Who it's for Bars and lounges
Know whose drawer is short before the lights go off.
ZapTill gives everyone behind the bar a PIN and a drawer of their own, stops quiet cancellations, keeps tabs for regulars honest, and closes the night by name.
What goes wrong, and what ZapTill does about it
The drawer is short again, and nobody behind the bar knows why.
Everyone behind the bar has their own PIN and counts their own drawer. At the close ZapTill shows, by name, what should be there, what was counted and the difference.
A round is paid for, then quietly cancelled.
A paid order can only be voided or refunded with a manager's PIN, and every void shows up against the name of the person who rang it.
"I'll pay on Friday." Then Friday never comes.
Regulars get an account with a limit. Every sale on account is confirmed by a manager, and you can see who owes what, and for how long.
You close at 2 a.m., and the sales land on the wrong day.
You set when your business day ends, so the night's takings stay on the night they belong to, and the day close adds up.
Your best-selling beer barely makes you anything.
Analytics shows which drinks sell a lot but earn little, and what a small price change could be worth, as an estimate you can judge.
The night close, in minutes
Each bartender closes their shift and the till prints the report: what they sold by cash, M-Pesa and card, and the cash that should be in the drawer. They count; the difference is there in black and white.
Their own copy shows only what they declared. The manager sees the rest, confirms each drawer, and closes the branch from the till or from the web. The numbers reach you by email that night.
Then: what to have in, and when to staff up
Analytics shows what sells in the evening and late at night, what to have in before a busy Friday or Saturday, and when an extra pair of hands pays for itself. In the demo, Tusker is 62% of everything sold after ten, and a Saturday sells nearly twice as much of it as an average day.
- Evening 18:00–22:00Tusker lager 23%, Chicken wings 15%, Nyama choma 1kg 15%
- Late at night 22:00–05:00Tusker lager 62%, Chicken wings 26%, Chips masala 12%
Stock up for Saturday: Tusker lager and 3 more
Saturdays: you sell about 58 Tusker lager (vs 30 on an average day), 27 Chicken wings (vs 18), 22 Nyama choma 1kg (vs 14) and 1 more.
Have in for Saturday: 65 Tusker lager · 30 Chicken wings · 25 Nyama choma 1kg
The average Saturday in this period (4 of them), plus 10% so a busier one does not run you out, rounded up.
Questions owners ask us
Can a cashier cancel a sale on their own?
Not a paid one. Voiding a paid order or giving a refund needs a manager's PIN, and every void shows up against the cashier's name in the day's report.
Can regulars pay later?
Yes. Give a customer an account with a credit limit, including customers already in your list. At the till, the cashier puts the bill on their account, within the limit; every sale on account is confirmed by a manager, and the dashboard shows who owes you and for how long.
We close after midnight. Which day do the sales count on?
You set when your business day ends. A bar that closes at 2 a.m. keeps the night's sales on the night they belong to.
Can waiters keep a table open and add to it?
Yes. Open a table, send the first round to the kitchen, add more later, and take payment when the table asks for the bill. An order can also be held and picked up again.
Do I need internet?
Not to sell. Your tills keep selling and printing receipts with no internet, and a branch server keeps every till in the shop in step. When the internet comes back, everything catches up by itself.
You need internet to see your numbers from somewhere else, and for the daily summary to reach you.
See a night close on ZapTill before your next one.
We set it up on site, load your menu or stock, and train your team. Start with a message.
Also: restaurants and cafés, quick service and takeaways, shops and retail.