Most restaurant owners in India pick billing software the same way: a friend uses it, a salesperson demos it on a quiet afternoon, or it came bundled with the printer. Then the first Saturday rush shows what the demo did not. This checklist is the set of questions worth asking before you commit, whichever product you choose.
1. How many taps does a normal bill take?
Ask the vendor to bill three items, change a quantity, switch to Takeaway and take a UPI payment while you time it. At the counter, every extra screen costs seconds per customer, and those seconds add up to a queue. Good restaurant billing software keeps menu search, the bill and payment on a single screen.
2. Can you find a menu item by name and by code?
Experienced cashiers type short codes; new staff search by name. The software should support both, and search should still be quick when the menu has a few hundred items.
3. Is GST set once per menu category?
Typing the GST rate on every item is where mistakes start. Look for category-level GST defaults so every new item in a category inherits the right rate, with an owner-only override for exceptions. The printed bill should show the CGST and SGST split and your GSTIN. Our guide to GST on restaurant bills covers which rate applies.
4. Are Dine-In, Takeaway and Delivery handled in one flow?
If each order type lives in a different app or screen, your end-of-day numbers will never match. One billing flow where each bill is tagged by order type gives you a clean split in reports.
5. Which payment modes are supported, and can a bill be split?
Cash, UPI and card are the minimum in India. Split payments, for example part cash and part UPI, are common on larger bills and should not need a workaround.
6. What does daily closing look like?
At the end of the day you want the total per payment mode, expenses paid from the counter and the cash that should be in the drawer. If the software cannot produce that in one screen, the owner ends up reconciling on paper.
7. Which reports will you actually open?
Most owners look at the same few numbers: total sales, number of bills, average bill value, top-selling items, the Dine-In, Takeaway and Delivery split and the payment mix. Ask to see those reports with sample data rather than a list of report names.
8. What happens when you open a second outlet?
Check whether a new branch means a second licence and a second set of reports, or whether one account covers both with staff limited to their own branch. Ask what an extra branch costs, both one-time and monthly.
9. Does it include things you do not need?
Kitchen display, KOT routing, recipe costing and raw-material stock are valuable for some kitchens and pure overhead for a café or juice shop. Paying for, and training staff on, modules you never use makes the daily workflow slower. Be honest about what you need today.
10. What is the total cost over two years?
Add the setup fee, the subscription for 24 months, any per-user or per-terminal charges, paid add-ons such as GST reports, and the cost of extra branches. A low monthly price with paid add-ons can cost more than a simple all-inclusive plan.
A quick way to compare vendors
- Time a three-item Takeaway bill with UPI payment.
- Ask for the GST report your CA needs, with sample data.
- Ask what an extra branch costs, both one-time and monthly.
- Ask what is not included, and whether it costs extra.
- Ask how backups work and who owns your data.
For context, ByteCraft POS Restaurant is billing-focused: menu billing for Dine-In, Takeaway and Delivery, GST by menu category, cash, UPI and card, expenses, daily closing and food sales reports, for ₹1,500 setup and ₹600 a month. It deliberately leaves out KOT and recipe management. Whatever you choose, run the checklist above before you sign.