Why This Matters

Creating an order is the core daily activity in IdePOS. Every sale — whether a customer dines in, takes food away, has it delivered, or picks it up — begins as an order. The order is the single record that captures what the customer bought, any discounts or fees that apply, who served them, and how they paid.

Getting the order right matters because it drives everything downstream: the kitchen ticket that tells staff what to prepare, the receipt the customer receives, the figures in your sales and shift reports, and the inventory that is deducted. An accurate order means accurate revenue, clean reporting at shift close, and fewer disputes at the counter.

This guide explains the full workflow from start to finish, points out the optional steps many teams miss, and highlights the rules and limits the app enforces so that operators can work quickly and confidently.

When to Use Each Order Type

Before creating an order, choose the order type that matches how the customer will receive their items. The order type affects which fees and taxes apply, whether a table is required, and which payment methods are offered.

• Dine-In: The customer is seated and eating in your venue. Requires a table and a party-size (pax) count; supports holding the bill open.
• Takeaway: The customer orders at the counter and takes the items away immediately. No table needed; typically paid at once.
• Delivery: The order will be delivered to the customer's address. No table.
  

Before You Begin

Be Signed In

Log in with your staff account. The order is automatically attributed to the signed-in staff member, and shift reports record who opened and handled each order.

Open a Shift

A shift must be open before any order can be created. Opening a shift records the starting cash float and begins the period that all sales are counted against.

1. From the home screen, open the Shift screen.
2. Select Open Shift.
3. Enter the opening cash amount (the starting float in the drawer) and confirm.

Permissions to Be Aware Of

Most order-building actions are available to any signed-in operator. A small number of sensitive actions require a manager PIN:

• Cancelling an unpaid order.
• Voiding an order after it has been paid.
• Certain manual discounts, depending on your store configuration.
  

Creating an Order — Step by Step

The sections below follow the natural order of work: start the order, add items, fine-tune each item, review the cart, apply adjustments, then check out and take payment. Optional steps are clearly marked.

Start a New Order

Open the Sales screen. Choose the order type for this sale (Dine-In, Takeaway or Delivery). For Takeaway and Delivery you can begin adding items straight away. For Dine-In, you first assign a table (next step).

Dine-In — Select an Area, Table, and Party Size

Dine-In orders are tied to a table so that staff and the kitchen know where the order belongs and the bill can stay open while guests are seated.

1. Open the Table / floor-plan screen.
   
2. Select the dining area if your venue has more than one.
3. Tap an available table. Table colour and status indicate whether it is empty, occupied, partially paid, or has items waiting to print.
4. Enter the number of guests (pax). This must be greater than zero.
   
5. An invoice number is generated automatically and the order is now active for that table.
   

Takeaway

For a takeaway order, the customer orders at the counter and takes the items away immediately. There is no table to assign, so you can start adding items straight away.

1. On the Sales screen, set the order type to Takeaway.
2. Add items to the cart (see "Add Items from the Menu").
3. Optionally enter the customer's name so the order is easy to identify at pickup.
4. Proceed to checkout and take payment.

Delivery (Manual Entry)

This section covers creating a delivery order by hand on the POS. Use it when your store is not integrated with IdeConnect. In that setup, orders from delivery platforms arrive on a separate device (for example the platform's own tablet), and the cashier re-enters the order on the POS, tagging which delivery platform it came from.

1. On the Sales screen, set the order type to Delivery.
2. A "Select Company Delivery" prompt appears. Choose the delivery platform this order came from, matching the platform shown on your delivery device.
3. Optionally enter the customer's name and the delivery / order number for reference.
4. Add items to the cart (see "Add Items from the Menu").
5. Proceed to checkout and take payment.

Add Items from the Menu

With the order started, add products from the menu. IdePOS offers several ways to find and add items:

• Browse by category: Tap a category, then a product. Use sub-category tabs to narrow the list.
• Search: Type part of the product name to filter the menu quickly.
• Item code / barcode: Enter or scan an item code to add a product directly — useful for retail-style items.
• Weight items: For items sold by weight, enter the measured quantity; the price is calculated from the unit of measure.

Tapping a product adds it to the cart. If a product has options to configure, the item form opens first (see the next step).

Configure an Item — Modifiers, Quantity, and Notes

When you add a product, you can tailor it before it lands in the cart:

• Modifiers / variants: Choose options such as size, add-ons, or toppings. Some modifier groups are required; others are optional. Selected options may adjust the price.
• Quantity: Set how many of the item to add. You can change this later in the cart.
• Item note: Add free-text instructions for that line, e.g. “no onions” or “extra hot”. The note prints on the kitchen ticket.
• Instant price: Press and hold on the Price, enter your staff PIN and enter the price at the point of sale.
  

Confirm to add the configured item to the cart. If you add the same product with identical options again, the app merges it and increases the quantity rather than creating a duplicate line.

Add an Open Item (Optional)

An open item is a product you ring up on the spot by typing its own name and price, instead of picking it from the menu. Use it when what the customer is buying does not exist as a set-up product — so staff can complete the sale immediately rather than waiting for the item to be created in the back office.

