Start with the way orders reach your shop
A counter-only takeaway and a shop taking website, phone and marketplace orders need different quotes. Write down your order channels, kitchen equipment and payment setup first. Ask each supplier to price that same setup.
Your first-year budget is one-off purchases and setup, plus recurring software and services, plus charges that vary with sales. Check tax treatment for each line. A low advertised terminal price is not the complete running cost.
For current POSMENTOR software prices, compare our published plans. This guide does not quote a market average or promise that every charge is included.
Six parts of a takeaway EPOS budget
1. Software and the number of devices
List your tills, kitchen screens and venues. Confirm which are covered by the subscription and whether additional devices change the price. Match the plan to the required features: taking an order, tracking preparation, handling collection and reviewing unpaid bills.
2. Till, printer and kitchen equipment
Separate equipment you own from equipment you need to buy or rent. Give the supplier the actual model numbers. Include receipt and kitchen printers, a cash drawer if needed, and any kitchen display. Check network and local connection requirements before assuming existing equipment will work.
Review POSMENTOR hardware compatibility · Explore the kitchen workflow
3. Card payments
Ask the payment provider about transaction percentages, any per-transaction charge, terminal rental and other account fees. Use the same expected card turnover and transaction count in every comparison. Count a terminal rental once, even if it appears in both the hardware and payment proposals.
4. Website and marketplace orders
Keep your own website costs separate from marketplace agreements. Check domain registration and renewal, payment gateway costs, ordering configuration and the features included in the software plan. Marketplace connection requirements and fees need their own confirmation.
5. Menu setup and training
A menu with meal deals, sizes and paid extras needs more checking than a flat list of products. Agree the scope of menu transfer, configuration and staff training. Ask which records can be moved; do not assume sales history and customer records transfer with the menu.
6. Support, contracts and changes
Record support availability, any separate service charges, renewal terms and equipment ownership. Check the software and payment-provider contracts separately. Ask what changes after an introductory offer and what happens to equipment or data when you leave.
A worked example: a known-cost subtotal
Illustrative assumptions only: the amounts below are invented to show the calculation. They are not POSMENTOR prices, supplier quotes, typical UK charges or customer results. They exclude VAT and assume unchanged charges for twelve months.
- Software: £60 per month × 12 = £720.
- Equipment purchase: £600 once.
- Terminal rental: £20 per month × 12 = £240.
- Card turnover: £10,000 per month × an assumed 1.5% = £150 per month, or £1,800 per year.
Known monthly running subtotal: £230. Known first-year subtotal: £3,360. The first-year calculation is £720 + £600 + £240 + £1,800.
This is an incomplete budget. Setup, domain, marketplace, delivery, any per-transaction or other provider charges and VAT remain unconfirmed. Add applicable amounts before treating it as a total. Card turnover means the amount processed through that payment provider; do not automatically include marketplace sales settled through another route.
To compare another quote, keep turnover, device count and required services unchanged. If the price changes partway through the year, calculate each period separately. Leave a missing fee marked unknown; enter £0 only after confirming there is no charge.
Compare the channels separately
Counter and collection
Check how the team records the order, identifies it at collection and confirms payment. For prepaid website orders, ask how payment status appears in the POS. A phone order and an online order may need different payment arrangements.
Your own delivery orders
Include the cost of fulfilling delivery as well as taking the order. Driver or courier arrangements are separate from software. POSMENTOR dispatch supports the handover workflow; it is not a promise of route optimisation or driver GPS tracking.
See your own website ordering options
Deliveroo and Uber Eats
Ask what the POS connection includes, whether your store is eligible, and who configures the menu matches. Confirm marketplace charges with the provider. Connecting a marketplace to the till does not remove that marketplace's commercial terms.
Deliveroo integration · Uber Eats integration
Questions to send with a quote request
- Does this quote cover all our tills, venues and kitchen devices?
- Which order channels and menu options are included?
- Which existing devices can we keep, and which model checks are outstanding?
- What are the one-off, recurring and transaction-based charges?
- Are amounts inclusive or exclusive of VAT, and which terms remain unconfirmed?
- What changes after an offer ends, and what are the contract and exit terms?
Keep each answer with the quote. Mark required but unpriced items as outstanding so a cheaper-looking proposal does not conceal missing work.
Check the workflow before buying
Bring a sample menu and rehearse a collection order with two different meals, a paid extra and a preparation note. Review an unpaid order, a kitchen handover and the agreed card-payment flow in a suitable demo environment. Record what was demonstrated and what needs a separate check.
For a kebab menu, include meat, bread and sauce choices. For fish and chips, distinguish fish-only items from meals and verify the packing instructions. These are proposed demo checks, not claims that your menu has already been configured or tested.
Kebab menu checks · Fish and chips menu checks · Plan the changeover
Explore POSMENTOR takeaway EPOS software, then bring your menu, device list and order channels to a setup discussion.