Take an order on the POS

POS → Tables / Order entry. Whole-check method/contact dialogs and tableless dine-in require compatible POS and API versions. Updating the API alone does not add these controls to an older installed POS.

Confirm the whole check’s method and contact

Before the first send, confirm Actions → Fulfillment methods. If enabled, the optional name/phone form belongs to the whole check: Save confirms it, Cancel preserves the draft. All its kitchen courses share the saved contact; later sends retain coherent existing details, not those of a selected ticket. Item preparation choices create no extra customer or delivery. See whole-check selection and customer information. Mode selection and any customer prompt precede items in a new onsite sale. The table/check is chosen only at Send/Continue; cancellation preserves the source. See whole-check fulfillment. Private guest context is staff-only, never a public checkout answer or notification variable.

Prepare this POS for cash collection

Before collecting cash for a table or counter order, start your PIN shift and open More → Reports → Cash drawer balance on this enrolled device. Enter the physical opening float, then select the right order, tap Pay and record the cash actually received. If a collection times out, reconcile or retry the retained request instead of creating a second sale. A card payment uses the terminal flow and is not cash in the drawer.

Review the by-weight authorization ceiling

For online by-weight orders, open Settings → Payments & VAT with settings.edit. Set Weight hold buffer % from 0 to 100 and save; the default for new restaurants is 20. A failed save keeps the draft. Zero still authorizes the estimate. Only the weight-priced subtotal gets a margin: 100 weighted + 50 fixed at 20% authorizes 170; delivery has no extra margin. Checkout shows the estimate, temporary ceiling and Confirm and authorize, in the restaurant theme. A changed ceiling requires customer review and another confirmation before payment; unknown policy blocks authorization. Existing reviewed checkouts and holds keep their ceiling. Staff confirm measured weights before capture and progression; excess beyond the hold is flagged for a separate payment, never automatically charged. Cash/pay-later makes no hold promise. Requires a configured authorize/capture provider, with partial capture, release and expiry validated before production. This neither changes the catering deposit/balance policy nor enables new-card saving with a CST weighted hold.

Start the intended check

Choose the table or counter order and verify the active check, service and employee. Opening an already open table resumes its existing session and check without requesting covers again; the guest-count prompt belongs to starting a new occupation, not reopening one. Existing separated checks retain their own balances and require an explicit bill choice where offered. A paid QR order still belongs to its guest: opening the table does not merge or collect that payment again. See the live table workflow.

If another POS starts service at the table while you are choosing covers, opening stops without replacing its covers or attaching your draft. Return to the floor plan, refresh, then reopen the table to review the current visit’s check. The previous draft stays in its original context: do not attach it to the next guests. If the state cannot be verified or an update is required, have the POS and server versions checked before trying again.

Add and customize items

Choose a visible POS menu group, item, active variant and allowed modifiers. Review quantity, notes and price before adding. Required choices must be completed.

Assign seats and courses

Where enabled, assign the item to a seat, shared table or course before sending. These preparation assignments are distinct from later financial bill splitting.

Send and verify preparation

Review pending items and use the configured kitchen-send action. Check the saved order and kitchen result; printer success and order persistence are separate outcomes.

Resume or collect payment

Reopen the saved check to add items or start payment. Confirm the selected check and unpaid balance before charging; do not resend already-sent food.

On a compatible iPad, Orders → Checks reviews open checks; Actions → Open tickets also leads there. It does not replace Save check during a send from Menu. In that dialog, “No open checks” means no eligible onsite check is currently offered; use New check to choose a new authorized destination. A loading failure retains its error and recovery instead of this empty message. Cancel preserves the basket and sends nothing.

Choose a stage attachment

In Admin, open Settings → Restaurant → Order workflow and the required pickup or delivery stage. With Notify customer enabled, choose the message type, an approved Meta photo/PDF model and its attachment: a fixed file, or that order’s receipt for a PDF. Choose the sending time and save the workflow. Manual stage entry or its configured event uses this binding. Selecting a file changes neither progression, payment rules nor delivery eligibility. Correct an incompatible or missing model/file before relying on delivery. The model library and creation controls are in Settings → Communications → WhatsApp.

Follow an assigned delivery’s departure

When the assigned courier starts their route in Admin, unfinished accepted, preparing and ready delivery orders change together to Out for delivery. Staff screens receive the updated statuses through their usual order refresh. This confirms actual departure; assigning a courier or choosing a fulfillment mode alone does not start a route. Held kitchen courses and unsettled weight orders must be resolved first. If starting fails, the previous statuses remain. The route action does not reopen finished or cancelled orders.

Make a one-order combo exception

For a one-order combo exception, an authorized Admin user opens the combo step and selects Choose another item. The replacement is included without a surcharge and is saved on that order only. Fulfillment, scheduling and delivery rules remain unchanged. Review the selected dish and portion in the order details. Guest and POS combo pickers retain the configured composition; arrange an exception through the internal Admin order editor. See the combo guide for quantities, eligibility and recovery.

Wait for counter card payment before kitchen preparation

For a new counter pickup order paid by card, choose Pay, then Pay by card. Wait for terminal approval and for Foody to record the payment before preparation and the kitchen ticket start. During collection the payment remains pending and is excluded from the live order board. After a refusal or cancellation, keep the same checkout and retry there; do not send it to the kitchen to bypass payment. If approval succeeded but synchronization failed, reconcile the existing payment before starting another charge. Orders deliberately sent for table service before collection keep their existing send-then-pay flow.

