Restaurant billing software that runs on the devices you already own

Restaurant billing software replaces the pen, the order pad and the calculator. A captain enters the order once. The kitchen gets the ticket, the bill is worked out with discounts, service charge and GST, and payment is recorded against the right table. At night the cashier closes the day and the numbers match.

AirQR calls this screen the Point of sale, or POS. Owners, managers, cashiers and waiters can all use it, with different permissions. It also links to everything else you may use, such as the QR ordering your guests do themselves and the kitchen display your cooks read.

Many owners say hotel billing software or billing machine when they mean a restaurant system, so here is the plain answer. AirQR bills food and drink for restaurants, cafés, bars and the food and beverage side of a hotel. It does not do room booking or room billing.

No. If your outlet has no kitchen display, the POS runs the whole check. The send button becomes Add to check, the list is headed On the check, and nothing shows as in the kitchen. Kitchen tickets still print on your kitchen printers when printing is on.

If you have no kitchen printer either, a Print kitchen ticket button appears after each send. You can also let the POS open the browser's print window by itself. When you later want screens in the kitchen, the kitchen display adds on to the same check.

In a restaurant with long communal tables, two parties can sit at the same table and want separate bills. Choose the shared tables setup and a table can hold more than one check. When staff pick a table that already has a bill, the POS asks whether to add to T4·A, add to T4·B or start a new check at T4.

Each check is printed and paid on its own. On the live floor the table shows how many checks it holds and the combined amount due, and a guest who orders from their own phone by QR gets their own check. Without the shared tables setup, the POS keeps one check per table and asks staff to add to it, so nobody opens a second bill by mistake.

On the live floor you tap a table to go straight to the POS, and hold it to see options such as seat, hold, move and merge. Press T and type a table name or number, then Enter, to jump to a table from the keyboard. See the live floor help.

AirQR is not a separate app to install on one special machine. It runs in the browser, so it works on a laptop, a tablet or a phone. In Chrome or Edge you can also install the POS to the home screen. It then opens in its own window like an app.

That means a restaurant billing software for Android that uses the Android tablet or phone you already have. Waiters can take orders from their own phones, and the counter can use a tablet or a laptop. Getting them started does not need an email. The owner or manager creates a login from the Staff page that uses the waiter's mobile number and a password, and the waiter signs in with those, with no OTP. See staff logins. If you prefer one device at the counter and one in the kitchen, that works too.

For printing, AirQR works with the standard 58 mm and 80 mm thermal printers used in Indian restaurants, over USB, Bluetooth or Wi-Fi. A print station page runs in Chrome on a computer or an Android tablet and prints to USB and Bluetooth printers. A small free helper on an always-on computer drives Wi-Fi printers. An iPhone or iPad, and Safari or Firefox on any device, cannot connect to USB or Bluetooth printers. Connect those printers to an Android, Windows or Mac device running Chrome or Edge, or use a Wi-Fi printer through the helper. See how printing works and devices.

AirQR records payments and does not hold your money. You choose cash, card, UPI or other, enter the amount and add a tip if the guest left one. For cash it shows the change to return. For UPI it shows a QR for the exact amount, and your cashier presses mark as paid only after the money shows in the UPI or bank app. One check can be paid in parts, by different people and in different ways. Card payments are recorded against your own card machine. A payment gateway for cards is not available yet. A bill printed before payment carries a Scan to pay QR for the exact amount due, and a settled bill prints as a GST tax invoice, covered on the GST billing page. See recording payments.

Discounts are given with a reason, as a percentage or an amount, and every discount and void is saved with the staff member's name. Waiters can add dishes and take payment but cannot discount or void. Which roles can, and up to what limit, is decided by the owner. The service charge can also be removed from any dine-in bill. In India AirQR marks it optional, and anyone allowed to give discounts can take it off one bill while the check is open, with a reason. Each removal is saved with the staff member's name in the audit log. Details are in discounts, voids and tips.

Tips are recorded with the payment. Managers can share them fairly by hours worked, and download a payroll CSV from the time clock. AirQR does not pay anyone. See tips split and payroll.