Restaurant POS Opening and Closing Checklist
A practical shift checklist for restaurant POS and Billing Software covering tills, menus, printers, offline operation, cash reconciliation, and handover.
Before service
- Confirm the business date, shift, cashier accounts, tax settings, and opening cash float.
- Run a test order through each active service mode: dine-in, takeaway, delivery, or counter sale.
- Check menu availability, modifiers, prices, discounts, service charges, and kitchen-routing rules.
- Print a test receipt and kitchen ticket from every station used during service.
- Verify scanners, drawers, displays, and payment terminals where applicable.
Test the failure path
Disconnect the internet and complete the workflow promised for Offline POS operation. For an Online/Offline POS setup, confirm queued work synchronizes once connectivity returns without duplicate orders or payments.
Record the manual fallback for a failed printer, workstation, network link, or payment terminal.
During service
- Require manager approval for voids, refunds, price overrides, and reopened checks according to policy.
- Investigate printer queues, unsent kitchen tickets, payment mismatches, and synchronization warnings promptly.
- Count cash when responsibility changes between staff and record the handover.
- Protect customer details and close administrative sessions on shared terminals.
At closing
- Resolve open, parked, or partially paid checks.
- Compare sales by payment type with cash, terminal settlement, refunds, discounts, tips, and service charges.
- Record cash overages or shortages with the responsible shift and approver.
- Confirm stock adjustments, waste, complimentary items, and cancelled orders have supporting reasons.
- Complete the end-of-day report, backup, synchronization check, and signed handover.
Keep evidence
Retain the opening count, closing reconciliation, exception notes, terminal settlement, and backup result according to local accounting and privacy rules. Test restoration separately; a successful backup message alone does not prove recovery.
Posnic is offline-first open source POS and Billing Software for retail shops and restaurants. Its application source, releases, and operating documentation are public in the Posnic/POS repository.