When to Use an Open Item

• One-off or miscellaneous sales — a special request, a sample, or an item you sell too rarely to set up as a full product.
• Open / variable pricing — goods where the price is agreed at the counter (for example a custom bundle, a damaged-stock discount sale, or a made-to-order item).
• A product not yet in the system — a new line that has not been configured in the menu yet, so the sale is not held up.
• Quick ad-hoc charges billed as a line item — anything you need to appear on the receipt and in sales with its own name and amount.

How to Add an Open Item

1. On the Sales screen, tap the Add Open Item card.
2. Enter the Open Item Name — this is what prints on the ticket and receipt, and is required.
3. Enter the Price — the amount to charge, also required.
4. Set the Quantity using the counter (defaults to 1).
5. Optionally add a Note for the kitchen or for reference.
6. Tap Add to Cart. The open item now sits in the cart like any other line and can be discounted, edited, or removed there.

Making an Open Item Reusable (Optional)

If you expect to use the same open item again, turn on the Add Item at Sales Page switch before saving. The item is then stored and appears on the Sales page for quick reuse, rather than existing only for the current order.

• When you save, you are asked to choose which menu(s) the item should appear under.
• The name must be unique — if an open item with the same name already exists, saving is blocked and you are asked to use a different name.
• A saved open item can later be renamed (Edit Open Item) or deleted. Its name cannot be changed inline while ringing it up — only through the edit action.

Review and Edit the Cart

The cart lists everything in the current order. From here you can:

• Change the quantity of any line.
• Remove a line you no longer need.
• Re-open a line to change its modifiers or note.
• For Dine-In orders, Click Save button to save the order before checking out. It will send the order ticket to KDS and print a receipt for either customer or the kitchen.
• Apply an item-level discount to a single line, as either a percentage or a fixed amount.
• • Press and Hold the Item in the cart, then select Discount.

Apply Discounts, Coupons, Promotions, and Fees (Optional)

IdePOS supports several kinds of price adjustment. They apply at different levels, so it helps to know which is which:

• Promotions: Applied automatically at the product line when an item has an active promotion. No action needed.
• Item discount: A manual discount on a single cart line (percentage or amount). Applied from the cart.
• Coupons: Apply a coupon by entering its code or selecting it from the coupon list. The coupon must be active and valid for this order type.
• Additional fees / tax : Configured by your store and applied automatically based on order type. Fees can be inclusive (already in the price) or exclusive (added on top).
• Loyalty voucher / points: If a member is attached, eligible vouchers or redeemable points can be applied as a discount.

Attach a Customer or Loyalty Member (Optional)

Attaching a customer is optional — walk-in orders are fully supported. Attach a customer when you need a record against the sale or when the customer is a loyalty member entitled to points or vouchers.

• Loyalty member: Look up and select the member so their points and eligible vouchers can be applied.
• Customer details: Capture name, phone, email, or address as needed — especially for delivery orders.

The attached customer is cleared automatically once the order is completed, ready for the next sale.

Proceed to Checkout

When the order is complete, proceed to checkout. The app validates the order before opening the payment screen:

• The cart must contain at least one item — you cannot check out an empty order.
• Any applied coupon or loyalty voucher must still be valid.
• If your store runs online, a connectivity check runs so the order can sync; if offline, it is saved locally and synced later.

Once validated, the order total is locked and the payment screen opens.

Limits and Important Notes

• A shift must be open. No order can be created while the shift is closed.
• Empty orders cannot be paid. The cart must hold at least one item to reach checkout.
• Dine-In requires a table and a pax count greater than zero.
• Available order types and payment methods are configuration-driven. If something is missing, it is a store setting, not a fault.
• Coupons and vouchers are validated at the point of use and may be rejected if expired, inactive, or not allowed for the order type.
• Cancelling and voiding require a manager PIN and cannot be undone.
• Offline behaviour: orders created without a connection are stored locally and synced when connectivity returns. Allow time for sync before reconciling reports.
• Loyalty point redemption is capped by the maximum redeemable points configured for the member or store.

Best Practices

• Open the shift first thing. Make opening a shift the first action of the day so operators are never blocked at the counter.
• Pick the order type before adding items. It determines fees, taxes, and payment options, and changing it later can require re-checking the order.
• Give open items clear, specific names (for example “Custom Cake — 2kg” rather than “Special”) so receipts and sales reports stay readable.
• Double-check the price before adding — open item prices are typed by hand, so there is no catalogue price to fall back on.
• Prefer a real product for anything recurring — open items are best for exceptions, not as a substitute for proper menu setup.
• Confirm the cart with the customer before checkout. A ten-second review prevents most refunds and voids.
• Use item notes for special requests rather than verbal hand-offs — the note prints to the kitchen and travels with the order.
• Attach loyalty members before applying discounts so their vouchers and points are available when you adjust the total.
• For Dine-In, keep one bill per table and use split or merge at payment time rather than opening multiple overlapping bills.