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Choosing a restaurant EPOS: questions to ask ​

Your EPOS sits in the middle of everything: orders, the kitchen, payments, your VAT figures and your staff’s hours. Most systems look alike in a demo. The differences show on a busy Saturday night, at the end of the VAT quarter, and on the day you want to leave. This guide sets out the questions that bring those differences out before you sign, so you can put the same questions to every supplier you speak to.

See it with your own menu ​

A demo on a sample menu shows you the software. A demo on your menu shows you whether it fits your service.

  • Ask to see a few of your own dishes set up, including one with options and extras, and one that sells at a different VAT rate to eat in and to take away.
  • Use the devices you would actually use: the till, the card machine and the kitchen screen or printer.
  • Walk through your busiest moment: a full table ordering in courses, a takeaway queue and a delivery order arriving at the same time.
  • Ask how long it takes to change a price, take a dish off when it sells out, and put it back.

When the internet drops ​

Every venue loses its connection sometimes. The question is what still works when it does.

  • Can staff keep taking orders, and do they still reach the kitchen?
  • Can you still take card payments, and how? A card machine with its own mobile data, an offline mode, or not at all? If there is an offline mode, ask what happens to payments that are later declined.
  • What happens to orders taken during the outage, and does anyone need to do anything when the connection returns?
  • Is there anything staff must avoid, such as restarting the till?

Card payments ​

  • Who processes your card payments, and can you choose a different provider?
  • Is the card processing contract separate from the software contract, with its own length and notice period?
  • How are you charged: per transaction, monthly, or both? Ask for every fee in writing, including any for refunds, chargebacks or card machine rental.
  • When does the money reach your bank account?

The kitchen ​

  • Can you run kitchen printers, kitchen screens, or both, and send each item to the right station, such as drinks to the bar?
  • Do orders from your website, QR codes and delivery apps arrive in the kitchen the same way as orders taken at the till?
  • How does an allergy reach the cook? The Food Standards Agency’s best practice is for allergy requirements to reach the person cooking in writing when they did not take the order. See our allergen guide.

Ordering online, at the table and through delivery apps ​

  • Do you get an ordering website of your own, and what does it cost per order? See our delivery commission guide for working out the real cost of an order.
  • Can guests order and pay at the table by QR code, and do those orders show on the till? See our QR ordering guide.
  • Which delivery apps are connected today, and which are planned? Count only what works today, and ask for a date for anything that does not.

Reports, VAT and your accountant ​

  • Does the till record the VAT rate on every item, and split your daily sales by rate? Making Tax Digital for VAT asks for a digital record of the rate charged on each sale. See our Making Tax Digital guide and our guide to VAT on takeaway food.
  • Does each day close with a numbered report that cannot be changed afterwards?
  • Can your accountant get the figures in a form their software takes, without retyping them?
  • If you have more than one site, can you see them separately and together?

Staff, hours and tips ​

Since 1 October 2024, the law on tips has required employers to pass every qualifying tip to workers, allocated fairly. Where tips are paid more than occasionally, you need a written tipping policy, and you must keep a record of the tips received and the amount allocated to each worker for three years. A worker can ask in writing to see it (code of practice). The government has also consulted on a revised code that would require employers to consult workers when they write or review the tipping policy (consultation, closed 29 September 2026). Check GOV.UK for the version in force. Our tipping law guide covers all of this.

  • Does the system record card tips, and can it produce the totals you need for that record?
  • If you add a service charge, can staff remove it when a guest asks? Whether it is optional changes its VAT; see our guide to service charges and tips.
  • Can staff clock in and out, and do their hours reach your rota and payroll?
  • Can you set what each member of staff is allowed to do, such as refunds and discounts?

Setting up and support ​

  • Who installs the system, and who loads your menu: you or the supplier?
  • How are your staff trained, and is training included?
  • What are the support hours, and how do you reach a person on a Saturday night?
  • If hardware fails, how quickly is it replaced, and who pays?

What is included, and what is extra ​

  • Which of the features you have seen are in the package you are being quoted, and which are add-ons or third-party integrations with their own fees?
  • Is the price per site, per device or per user?
  • Is anything you were shown “coming soon”? Ask for a date, and decide on what the system does today.

The contract and leaving ​

  • How long is the contract, does it renew automatically, and what notice do you have to give?
  • Do you own the hardware, rent it, or lease it under a separate finance agreement?
  • What does it cost to leave early?
  • How do you get your data out, in what format, and is it included? Your sales history, menu and customer list should leave with you.
  • Your supplier handles personal data for you, such as customer and staff details. The ICO says the contract with a supplier that processes personal data on your behalf must say that, at the end of the contract, it will delete or return all of that data, at your choice (ICO).

A short checklist ​

  • A demo on your own menu, on the devices you would use.
  • In writing: what keeps working when the internet drops, including card payments.
  • Every card payment fee, and whether you can change provider.
  • Allergies reach the kitchen in writing.
  • VAT split by rate, a daily report that cannot be edited, and figures your accountant can use.
  • Tips recorded in a way that supports your tipping record.
  • What is included in the price, and what is an add-on.
  • Contract length, renewal, notice, hardware ownership, and how you get your data out.

How this works in Yumee POS ​

Yumee installs the system and loads your menu for you from a photo or PDF. The till runs on a PAX card terminal, an Android tablet or a full touchscreen. Yumee’s PAX card machines come with mobile data, so if your broadband or wifi drops, the card machine stays online and the till on it keeps taking orders and card payments. The kitchen can run on screens, printers or both, with allergies flagged on the order. VAT is split by rate, Z-reports are numbered and locked once issued, and your accountant can download the figures for Xero, QuickBooks, Sage or FreeAgent. Orders through your own website and QR codes carry 0% commission. Guests can add a tip on the PAX card machine, and staff clock in on the till or a clock-in tablet.

Sources ​

This guide is general information, not legal or tax advice. For your own business, ask your accountant or a solicitor before you sign.