POS operations guide
Bars lose money in small leaks: open tabs, unapproved voids, wrong happy-hour timing, free pours, forgotten split bills and weak shift closing. POS should make service fast while keeping the owner in control.
This checklist helps bars, pubs, lounges, clubs, hotel bars, brewery taprooms and restaurant bars that handle tabs, tips, offers and late-night settlement.
Open tab with customer or table reference, add drinks by staff login, apply time-bound happy-hour rules, split or transfer when needed, close payment, then review voids, discounts and stock-sensitive items.
Decide who can open tabs, who can void, who can apply manual discounts, when happy hour starts and ends, and how cash tips or service charges are recorded.
Review open tabs, voided items, discounted bills, happy-hour sales, staff sales, payment modes, cash variance and fast-moving liquor stock.
Every tab should have an owner, a staff login and a clean close.
Staff opens a tab with table, seat, name or token reference.
Each round is entered by staff login so changes have accountability.
Happy-hour prices apply by time and item rule instead of cashier memory.
The tab can be split, merged or moved with manager permission where needed.
Payment closes the tab, then voids, discounts and cash variance are reviewed.
Adds rounds quickly and sees open tabs without guessing.
Approves voids, transfers and unusual discounts.
Reads leak reports before they become habit.
A time-bound price rule is usually cleaner because staff do not have to remember it.
Open tabs, voids, discounts, staff sales and cash variance should be checked every shift.
It can help, but exact pour-level stock needs strict bar discipline. Start with high-value bottle movement and wastage.
Posnic Community Edition is the free open-source local POS for billing, stock, tax setup and daily operations. Posnic Cloud is only needed when a business wants branch sync, managed backups, remote dashboards or connected ordering workflows.