POS system that can't handle split bills, table transfers, or complex modifier logic without the staff creating manual workarounds?
Kitchen getting orders on paper tickets because the POS can't route to multiple kitchen stations?
Custom Restaurant POS Software Development
Custom POS software for restaurants, bars, and hospitality venues -- table management, order routing to multiple kitchen stations, split billing, and service reporting that reflects how your floor and kitchen actually operate.
We build systems for venues where Toast or Square forces the team into workarounds every service -- split bills handled as separate transactions, kitchen tickets printed to a single printer, modifiers that don't map to how the menu actually works.
Table management with floor plan view, cover count, merge and transfer, and reservation integration
Order routing to multiple kitchen display stations by item type with expediter view
Split billing by item or equally across any number of covers with multi-tender payment
Consolidated reporting by covers, product mix, cashier, and service period
RaftLabs builds custom restaurant POS software for restaurants, bars, and hospitality venues. A custom POS is the right choice when your venue has table management complexity, multi-station kitchen routing, split billing requirements, or modifier logic that Toast or Square cannot handle without staff workarounds. Most restaurant POS projects ship in 12--16 weeks at a fixed cost with full source code ownership.
100+Products shipped
·24+Industries served
·FixedCost delivery
·12-14Week delivery cycles
Off-the-shelf POS forces your service into its constraints
Square and Toast are built for the common case: one menu, one kitchen area, full-table billing, card payment. Restaurants with table sections routed to different kitchens, bar tabs that merge with dining bills, split bills that need to be itemised by cover, or modifier logic that reflects a complex kitchen workflow find that the common case doesn't describe their venue.
The workaround pattern is familiar. Staff find a sequence of steps that produces the right result even though the POS wasn't designed for it. New staff take longer to learn the workarounds than the system itself. During a busy Friday night service, the workarounds slow down every table turn and create errors on bills.
Custom restaurant POS software is built around your floor plan, your kitchen layout, and your service model. Table management reflects your actual sections. Kitchen display routing matches your stations. Split billing works as the customer expects it to, not as the system requires. The result is a system that speeds up service rather than constraining it.
What we build
Table management
Floor plan view on the server tablet showing every table, its current status -- available, occupied, reserved, needs attention -- and cover count. Table sections managed by area or server so section managers see their own tables without noise from the rest of the floor. Merge tables for large groups with all open orders consolidated to a single bill automatically. Table transfer between servers with order history preserved and the receiving server notified. Reservation integration so tables move from reserved to occupied status when the party is seated, without manual status change. The floor view that tells your manager what the venue looks like without walking it.
Order taking
Modifier selection at item level: cooking temperature, sauce choice, allergen substitutions, portion size -- with min and max selection rules enforced at the point of ordering rather than discovered at the pass. Course firing so starters are sent to the kitchen immediately and mains are held until the server fires the next course from the table. Table tabs for bar and dining combined -- bar orders added to the table bill rather than processed as separate transactions. Bar tabs for customers not at a table, with tab name and card pre-authorisation. Split bill by item: each cover selects their items and pays separately, with service charge distributed proportionally. The order flow that matches how a hospitality venue actually runs service.
Kitchen display system routing
Orders sent to the correct kitchen station by item type the moment they are fired -- grill items to the grill screen, cold starters to the cold section, pastry items to the pastry section, drinks to the bar. Timing display showing how long each order or component has been in preparation so the expediter manages pace rather than chasing verbally. Expediter view showing all open orders and their station-level completion status so nothing leaves the kitchen incomplete. Bump screen confirmation when a station marks their items ready. Allergy flags displayed prominently on the KDS for items with notified dietary requirements. The kitchen communication that replaces paper tickets and eliminates the lost order problem.
Payment processing
Card and cash payment, split tender for customers who want to pay part cash and part card, and gift card or voucher redemption in a single transaction. Service charge applied automatically at the configured rate with configurable server prompt for table confirmation before adding. Gratuity split between servers based on configurable rules, tracked per service period and reported for payroll purposes. Card-not-present processing for phone orders and deposits taken at booking. Integration with your payment terminal provider -- Stripe, Adyen, SumUp, or your existing provider -- with no additional hardware requirement beyond a card reader. The payment flow that closes bills at the table without sending customers to a separate payment station.
Reporting and service close
End-of-service covers report: number of covers, tables turned, average covers per table, and peak sitting time. Product mix report: items sold by category and item, voids and comps with server attribution, and revenue per category. Average spend per cover by section and by server for performance review conversations based on data rather than impressions. Void and discount reporting showing what was removed from bills and who authorised it. Cashier settlement with expected cash against declared cash and discrepancy flagging. Reports available immediately at service close without manual data assembly -- the close-of-service picture ready before the last table leaves.
Integration layer
Accounting integration with Xero or QuickBooks: daily sales, covers, and gross margin posted automatically without manual re-entry. Stock management integration: items sold deduct from the kitchen's stock model so variance reports are accurate against what the POS recorded, not against manual counts. Online ordering integration: direct orders and third-party platform orders arrive in the POS as order types alongside dine-in, with the same kitchen routing and the same reporting structure. Reservation system integration so bookings import automatically and table status updates flow back without manual management. The integration layer that means your team works from one system rather than checking three dashboards.
Frequently asked questions
Toast and Square handle standard restaurant operations well. Custom POS makes sense when your venue has table management complexity the platform can't model -- unusual floor layouts, merged sections, bar and dining integrated billing -- when your kitchen has multiple stations and paper tickets are the only routing option in the current system, when your modifier logic reflects a complex menu that the platform's item structure can't represent cleanly, or when split billing workarounds are slowing down service on every busy night. If your floor team spends meaningful time working around POS limitations every service, a custom system typically pays back within two years in service speed alone.
Each menu item is tagged to one or more kitchen stations during menu setup. When a server fires an order from the floor, the POS splits the order by station and sends each component to the relevant KDS screen simultaneously. The grill screen sees grill items only; the cold section sees cold starters and salads only. An expediter screen shows all open orders and which stations have confirmed readiness for each order so the expediter knows when everything is ready to go together. Station assignment is configurable in the management interface -- if you add a station or reorganise the kitchen, routing rules update without developer involvement.
High-volume performance is a design requirement, not a nice-to-have. We build restaurant POS software to remain responsive when 40 tables are open simultaneously, multiple servers are firing courses, and the kitchen is processing 150 covers. The system architecture separates the order processing layer from the reporting layer so a management report query doesn't affect checkout speed. We load-test against your peak cover count before go-live. Offline mode is included: if connectivity drops during service, the POS continues to process orders locally and syncs when connectivity returns -- a connectivity blip doesn't stop service.
A restaurant POS covering table management, order taking with modifiers, kitchen display routing to two or three stations, split billing, and end-of-service reporting typically takes 12 to 16 weeks from requirements sign-off to go-live. Adding complex integrations -- accounting, stock management, online ordering -- adds four to six weeks depending on the systems involved. We run a pilot period at one location or during off-peak service before full go-live so the team learns the system in a controlled environment. Timeline and fixed cost are confirmed after a scoping session where we understand your floor layout, kitchen setup, and service model.
Tell us your floor plan, kitchen station setup, the modifier complexity of your menu, and where the current POS creates workarounds every service. We'll scope the right system and give you a fixed cost.
