Front-of-House Guide

Two things worth knowing before a busy service

• The session holds the order, not the table. If guests move, move the session — opening a new table strands the original order.
• Split before settling. Once part of a bill is paid, splitting it becomes awkward. Ask how the table is paying before you take the first payment.

On the floor

How to Seat a Table and Start an Order (open a table, seat guests, start a session)

Starting the session is what everything else attaches to.

Required permission: Restaurant read

1. Open Restaurant POS → Floor on a terminal, or Restaurant in the staff app
2. Tap the table on the floor plan
3. Start a session for it
4. Add items and send them to the kitchen

Result: The table shows as occupied, the kitchen has the order, and the running bill builds on the session.

How to Add to a Running Table (another round, add items, more drinks)

Add to the existing session rather than starting a new one.

1. Open the table from the floor plan
2. Add the new items
3. Send them to the kitchen

Result: The items join the same bill and reach the kitchen as part of that table's order.

How to Move Guests to Another Table (change table, guests moved, transfer table)

Move the session so the order travels with them.

Required permission: Restaurant POS

1. Open the table in the restaurant POS
2. Choose to move it and pick the destination table
3. Confirm

Result: Items and bills move to the new table, and a transfer slip records the move.

Note: Never re-open on the new table. That leaves the original order stranded on a table nobody is sitting at, and it will show up at close.

How to Merge Two Tables (join tables, groups joined up, combine bills)

When two groups become one.

Required permission: Restaurant POS

1. Open one of the tables
2. Choose to merge and select the other
3. Confirm

Result: One session with all items on a single bill.

Note: Merge before anything is settled. Merging a table where part of the bill is paid makes the remaining balance hard to read.

How to Split a Bill (separate bills, everyone pays their own, split the bill)

Ask before you take the first payment.

Required permission: Restaurant POS

1. Open the table and choose to split the bill
2. Choose Evenly to divide the total, or By items to assign items to named sub-bills
3. For By items, create a sub-bill per payer and tap each item onto one
4. Check nothing is left unassigned
5. Settle each sub-bill with its own payment

Result: Each payer settles their own share, with their own method and receipt.

Note: Name sub-bills something the table will recognise when you read it back — Bill 1 and Bill 2 cause confusion at exactly the wrong moment.

How to Release a Table (clear the table, free the table, guests left)

Return it to the floor once the guests have gone.

1. Open the table in the restaurant POS
2. Release it

Result: The table shows as available on the floor plan.

Note: A table left occupied after guests leave is the most common reason a floor plan stops matching the room.

At a hotel desk

How to Check a Guest In (arrival, check in guest, guest arriving)

Assign a room and complete their details.

Required permission: Front desk

1. Go to Hotel Front Desk and open Arrivals for the date
2. Find the reservation
3. Assign a room — only INSPECTED rooms are offered
4. Complete the guest details, including nationality and date of birth
5. Complete the check-in

Result: The guest is in-house, their room is allocated, and charges can be routed to their folio.

Note: Nationality and date of birth drive tax exemptions in some countries. A guest checked in without them may be charged levies they should be exempt from. See Green Tax.

How to Check a Guest Out (departure, check out guest, settle the bill)

Settle the folio and release the room.

Required permission: Front desk

1. Go to Hotel Front Desk and open Departures
2. Open the guest’s folio and review every charge, including anything from outlets
3. Take the final payment through the Front Desk Terminal
4. Complete the check-out

Result: The folio settles, the room is released to housekeeping, and any applicable levy is calculated.

How to Route a Charge to the Right Folio (charge to room, who pays for what, company pays)

A reservation can have several folios — per guest, per company, per room.

Required permission: Front desk

1. Open the reservation and review its folios
2. Route the charge to the correct one
3. Split a charge across folios where it is shared

Result: Each party is billed for what they agreed to pay.

Note: Get this right before charges accumulate. Re-routing a week of charges at check-out in front of a waiting guest is not a good moment. See Folio Management.