Software for restaurant billing: a practical setup guide
Choosing billing software is the easy half. This is the setup order that gets a restaurant live without discovering a wrong tax rate on invoice number 400.
What do you configure first?
Set the property details first: legal name, address, PAN number, service charge rate and VAT rate. These print on every invoice and drive every calculation, so a mistake here is a mistake on every bill until someone notices.
Defaults in Nepal are 10% service charge and 13% VAT, but a takeaway-only counter may levy no service charge at all. Set it per property, not per bill.
How should the menu be structured?
Build categories first, then items with both English and Nepali names, a price in paisa, a preparation station and a veg flag. Add modifier groups — spice level, preparation style — only where the kitchen genuinely needs them, or ordering slows to a crawl.
Prep stations matter more than people expect: they are what lets the tandoor screen show only tandoor items.
Who gets a PIN, and for what?
Every staff member who touches the till gets a four to six digit PIN. Voiding an item, applying a discount, opening the cash drawer and posting to a room folio should each require a PIN, and the software should record which person authorised each one.
This is not about distrust. It is about being able to answer the question 'who gave that 20% discount on Friday' without a meeting.
How do you test billing before going live?
Run ten real bills through the system on a quiet afternoon: one with a discount, one split between two guests, one voided item, one QR payment, one cash payment with change. Check the printed invoice arithmetic by hand on at least two of them.
- Confirm the service charge is taxed, not exempt.
- Confirm invoice numbers run without gaps.
- Try to edit a settled bill — it should refuse.
- Pull the internet cable and bill one order.
- Close the shift and check the cash variance figure.
What should you do on day one of live service?
Open the shift with a counted float, keep the old system running in parallel for a single day, and close the shift properly at night. Compare the two totals before you throw the old book away.
What does billing software cost?
Rs 500 to Rs 1,500 per month for cloud billing in Nepal, including updates and support, with a free trial to run the tests above before you pay anything.
| Plan | Monthly (NPR) | Yearly (NPR) | Outlets |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starter | Rs 500 | Rs 5,000 | 1 outlet |
| Pro | Rs 1,000 | Rs 10,000 | Up to 3 outlets |
| Multi-outlet | Rs 1,500 | Rs 15,000 | Up to 25 outlets |
Try Namyloo on your own menu
Cloud POS for restaurants, hotels and stores in Nepal. Runs in the browser on hardware you already own, from Rs 500 a month. Free trial, no card needed.
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