Topic 18 · Act 2 · 14 min
POS & Billing
Tide & Table
Remember from before
- From service operations: who collects the ready dish at pickup, and how does the kitchen know it is coming?
Think first
The guest reads the bill twice. Then looks up at you.
'I never ordered a second coffee.' The folder is open. The number is wrong. The whole warm evening now rests on your next ten words.
Table 6, Table 9
A busy night at the Tide & Table. Two tables, almost the same order, two minutes apart.
Anjali
I punched it fast, Captain. Table 6 got Table 9's bill — a whole bottle of wine on it.
Captain Rao
And the guest at Table 6 saw a number for wine they never drank.
Anjali
They were so quiet. I thought they were just tired after a long meal.
Captain Rao
No. They were deciding whether they could trust us. A wrong bill does not just cost money, Anjali. It costs the whole evening.
Ms. D'Souza
I signed the void at the terminal. One wrong tap on the table number, and a happy guest nearly walked out angry.
Captain Rao
We fixed it, apologised, voided the line — with the manager's sign-off. But the lesson stays: check before you print.
Your guess first
Before you press Print on a bill, what matters most?
Today's topic
POS & Billing
The last number a guest sees must be right — every time.
Why it matters
An honest, accurate bill protects two things at once: the guest's trust and the hotel's money. The food may have been perfect, but the bill is the last thing the guest touches — it is the taste they carry home.
The words
Tap a card. Say it out loud together.
Watch how
- 1Take the order, then punch each item into the POS — to the correct table number.
- 2The POS raises the KOT for the kitchen and the BOT for the bar; the line begins to fire.
- 3When the guest asks for the bill, open that table's check on the POS screen.
- 4Verify three things, reading slowly: right items, right covers, right table.
- 5If a line is wrong, void it with a manager's sign-off before you print — never delete it yourself.
- 6Print the check. Place it in a clean folder — never call the total out loud.
- 7Present it discreetly, from the right, to the host of the table.
- 8Settle by the guest's method: cash, card, room charge or UPI. Confirm the amount.
- 9Return any change and the printed receipt. Thank them warmly by name.
Ring each item as it is served.
Round the bill up from memory.
A check built from the POS is honest; a check built from memory invents charges the guest never agreed to.
Open the check, read every line, fix it on screen, then print.
Print straight away and hope the numbers are right.
Checking takes ten seconds. A wrong bill costs the whole evening.
Wrong item? Void it — with the manager's sign-off.
Quietly delete the line yourself to save time.
Voids and discounts need authorization. Honesty is the rule, not the exception.
What would you do?
You present the bill. The guest points: 'I never ordered this second dessert.' The folder is open between you.
A guest spots an item on the bill they did not order. What do you do?
The card machine declines. The guest is flustered and the cash they hand you is short by two hundred. What keeps the bill honest?
From service operations: the POS slip the kitchen cooks from at pickup is called the…?
Settle it right
Put the billing steps in the correct order, from order to farewell.
- Punch the order into the POS, to the right table
- The POS raises the KOT / BOT
- When asked, open the check on screen
- Verify: right items, right covers, right table
- Print it and place it in a clean folder
- Present the bill discreetly — no total spoken
- Settle by the guest's method (cash, card, room, UPI)
- Return change and receipt, then thank them
Remember on the floor
- Punch to the right table — the POS raises the KOT/BOT the line fires from.
- Check items, covers and table before you print.
- Present the bill discreetly in a folder. Never call the total.
- Voids and discounts only with authorization — never a quiet delete.
- Never overcharge, never guess: the total is fixed by what you rang, not by memory.
Tomorrow: the warm farewell — the last thing a guest carries home.
Capstone
Present an accurate bill, settle it correctly, and give a warm farewell.
The last number a guest sees must be right — every time.