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Guides

Practical guides for running a restaurant, written by BillDine from how BillDine works and from official sources. Rules on tax and law link to the government page they come from, with the day we read it.

Tax and bills

Running the day

  • The end-of-day cash-up, step by step

    Count the drawer, find the difference, record where the cash goes and close the day: a practical cash-up routine for restaurants, cafés and takeaways.

    · 5 min read

  • Staff PINs and permissions: who can do what

    Why every person needs their own POS PIN, which actions should need a manager, how to set roles and discount limits, and what to do when someone leaves.

    · 5 min read

  • When the power or the internet goes down

    A plan for keeping service going through an internet outage or a power cut: what to prepare, what staff do in the moment, and how to tidy up afterwards.

    · 5 min read

  • Reducing food waste with stock counts

    Log what you throw away, count what you have, compare it with what you sold, and prep to need: a practical routine to cut food waste in a restaurant kitchen.

    · 5 min read

Equipment and systems

  • Choosing a receipt printer for your restaurant

    58 mm or 80 mm paper, USB, network or Bluetooth, the counter or the kitchen: what to look at before you buy a receipt or kitchen printer.

    · 5 min read

  • Setting up a kitchen display screen

    Screens or printed tickets, which device to use, where to mount it, how to split stations and what to do when the internet drops — a practical KDS setup guide.

    · 5 min read

  • How to choose a restaurant POS

    Twelve questions to ask any restaurant POS before you buy: offline, kitchen, printers, staff, stock, reports, payments, price, contract, data and support.

    · 5 min read

Growing your business

  • How to calculate food cost percentage

    The food cost formula for one dish and for a whole period, with worked examples, the common mistakes, and how to use the number to price your menu.

    · 4 min read

  • Menu engineering basics

    Sort every dish by how often it sells and how much it earns per plate, then decide what to keep, promote, re-price or remove — with a worked example.

    · 4 min read

  • Table turns: measure them, then improve them

    What a table turn is, how to work out your turn rate per service, and the changes — at the door, in the kitchen and at the bill — that free tables sooner.

    · 4 min read

  • Restaurant loyalty programme basics

    Points, visits or tiers; setting the earn rate and reward so the programme pays for itself; running it at a busy counter; and handling guests' data.

    · 5 min read

  • Opening a café: the systems checklist

    Menu, prices and tax, the POS and printer, payments, staff, stock and suppliers, and a soft opening — a practical checklist for the weeks before a café opens.

    · 4 min read

  • Running several brands from one cloud kitchen

    How to plan menus, stations, stock, packaging and reports when one delivery kitchen runs several brands — and how to keep each brand's numbers apart.

    · 4 min read

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Setting up a POS terminal or kitchen screen? Use this device as a terminal