Use published carte structure and live stock

Predefined item stocks now have a journal under Items & menus → Stock history and on each product. A rotating carte can prepare initial allowances per series and publish them without restoring already committed units. Previous remaining counts are not carried forward. Order changes and pre-production releases use the original frozen pool; a produced item remains consumed. Ingredient/preparation quantities and recipe costs remain separate. See Availability for initial imports, corrections and history filters.

Staff contact details and courier destination

Staff contact details are managed in Admin → Staff → employee → Edit contact details. The restaurant-scoped name and phone are used for courier assignment and upcoming delivery reminders; the sign-in email remains read-only. Couriers can save a default final destination or link it to their home address. New routes propose that destination and allow an explicit override or removal. It is the courier’s end-of-route destination, separate from the customer’s delivery address. Existing populated routes and completed delivery snapshots keep their saved data. See staff profiles for saving, permissions and recovery.

Recover a delivery after a test departure

Starting courier mode marks assigned orders Out for delivery. If this was a test departure, a user with order-management permission can open Orders → Deliveries, select the date and choose Undo departure while no arrival, delivery or skipped stop has been recorded. Out for delivery orders return to In preparation; the route returns to draft and can be unassigned and reallocated. This is a delivery correction, not a new order, refund or reprint. Payments and previously sent messages are preserved. See the dispatch procedure.

Check conditional item choices

An item configured with repeated positions requires one separate choice per position according to the selected format. For example, a two-character Number Cake accepts 11, AB or A7. The format price replaces the base price; modifiers add only their configured surcharges. Reducing the position count removes newly hidden choices. Positions remain distinct in the cart, orders and kitchen ticket; review them before confirming. These customizations do not change delivery, availability, recipe, discount or cancellation rules. Configuration requires compatible versions and menu editing permission. See Variants and sizes for setup and recovery after a rejected selection.

Take an order on the mobile terminal

On the updated terminal, open Checks with the bottom receipt icon. Its selector offers All checks or a floor plan. Open a table, then, if prompted, choose the guest count or No covers; Back cancels that choice. The sale combines Menu, Check and Actions. Menu retains search and menu selection; with courses enabled, choose a course in the bottom strip before adding an item. A new item guides outstanding choice groups. On the terminal, even a simple item without variants or modifiers opens Seat when seats are enabled, at least one cover is recorded and no individual seat is preselected, except where quick entry is explicitly configured. Quick entry keeps its policy without bypassing a required seat. With seats disabled, a seat already selected or on iPad, this new condition does not force an extra panel. A valid required single choice advances; multiple-choice groups finish explicitly with Next or Done at the top. The counter shows progress through groups. In Seat, Table occupies the first row; selecting it returns to the summary. Seats and Add seat remain below; multiple-seat assignment still requires Done. On both mobile and iPad, the Add/Extra/No palette appears only when Use conversational modifiers in POS is enabled for the group; when off, only values appear. This is separate from the item’s quick-entry setting. With the palette enabled, tap a verb then an ingredient: the verb disarms after that one ingredient, and chips preserve entry order in a scrolling row. On the side, No and Extra remain distinct actions. Reopening a field does not restart the guide. Review note, quantity and price, then Add; an existing line uses Done. Closing discards the addition. The handle returns to checks without clearing the draft, including after a read error. Send and fire/hold follow permissions and the service mode; animation does not prove physical printing. Check retains Pay and the ⋯ menu. Older installed versions keep their earlier presentation. Actions → Details → Guest displays recorded contact information. group setting and refresh.

Recover an unsent draft after restarting

On the updated POS, the last successfully saved local draft is retained in the device’s secure storage. Reopen FoodyPOS with the same account, restaurant and backend on the same installation. The counter basket can be recovered; for a table or named check, reopen its verified session. Contacts, selections, seats, courses and unsent additions retain their draft values; another table session or account cannot recover them. Wait for saving to be confirmed before leaving. Resolve a storage error instead of treating it as a successful save. Local retention does not replace the server-saved check or synchronize the draft to another device. After an uncertain send, verify the existing order: reopening never automatically resends, reprints or charges. Do not recreate the same food to bypass pending verification.

For an uncertain send, first choose Verify saved result: this read does not resend food. For a table, named check or financial check, Resume original send asks for confirmation and, with a compatible API, resumes only the unchanged food with the same send reference. This explicit action never collects payment. If verification remains unavailable, open Orders to inspect the existing order and retain the original intent; do not recreate the sale. Merely reopening a basket does not authorize automatic replay of an old journal or another account’s intent.

Prepared Sumit checkout integration

A basket prepared in Admin for Sumit stays pending until verified payment and does not dispatch unpaid food to POS. Resume it from its saved Admin order. See the Admin Sumit procedure.

Leave an optional choice empty

On the updated POS, an optional descriptive position may remain empty without blocking Next or Add. To clear it, tap the same selected value again. Required positions are still checked. Configure the per-item requirement in Admin → Price and variants; existing groups retain their required default. Update an older POS before using this setting. Filled positions retain their order on the order and ticket; descriptive choices add no surcharge.

Review independent confirmations

In a saved order’s actions, review preparation and handoff separately from payment. Handoff review selects the actual physical units; financial splitting does not multiply them. Before closure, review the exact check or financial portion and its confirmed balance. A closed scope refuses new commercial changes; another open batch is not closed by that action. See tracking and confirmations.

Respect a pending card collection

An unresolved native card collection keeps its original order and terminal reserved. Do not change its financial contents or start another tender; kitchen progression and fulfillment settings remain independent. See Mini/Portable selection and recovery.