A restaurant POS should make a cash sale easy to finish and easy to understand later. Test whether staff can enter the amount a guest hands over, see the correct change and find a clear record of the sale at close. Then deliberately enter a wrong amount and ask how an authorized person corrects it.
Run the same small set of scenarios with each system you are considering. The goal is not just to see the right number on the screen. It is to learn what the cashier must do, what a manager can fix and which numbers appear on the receipt and close report.
Define the cash sale before testing
Start with a final amount due after any discounts and other adjustments. For this test, leave tips out. A tip is not change: money given back to the guest reduces the cash the restaurant retains, while a cash tip may need separate handling. Ask the vendor how tips are recorded, but do not mix that question into the basic calculation.
In the following hypothetical examples, each sale is paid entirely in cash. The amount due is the final transaction total. Change due equals cash tendered minus the amount due. Net cash retained equals cash tendered minus change returned; for a correctly completed sale without a tip, that equals the amount due.
| Scenario | Amount due | Cash tendered | Change due |
|---|---|---|---|
| Exact cash | $12.40 | $12.40 | $0.00 |
| One bill | $8.65 | $10.00 | $1.35 |
| Mixed cash | $23.75 | $25.00 | $1.25 |
Use these rows as a worksheet, not as assumptions about what a particular POS displays. In the second row, the guest hands over $10.00, receives $1.35 and the restaurant retains $8.65. The $10.00 tendered is not an $10.00 sale. Likewise, the $1.35 change is not a discount.
These examples test tendered amount and change, not a cash-rounding policy or a drawer shortage. Keep those separate so a rounding setting or an opening cash float does not obscure the basic result.
Run three checkout scenarios
Ask the vendor to set up a safe demo or training environment. These are simulated transactions: they must not trigger a real payment, send a guest message or dispatch a courier. Confirm how test transactions will be separated from live sales and reports before starting.
Have the person who normally works the register perform the steps. Let the vendor explain the screen, but avoid having the vendor do all the tapping. Note how many decisions the cashier must make and whether the next step is obvious during a busy shift.
- Enter the exact-cash sale. Create a sale with $12.40 due. Select cash, enter $12.40 if the system asks for tendered amount, and complete the simulated sale. Record the change shown and whether the cashier can finish without entering a tendered amount.
- Enter the one-bill sale. Create an $8.65 sale and enter $10.00 received. Record whether the screen shows $1.35 change before or after completion. Note whether the cashier must calculate anything separately.
- Enter the mixed-cash sale. Create a $23.75 sale and enter $25.00 received. Check for $1.25 change. If the interface offers preset cash buttons, compare those with manually entering the amount.
For every row, write down the amount due, the amount entered as received, the change displayed and what the cashier actually does to finish. A correct calculation matters, but so does the path to it. A button that is easy to miss or an amount field that is unclear may slow the line even when the arithmetic is right.
Also check the physical setup. Can staff read the change figure from their normal position? If a cash drawer is part of the setup, ask when it opens and what happens if it does not. Confirm device and drawer compatibility for the specific POS hardware in the quote rather than assuming an existing drawer will connect.
Check the receipt and close report
After each simulated sale, inspect whatever receipt view or printed receipt is available. Look for the sale total and ask whether cash tendered and change can also appear. If the receipt does not show those fields, ask where staff can retrieve them. A missing field on a receipt is not automatically a failed test, but the team needs a practical way to answer a guest's question about change.
Then open the simulated close or cash summary. Ask the vendor to walk through how the three sales appear, both individually and as a group. The combined sale total is $44.80. The simulated cash tendered is $47.40, and total change returned is $2.60. Net cash retained from these sales is therefore $44.80.
Those figures describe the transactions only. They do not include an opening drawer float, tips, cash paid out or any other sales. If the report includes a starting float or other cash movements, identify those separately before comparing it with the cash expected in the drawer.
A system may summarize net cash sales without displaying tendered cash and change as separate close-report totals. Ask to see the transaction detail and find out whether those values can be retrieved when needed. Record the actual fields and the steps required; do not assume a label such as “cash” means the amount guests handed over.
For a broader discussion of close reports and payment costs, see the restaurant POS cost guide. Keep this test focused on whether a cashier and manager can explain the cash sale from the records they have.
Test a mistake and score the result
Repeat the $8.65 sale in the demo environment, but enter $20.00 when the hypothetical guest handed over $10.00. The resulting displayed change, if calculated from that entry, would be $11.35 rather than $1.35. This is an entry error, not evidence that the calculation itself is wrong.
First ask how the cashier can fix the amount before completing the sale. Then ask what changes if the sale has already been completed. Does the system allow a correction to the tendered amount, require a manager action, or require another documented workflow? Have the vendor demonstrate the available route rather than assuming an edit button exists.
Check what happens to the original entry and the corrected record. Can a manager see who made the change and when? Does the receipt or transaction view change, and does the close report still show the $8.65 sale clearly? If the only available route is to void and re-enter, ask what the close report will show for both records and who is allowed to do it.
Use a simple pass, question or fail for each of these buying criteria:
- Checkout: Staff can complete all three scenarios and identify the correct change without confusing tendered cash with the sale total.
- Usability: The change figure is legible, and the steps fit the register and drawer setup staff will use.
- Correction: The restaurant understands who can fix an entry before and after completion and what record remains.
- Close evidence: A manager can explain the sale total, any available tendered and change details, and net cash retained without mixing in the opening float.
A pass should mean your own staff can repeat the workflow and explain the result. Mark a question when the workflow may work but depends on a setting, permission or device the vendor still needs to confirm. Treat an unexplained correction trail or an unusable close report as a fail for this requirement, even if the change displayed at checkout was correct.
If two systems both pass, compare the steps your staff must follow, the devices needed and the written quote. Ask about any setup, hardware or support charges associated with the configuration you tested. Contract terms and other conditions belong in the quote as well; use a qualified adviser for contract questions when needed.
Take the worksheet to a demo
Request a demo of the Fleksa restaurant POS system using your restaurant's devices, channels and the three scenarios above. Bring a cashier and the person responsible for closing. Ask them to repeat the steps, inspect the correction workflow and explain the report before deciding whether the setup meets your needs.
Frequently asked questions
Does cash tendered count as the sale total?
No. Cash tendered is what the guest hands over. The sale total is the amount due; change is returned from the tendered amount. For a cash sale without a tip, the restaurant retains the sale total after giving change.
What if a cashier enters the wrong cash amount?
Ask the vendor to show the correction process both before and after completion. Check which staff roles can act and how the original entry, correction and sale appear in the transaction record and close report.
Should a close report show every change amount?
Reporting layouts vary. Ask whether change and tendered cash appear on the close report or in transaction details, and make sure a manager can find and explain them when a question arises.
