Glossary
The POS, billing and restaurant terms you run into, explained without the jargon.
- POS (Point of Sale)
- The system where a sale actually happens, where you ring up items, take payment and print the bill. A good POS also feeds inventory, accounts and reports behind the scenes.
- Offline-first POS
- A point-of-sale system that runs on the terminal itself, so billing continues during an internet outage and syncs automatically once the connection returns. The opposite of a cloud-only POS that freezes when the Wi-Fi drops.
- KOT (Kitchen Order Ticket)
- The instruction that tells the kitchen what to cook. Fired from the POS when an order is placed, either printed at a station or shown on a kitchen display.
- KDS (Kitchen Display System)
- Screens that replace printed kitchen tickets, routing each order to the right station and showing how long it has been waiting.
- HSN Code
- The Harmonised System of Nomenclature code that classifies a product for GST in India. It must appear on compliant invoices so tax is reported correctly.
- GST
- Goods and Services Tax, India's indirect tax on the supply of goods and services. Restaurants and businesses must issue GST-compliant invoices and file periodic returns.
- VAT
- Value Added Tax, the consumption tax applied in the UAE and many other countries. UAE businesses issue VAT invoices and file VAT returns.
- E-way Bill
- An electronic document required in India for moving goods above a threshold value. It carries details of the consignment and can be generated from the invoice.
- Scan & Order
- A QR-based flow where guests scan a code, browse the menu on their phone and order themselves, with the order dropping straight into the POS and kitchen.
- Recipe-level inventory
- Tracking stock by the raw materials a dish consumes, so selling a plate automatically deducts its ingredients and gives you a real food cost.
- Price list
- A defined set of prices applied by context, dine-in, delivery, wholesale or a specific outlet, so the same product can sell at the right price on each channel.
- Sale channel
- A distinct route through which orders arrive and get reported, walk-in, an aggregator, your own storefront, each able to carry its own pricing.
- Stock transfer
- Moving inventory between outlets or warehouses, booked at both the sending and receiving ends so nothing goes missing in transit.
- Credit note
- A document that records a return or a reduction on a previous invoice, restoring stock and adjusting the customer's account rather than deleting the original sale.
- Day book
- A running record of every transaction for the day, sales, purchases, payments, used to reconcile and close the till.