Tables and orders

Waiters run their tables from Tables & orders. Go to Tables & orders.

Waiters land on this page when they unlock a terminal. Open your own shift first — see Shifts and cash-up. Every order you open belongs to you and your shift.

The page has two tabs, Main floor and Active orders, plus two buttons at the top:

• New takeaway — start a takeaway order.
• New named tab — start a tab under a customer’s name. This appears only when your branch uses named tabs.

The badge Live means the screen updates by itself. Connecting, Reconnecting or Auto-refresh mean it is catching up.

Service styles

A manager chooses the service style under Settings — see Settings, terminals and printers. The style is shown as a badge above the tabs.

Style	How orders are opened
Fixed floor	Every dine-in order is on a table.
Named tabs	Orders are opened under a name instead of a table. The Main floor tab is hidden.
Mixed	Use a table, a name, or both.

If the badge Till number required before bill printing shows, the branch’s M-Pesa Till Number has not been set and bills cannot be printed. Ask a manager to set it.

Main floor

Main floor shows every table with its number of covers.

• A green dot means the table is free. Tap it to open a new order.
• An amber table is in use. It shows the waiter and the bill so far. Tap it to open the order.
• A table showing Occupied cannot be opened from your screen.

If your branch has more than one stock section, tapping a free table opens New order so you can choose the Section first.

Active orders

Active orders lists open orders with the table or tab name, waiter, status and total. Tap an order to open it. Use this tab for named tabs and takeaways, which have no table.

Long lists are split into pages; use the controls at the bottom to move between them.

Opening a takeaway or named tab

1. Select New takeaway or New named tab.
2. In New order, check the Service type: Dine in, Named tab or Takeaway.
3. If asked, choose the Section.
4. For dine-in, choose the Table. For a named tab, enter the Tab / service name. In Mixed style you can fill in either one.
5. Select Open order.

Each active tab name must be different within the branch.

Adding items

Opening an order shows the menu on the left and the Table bill on the right.

1. Find the item. Type in Search menu…, or tap All, a category, or Favourites.
2. Set Quantity — the number added each time you tap an item.
3. If needed, type an Item note / preparation or Modifiers, comma-separated.
4. Choose where it is prepared: KITCHEN, BAR or NONE.
5. Tap the item.

The item goes into Current cart on the bill. Nothing is sent until you order.

Tap the star on a menu item to add it to your Favourites. Favourites are saved on this device for you only.

Each menu item shows its availability. Items marked Direct issue, such as bottled drinks, are handed over from the counter rather than prepared. Lines in the current cart show Stock held while you complete this order with a time, or Stock is rechecked when you order.

Covers

Use − and + beside Table bill to set the number of guests.

Removing an item you have not sent

Select Remove on the line in Current cart, enter the Reason for removal, and select Remove item. If your role needs approval, a manager enters their own PIN in Authorised manager PIN.

Items already sent cannot be removed this way. They must be voided — see Voiding a sent item.

Sending the order

When the cart is ready, select Order. On later rounds the button reads Order additional items.

TillPoint confirms Order sent to kitchen. The round moves to Previous orders, labelled First order or Additional order with the time it was sent.

• Prepared items appear on the Kitchen display.
• Prepared items print on the kitchen printer, or on the bar printer if you chose BAR. Items set to NONE are not printed.
• Direct-issue items are not sent to the kitchen or printed on a ticket.

Caution

If you see an error that says the order was sent, do not order it again. Check Previous orders first.

If stock ran out while you were ordering, TillPoint says so. Review the cart and try again.

Collecting ready food

When the kitchen marks your food ready, a Ready for pickup panel appears on the overview, and inside the order. Collect the food, then select Collected to record the hand-off and clear the alert.

Changing an order

These buttons are under the Table bill. Most ask for a Reason, and a Manager PIN if required when your role needs approval. Select Confirm to finish.

Change table or tab

Select Change table / tab at the top of the order to move to a free table, change the service type or rename the tab. Select Save change.

Hold and recall

Hold takes the order out of your active working queue. Recall brings it back.

Transfer

Transfer hands the order to another waiter. Choose the New waiter, give a reason, and confirm. The order leaves your screen.

Split

1. Tick the lines that should go on a separate bill.
2. Select Split.
3. Give a reason and confirm.

The ticked lines move to a new bill. At least one item must stay on the original.

Merge

Merge brings another of the same waiter’s orders into this one. Choose the Order to merge, give a reason and confirm.

Voiding a sent item

Select Void on a line under Previous orders, give a reason, and confirm. Voids are permanently audited.

Bills

When the guests are finished:

1. Make sure Current cart is empty — everything must be ordered first.
2. Select Request bill.
3. Select Open bill PDF to print the unpaid bill.

The bill combines every round ordered for the table. Once a bill is requested, the order is locked: you cannot add items, change covers, split or merge.

To make changes after requesting the bill, select Reopen bill for changes, enter a reason, and ask a manager to approve.

If you cannot take payment, Order & request bill sends the cart and requests the bill in one step.

Settling the bill

Whether you can take payment yourself depends on your role. If you cannot, a cashier settles the bill in the Counter.

If you can take payment and your shift is open:

• Bill & take payment requests the bill and opens payment in one step.
• Order & checkout sends the cart, requests the bill and opens payment.
• Take payment opens payment for a bill already requested.

The payment window works as it does at the till: cash, M-Pesa, card machine, customer credit, or a split of these. See Taking payment.

When payment is confirmed, select Open paid receipt PDF to print the receipt. The order closes and its table becomes free.

Payment pending

While a payment waits for provider confirmation, the order shows Payment confirmation is pending. Order changes are locked. Select Review payment to see its status and Refresh payment status to check again. If part of the bill is still unpaid once confirmations are in, select Pay remaining to collect the balance.