Overview

Table Management lets you lay out your dining areas and tables, then run dine-in service on the POS around those tables. Each occupied table holds an open bill (a running tab) that staff add to over the course of a visit, and the table map shows at a glance which tables are seated, ordered, or paid.

This feature helps you:

• Organize the floor into areas and tables that match your venue
• Open a tab per table and keep adding items during the visit
• Let guests order to their table by scanning a per-table QR code
• See table occupancy, guest count, and how long a table has been seated
• Move, combine, and split tables as guests change seats or groups

Before You Start

Table Management is configured per store and must be switched on before the POS shows the table map. You can build your layout in the Portal or directly on the POS — both use the same tables.

Set Up Tables in the Portal

Where to Configure

Go to Store Settings → Table Management → Table Setup, and select the store you want to configure.

Create Areas

An Area is a section of your venue (for example “Indoor”, “Terrace”, “2nd Floor”). Use Add Area and give it a name (up to 25 characters). You can drag areas to reorder them. An area cannot be deleted while it still has an active order.

Add Tables

Open an area and add tables onto its grid layout. Each table has:

• Table Name — you can add several at once by separating names with a comma (each name is placed on the grid automatically).
• Size of Pax — how many guests the table seats (default 2).
• Shape — square, circle, or horizontal / vertical rectangle.
• Time Limit (optional) — a seating time limit, up to 1 hour 30 minutes.

Table names must be unique, and the grid must have room for the shape you place.

Enable Table Setup

Turn on the master Table Setup switch to activate table-based dine-in. Remember to re-login on the POS afterward (see the note above).

Table QR Codes (QR Ordering)

Table Management is also where QR ordering ties into your tables. Once you create tables in Table Setup, each table automatically gets its own QR code. You can copy the ordering link, download the QR image, and print it to place on the table — when a guest scans it, the menu opens for that specific table and their dine-in order is tied to it.

For takeaway QR codes (not tied to a table), use Table Management → QR Generator, which lets you add a QR by name and choose what it is available for (Dine In, Takeaway, or Delivery).

Using Tables on the POS

The Table Map

With Table Setup on, dine-in opens a table map. Switch between areas at the top, and tap a table to work with it. You can also build or adjust the layout directly on the POS — it saves to the same place as the Portal.

Start a Dine-In Order

Tap an empty table, choose the number of guests (pax), and an open bill is created for that table. Add items to it now or come back and add more during the visit — everything stays on the same tab until you take payment. Tapping a seated table reopens its bill then tap To Order to open the menu and add items for the guest. You can return to the same table and tap To Order again at any time during the visit to add more — everything stays on the same open bill until checkout.

Guests can also start a dine-in order themselves by scanning the table’s QR code; those orders are tied to the table and appear in the POS Order view.

After adding items for the guest, tap Save to commit them to the table's open bill. Saving writes the items onto the bill, syncs them, and — if your kitchen printing is set to print before payment — sends them to the kitchen.

Note Items you don't Save stay in a temporary cart only; they are not added to the bill or sent to the kitchen, and the POS warns you if you try to leave with unsaved items.

Reading Table Status

Each table tile shows its status without opening it:

• Color indicates the state — empty, seated, items ordered, fully paid, or an item held for printing.
• A guest ratio (for example 2/4) shows seated pax against the table’s capacity.
• A timer shows how long the table has been seated.
• Split and merge icons mark tables that are shared or combined.

Table Operations

Open a seated table to reach its operations:

• Transfer — Open the seated table, tap Transfer on its bill, then go back to the table map (a Cancel Transfer bar appears at the top) and tap the destination table. If the destination is empty, the whole bill moves there and the original table is freed. If the destination is already seated, you either place the moved bill alongside the existing one as a separate seating on that table, or — when the table has more than one bill — pick which specific bill to drop it onto, in which case the two are combined into that bill. The destination must have enough free seats for the number of guests on the bill.
• Merge — Open the seated table, tap Merge, then go back to the map (a Cancel Merge bar appears) and tap the table to combine with. Merging with an empty table makes the one bill span both tables (the tab now shows both table names) — use this to seat a larger group across adjoining tables. Merging with a table that already has a bill folds the two bills into one: matching items have their quantities added together, the guest counts are combined, and the other bill is closed. If the target table holds several bills, you choose which one to merge into.
  
  
• Split — Open the seated table and tap Split (available only while the table still has free seats). In the Split Table form, add how many separate bills you want and set the guest count (pax) for each; the total pax across the new bills cannot exceed the table's available seats. Each new bill gets its own invoice with its own service charge and tax, while all of them share the same physical table — use this when different people at one table want to pay separately.
• Takeaway — Open the seated table and tap Takeaway to convert the dine-in tab into a takeaway order. The items move back into the active cart, the open bill is closed, the table is freed, and the order type changes to Takeaway. Use this when guests decide to take their order to go instead of dining in.
• Cancel — cancel the open bill (requires a manager PIN).

Closing a Table

When guests are ready to pay, open the table and take payment as usual. With Table Management on, taking payment does not immediately free the table — the bill is marked Paid and the table stays occupied (shown green) until you settle it.

Open the paid table and tap Settle to close the open bill and return the table to empty for the next guests.

To skip the manual step, enable Auto Settle Table. You can turn it on in the Portal (Ideku POS -> Feature -> settings — "Automatically Settle the Table after Customer Pay the Order") or directly on the POS under its Feature Settings. When it is on, a dine-in table is settled and freed automatically as soon as the order is paid, so staff don't need to press Settle.

On the Kitchen Display (KDS)

If you use a KDS, dine-in tickets show the table name in the ticket header (as “Table <name>”), so kitchen staff know where each order belongs. Tickets are also labeled by order type (Dine-In, Takeaway, Delivery), and the KDS can be filtered by those types.

Limitations & Considerations

• Table Setup is per store, and the POS applies changes only after a re-login.
• Layout uses a single Area level — there is no separate multi-floor or zone hierarchy beyond areas.
• There is no table reservation / booking feature — a table is either empty or occupied by an open bill.
• The table tile shows color, guest ratio, and time seated — it does not show the bill amount (open the bill to see totals).
• A table’s QR link changes if the table is renamed or recreated, so the printed code must be replaced.
• An area with an active order cannot be deleted, and table names must be unique.

Best Practices

• Lay out areas and tables to mirror the real floor so staff can find tables quickly.
• Set each table’s Size of Pax accurately — it drives the guest ratio and the seats available for splitting or merging.
• Use Merge for large groups and Split when one table pays separately, rather than opening unrelated tables.
• Print and place each table’s QR code, and reprint it whenever you rename or recreate the table.
• Always finish with checkout to free the table; use Takeaway or Cancel only for genuine exceptions.
• Re-login on the POS right after enabling Table Setup so the map appears.