cashier, date and time, customer, items, discounts, service charge, tax and total. Receipt setup can include the restaurant logo, customer details, tax details, a copy indicator and a QR code where required. Thermal receipts and an A4 invoice format are available according to the configured printing setup.
Connect menu sales with ingredient stock
Stock visibility lets staff distinguish available, low-stock and out-of-stock items. Restaurants can mark menu products sold out or temporarily unavailable, restore availability, and use automatic availability based on stock. Settings determine whether unavailable stock stops a sale or ordering without stock is allowed.
Recipe-based stock connects a prepared dish with its ingredients. For illustration, a biryani recipe might use 300 g of rice, 200 g of chicken, 20 ml of oil, 50 g of onion and 15 g of spices. Those are example quantities, not a prescribed recipe.
When a configured recipe product is sold, recipe consumption is calculated and ingredient stock is reduced. Food cost and estimated profit calculations help the business review the dish’s recorded cost. Their usefulness depends on accurate recipes, quantities and cost records; an estimate is not a guarantee of the restaurant’s actual profit.
Keep cancellations, refunds and corrections traceable
Restaurant orders sometimes change after preparation starts. Distribook supports item cancellation before or after KOT, full-order cancellation, cancellation reasons and manager approval. Cancellation history is retained rather than permanently deleting sales history.
Refunds can cover the full bill, part of it or selected items, with a reason, original invoice reference, approval controls and refund reporting. These records help explain why a guest’s bill or payment changed.
Cashier and manager permissions separate ordinary order creation, payment and receipt work from actions such as large discounts, KOT cancellation, voids, refunds, reopening closed orders or changing prices. The audit trail records who performed important actions and when, including order creation, edits, discounts, cancellations, refunds and reopening.
Close the shift with a clear cash handover
Shift management includes login, cashier selection, opening cash, closing cash counts, differences, sales summaries and previous-shift history. The drawer view brings opening cash, cash collections, cash in, cash out, expense withdrawals, expected cash and actual cash into the closing review.
Where quick expenses are enabled, the cashier can record permitted small costs such as delivery, cleaning, transport or a small purchase, with a reason, amount and approval when required. Recording the movement clearly helps the closing count reflect what actually happened to the money.
The cashier dashboard keeps the working view focused: sales, cash and card totals, order count, average bill, pending and ready orders, and current-shift total. Order search supports order or invoice number, customer phone, table, date, cashier and payment method. Recent orders can be reviewed by status and service type, with reopening limited to permitted users.
Prepare terminals and connectivity before service
Terminal setup covers device identity, counter, branch, activation, printer settings and cash-drawer configuration, with controls against unauthorised terminal use. Confirm the exact devices and printing connections before the restaurant starts trading.
Offline support allows billing during temporary internet interruptions, stores orders locally and synchronises after connection returns, with sync-status visibility and duplicate-synchronisation prevention. Include connectivity recovery in staff training and check the saved result before repeating an uncertain transaction.
A restaurant’s working sequence is straightforward: choose the order type → select the table or customer → add and customise items → send KOT → add later requests → follow kitchen readiness → generate the bill → take payment → print the receipt. Recipe consumption keeps ingredient stock connected to the sale.
Explore Distribook for restaurants, POS systems in Jaffna and the Sri Lanka POS overview for the wider product introduction. To plan your restaurant setup, contact Distribook with your order types, table layout, kitchen stations, menu customisations and payment requirements so the demonstration can follow your real service flow.
For staff instructions, start with the restaurant POS workflow guide, then follow menu choices and dish notes, kitchen tickets and split bills and payments. The restaurant manual is also available in Tamil and Sinhala.