Restaurant POS Checklist for Opening a New Restaurant in UAE

Opening a new restaurant in the UAE involves dozens of moving parts. Your POS system is one of the few that touches every transaction from day one — it manages orders, produces VAT-compliant receipts, routes items to the kitchen and gives you the daily sales data you need to run the business.

Getting your POS setup right before you open matters more than most operators realise. A poorly configured system on opening day creates confusion for staff, incorrect receipts for customers and gaps in your financial records. This checklist covers every configuration step you should complete before your first service.

The checklist is aimed at new restaurants opening in the UAE, but it is equally relevant for an existing restaurant switching to a new POS system.

1. Choose the Right POS Hardware

Before you configure anything, you need the right hardware in place. For most small restaurants and cafés in the UAE, a practical starting setup includes:

• Android POS terminal — the main cashier screen where orders are placed and payments taken
• Thermal receipt printer — prints VAT-compliant receipts for customers and KOT slips for the kitchen
• Cash drawer — connects to the receipt printer and opens automatically when a cash payment is recorded

The Luqma Café Starter Kit bundles all three from AED 1,999 + VAT, with the first month's software payment included — a practical way to get a counter running without sourcing hardware separately.

If your kitchen has more than one station or significant order volume, plan a Kitchen Display System (KDS) from the start. A second Android screen running the KDS app replaces paper tickets and gives your kitchen real-time visibility of every order as soon as it is placed.

2. Set Up Your Menu in the POS

Your menu is the foundation of every transaction. Setting it up correctly before opening prevents pricing errors, incorrect VAT calculations and kitchen confusion.

Work through these steps:

• Create menu categories — group items logically (e.g. Starters, Mains, Grills, Beverages, Desserts). Well-organised categories make it faster for cashiers to find items during service.
• Add all menu items with correct names and prices. Check spelling carefully — these names appear on customer receipts.
• Set item modifiers — add-ons and variants that apply to specific items (extra sauce, size options, no onion). Modifiers should print on the kitchen slip so the kitchen prepares items correctly.
• Set up combo meals if applicable — define the base item and the selections the customer can make (drink choice, side choice).
• Mark zero-rated items if your menu has any items that attract zero VAT. Most prepared restaurant food in the UAE is standard-rated at 5%, but confirm any exceptions with your accountant.
• Add Arabic translations if your POS supports bilingual menus. Luqma supports Arabic and English on both the POS and receipts.

3. Configure UAE VAT and Your TRN

If your restaurant is VAT-registered — which is mandatory once your taxable turnover exceeds AED 375,000 in any 12-month period — your POS must be configured correctly before your first transaction.

Key VAT configuration steps:

• Enter your Tax Registration Number (TRN) in the POS settings. Your TRN must appear on every customer receipt for it to qualify as a valid UAE tax invoice.
• Enable 5% VAT on standard-rated items. Your POS should calculate and display VAT automatically — cashiers should not be calculating VAT manually.
• Verify the VAT breakdown appears on a test receipt before opening day. The receipt should show the subtotal (net), VAT amount and total (gross) as separate line items.
• Confirm the receipt header shows your business name, TRN and the words "Tax Invoice" or equivalent.

If you are not yet VAT-registered at opening, you can operate without a TRN — but you cannot charge VAT until you are registered. Plan your registration with your accountant early, as the FTA process takes time. See the UAE VAT Guide for Restaurants for the full breakdown of registration thresholds and receipt requirements.

4. Test Receipt Printing Before Opening Day

Receipt printing problems are one of the most common issues on a restaurant's first day of service. Print test receipts before you open and check every element:

• Business name displays correctly
• TRN appears (if VAT-registered)
• Item names, quantities and prices are correct
• VAT breakdown is visible (subtotal, VAT at 5%, total)
• Payment method is noted (cash / card)
• Date and time are correct
• Receipt number is sequential

Also test a refund receipt and confirm it reverses VAT correctly. Print is not always intuitive on first setup — it is far better to discover a misalignment in a test than during a real customer transaction.

5. Configure Kitchen Routing

How orders reach your kitchen depends on your setup:

Option A: Kitchen Display System (KDS)

If you have a Luqma KDS, configure which categories or items route to which screen. A typical setup might route hot food items to the grill station and beverages to the barista station. The cashier sends the order and the relevant station sees it instantly.

Before opening day, test a complete order from the POS through to the KDS. Confirm the item appears on the correct station screen within seconds of being placed.

Option B: KOT printing (Kitchen Order Ticket)

If you are using a printer-based KOT workflow, configure the printer routing so that kitchen slips go to the correct kitchen printer. For a simple single-kitchen operation, this is typically the same receipt printer or a dedicated kitchen printer.

Test KOT printing with a sample order. Confirm the kitchen can read the ticket clearly — font size, item names and any modifiers should be legible under kitchen conditions.

