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Daily Use

Last updated August 9, 2026

Overview

This article covers the everyday cashier and waiter flows on the Tappya POS: opening a shift, taking orders, applying discounts, splitting bills, sending tickets to the kitchen, and closing out. The exact buttons differ slightly by mode (Main Cashier has the full set, Waiter is slimmer), but the flow is the same shape.

Starting your day

Sign in

On the Welcome screen, tap your user tile and enter your 4-digit PIN. PINs are set per user under Settings → User Management in the dashboard.

Open your session (cashier shift)

On Main Cashier and Secondary POS:

  1. Tap My Shift → Open Session.
  2. Enter your opening cash balance (count the drawer first).
  3. Optionally add a note ("Picked up an extra AED 100 float from manager").
  4. Confirm.

You can't take cash payments until your session is open.

Taking an order

  1. From the home screen, tap New Order.
  2. Pick an order type:
  • Dine-In: prompts for a table (see Tables below).
  • Takeaway: no table needed.
  • Delivery: prompts for a customer + address.
  1. Tap items from the menu grid to add them. Items with variants (sizes) or modifiers will pop up a configurator.
  2. The order panel on the right shows running totals.
  3. When ready, tap Send to Kitchen (fires the ticket without taking payment) or Charge (goes to payment).

Picking a dine-in table

Tap the table region in the order panel header. You'll see a grid of tables for the current floor (Available / Occupied / Reserved). Tap an Available table to seat the party there. If the table already has an active order, you'll be asked whether to join the existing order or start a new one (joining is the default for shared-bill situations).

Holding an order

Need to pause an order while a customer makes up their mind? Tap Hold. The order moves to Hold Orders and the screen clears. Reopen it later from Orders → Hold Orders.

Modifiers, variants, and notes

  • Variants (e.g. Small / Medium / Large) are required. The configurator won't let you finish until one is picked.
  • Modifiers respect the min/max selections you set on the modifier group in the dashboard.
  • Item notes ("no onions", "extra crispy") are free-text and print on the kitchen ticket.
  • Order-level notes apply to the whole order; tap the note icon on the order panel.

Discounts

Discounts can be applied either:

  • Per item: tap the item in the order panel, choose Discount.
  • Whole order: tap the totals area, choose Discount.

You can choose a preset discount (defined in the dashboard under Marketing → Discounts) or a manual percentage / fixed amount. Permission to apply manual discounts can be restricted by role.

Taking payment

Tap Charge. The Payment Method screen offers:

  • Cash: enter tendered amount, the POS computes change.
  • Card: if a card reader is integrated; otherwise mark "paid by card" and key in last 4.
  • Custom Amount: partial / non-standard payment.
  • Split: combine multiple methods or split between guests.

Splitting a bill

On the Split Payment screen you can:

  • Split evenly between N guests.
  • Split by item: drag items into per-guest baskets.
  • Mix payment methods: Guest A pays card, Guest B pays cash.

Once each share is paid, the order moves to Completed automatically.

Receipts

After payment, the Finish Payment screen offers Print, Email, SMS, or No Receipt. Print and Email defaults can be set on the POS in Settings → App Settings → Receipt Settings.

Kitchen routing

When an order is fired:

  • The POS evaluates each line against your Kitchen Stations configuration (dashboard → Settings → Kitchen Stations).
  • Items route to the correct printer or KDS screen based on category mapping.
  • Modifiers and notes print under each line.

If a kitchen printer is offline, the print job retries automatically and the POS surfaces a warning in the header. Print jobs that exhaust their retries land in Settings → System → Print Jobs (dead-letter) so nothing is lost.

Editing and cancelling

  • Edit an open order: from Orders, tap the order, then Edit. You can add, remove, and re-configure items until payment is complete.
  • Refund a paid order: Orders → tap the order → Refund. You'll be asked for a reason. Refunds reverse inventory and update the day's totals. Permission to refund is role-gated.
  • Void an item that hasn't been sent to kitchen: just remove it from the order panel.
  • Void an item that has been sent to kitchen: removing it prints a "void" ticket to the relevant station so the cook knows to stop.

Waiter-mode differences

On a Waiter terminal:

  • You can pick a table, take orders, fire them to the kitchen, attach a customer, and hand off to the till.
  • You cannot take payment, settle the bill, run reports, open/close the cash session, or change settings.
  • The order is settled by walking up to the Main Cashier (or any Secondary POS) and finishing it there, the table is automatically findable.

Closing your day

  1. Tap My Shift → Close Session.
  2. Count the drawer and enter the closing balance.
  3. Review the per-payment-method breakdown the POS computed.
  4. Confirm any discrepancy.
  5. Confirm close.

The session report is now available in Transactions → Sessions in the dashboard.

Related articles

  • POS Overview
  • Pairing and Modes
  • Offline and Troubleshooting

Key Concepts

  • Session / Shift: A cashier-bound period of trading. Opens with a counted drawer, closes with a counted drawer, used for reconciliation.
  • Hold order: An order that's been started but paused (waiting on the customer). Doesn't go to the kitchen until fired.
  • Kitchen station: The destination of a kitchen ticket, a printer or a KDS. Configured per category.
  • Split payment: One order, multiple payment methods or multiple guests.
  • Void vs Refund: Void removes an item before money has changed hands (with a kitchen void if it's already been sent). Refund reverses a completed payment.