6. Set Up Payment Methods

Configure every payment method your restaurant will accept:

• Cash — confirm cash payment opens the cash drawer correctly
• Card — if you have a card machine (PDQ terminal), test a card payment end-to-end before opening. Confirm the receipt reflects card payment and not cash.
• Split payments — test a split payment (part cash, part card) if your operation will offer this
• Delivery aggregators — if you receive orders from Talabat, Careem, Noon Food or other platforms, confirm how these orders are recorded in the POS. Even if aggregator orders arrive separately, they must be accounted for in your VAT records.

7. Configure Shift Management

Your POS should enforce a formal shift-open and shift-close process. This is how your business tracks daily sales and produces the Z-report your accountant needs.

Before opening day:

• Open a test shift and process a few test transactions of different types — dine-in, takeaway, cash, card, refund.
• Close the shift and review the Z-report. The Z-report should show total sales, VAT collected, payment method breakdown, and any voids or refunds.
• Train managers on the shift-close process. Inconsistent end-of-shift closures create gaps in VAT records and make monthly accounting significantly harder.
• Set a petty cash float if applicable, and confirm how cash counted in matches cash expected from the Z-report.

8. Set Up Reporting Access

Your POS reporting should be accessible to management without requiring staff to close the shift. Before opening day:

• Confirm management can access the daily sales report without disrupting cashier operations
• Verify the VAT report shows net sales, VAT and gross sales clearly
• Check that payment method reports are accurate after your test transactions
• Confirm multi-branch reporting is configured if you are opening multiple locations

A reliable Z-report and sales reporting setup is not optional — it is the source document for your quarterly FTA VAT filing.

9. Set Up Inventory (If Applicable at Opening)

Not every new restaurant needs full inventory management software from day one. For many small operations, starting with POS-only and adding inventory later is a reasonable approach — the business needs to be operating before stock tracking makes sense.

However, if your operation has a complex menu, high ingredient costs, or you want to track food cost from the start, consider setting up the inventory module before opening:

• Set up ingredient items and units of measure
• Create recipes linking menu items to ingredients and quantities
• Enter opening stock counts
• Configure your initial supplier list for purchase orders

Recipe costing lets you see the theoretical food cost of each menu item. Combined with actual stock deductions as items are sold, you get a live view of cost of goods sold — essential for managing margins in a new restaurant.

10. Create Staff Accounts and Roles

Configure individual user accounts for each staff member who will use the POS. Role-based access means:

• Cashiers can take orders and process payments, but cannot view financial reports or perform voids without manager approval
• Managers can access reports, approve voids and close shifts
• Kitchen staff on KDS screens cannot modify orders from the customer-facing POS

Avoid shared login credentials. Individual accounts make it possible to track which cashier processed which transactions — important for cash reconciliation and identifying discrepancies.

11. Train Your Staff Before Opening Day

Even the best-configured POS system creates problems if staff do not know how to use it under pressure. Run at least one full training session before opening:

• Cashier workflow — taking an order, adding modifiers, applying discounts, processing payment, printing a receipt
• Refunds and voids — how to void an item, void an order, and process a refund — and who has the authority to do each
• Kitchen workflow — how orders appear on the KDS, how to mark items as ready, and how to handle a re-fire
• Shift open and close — who is responsible for opening and closing each shift and what the cash reconciliation process is
• Common problem-solving — what to do if the receipt printer jams, if a payment fails, or if the POS connection drops

A pre-opening soft launch or staff meal is a practical way to test the system under semi-real conditions before the first public service.

12. Final Pre-Opening Checks

Run through this final checklist the day before opening:

• ☑ All menu items, prices and modifiers are correct
• ☑ VAT is enabled and TRN appears on receipts
• ☑ Receipt printer is connected and paper is loaded
• ☑ Cash drawer opens correctly on cash payments
• ☑ KDS is connected and showing test orders correctly
• ☑ Card terminal is connected and tested
• ☑ All staff accounts are set up with correct roles
• ☑ Managers know how to open and close a shift
• ☑ Z-report has been tested and reviewed
• ☑ POS software subscription is active and the plan covers your branch count

Choosing the Right POS for a New Restaurant in UAE

Not all POS systems handle UAE VAT correctly, and not all are designed for the realities of UAE F&B operations — Arabic menus, local delivery platforms, multi-branch setups and the specific FTA receipt requirements.

Luqma POS is built in the UAE for UAE restaurants. UAE 5% VAT, TRN on receipts, Arabic and English menus, KDS routing, takeaway and delivery order management, and local onboarding support are all built in as standard — not afterthoughts.

For a new restaurant or café, the Café Starter Kit provides counter-ready hardware (Android POS, receipt printer, cash drawer) bundled with your first software payment from AED 1,999 + VAT. Software runs from AED 149 per branch per month.