Point of Sale (POS) Features That Can Help With Restaurant Labor Management

Your point of sale system, also referred to as a POS system, should help your restaurant do much more than process credit card payments.

If you’re standardizing back-of-house practices or running sales reports on your own —  your point of sale system isn’t working to its full capabilities. In fact, you’re likely wasting valuable time and energy on processes that could be automated. 

One of the best features of a restaurant POS system is its ability to manage labor. When you’re spending countless hours in your restaurant, the last thing you want to do is devote additional time to adjusting clock outs, sorting through dozens of checks, and calculating labor cost percentages. So, finding a point of sale platform that is specifically built for restaurants can help take a lot of that work off your plate.

We’ve broken down the ways your POS can help you manage your labor force, therefore making your life a whole lot easier, below. When evaluating which point of sale platform to use for your restaurant, keep these features in mind.

Built-in time clock and employee pin numbers

Tracking employee hours and calculating both regular and overtime pay can, and should, be automated by your POS system. With an integrated time clock on your POS, each employee receives a login pin that they enter on the POS interface to clock in and out of their shifts. The system should then be able to automatically track and provide the number of hours each employee works, and the regular and overtime pay that they earn within a given time period.

When it comes to restaurant management, getting employee pay right is a must. So, optimize your time by letting your POS handle it and removing the chance of human error.

Employee permissions

Permissions allow restaurant owners to control the actions and information that each user or role can access using your POS system. These permissions allow restaurant owners to restrict access to sensitive reporting and customer data and add additional layers of control over certain aspects of their information. By customizing permissions, restaurant owners can do things such as require a manager’s approval before voids or discounts can be applied. Make sure each of your restaurant employees can only see the information they need for their job function by implementing a POS with employee permission settings.

Close-out review

Some POS systems offer shift and end-of-day reviews that help simplify the closeout process for owners and managers. These reviews typically provide a quick look at each employee’s status, cash on hand, non-cash tips owed, and any unclosed checks. In addition to providing this information to managers, your POS system should also make it easy for managers to override information in your POS right from the review screen. If an employee forgets to clock out, for example, managers are able to quickly clock them out and adjust their time card without having to go to the back office.

Labor reporting

Reporting is a key element of any restaurant POS system. Labor and payroll reports offer owners and managers the appropriate permissions to see live insight into overall labor and pay, as well as detailed information about each employee's productivity. These reports should make it easy to identify labor cost percentages and the employees that are taking the most orders, receiving the largest average tips, and turning tables the fastest — each of which provides insight into variances in employee performance and helps to identify potential training opportunities. Cloud-based systems provide the added value of making this data not only available in real-time but also accessible from anywhere, using any device with internet access.  

Running payroll

Many POS systems also have the capability to run payroll. If you’re currently using two different systems for payroll and point of sale, you’re spending valuable time manually entering and editing employee hours into two systems. 

Some POS systems have payroll integrations that can automatically calculate overtime pay across different locations while abiding by various labor laws, rules, and regulations. Given the need for exact numbers and correct calculations, there’s not much margin for human error in payroll. This is why using workforce management that is built into your POS platform can be vital for your restaurant’s success.

Ensuring seamless payments

Another important facet of a good POS system is the ability to keep your staff happy by ensuring seamless payments for all employees. Employees should also be able to access an employee portal where they can set up direct deposit, as well as see their statements, view past paychecks, the current rate of pay, and other pertinent information about their job to allow for full transparency. This helps prevent confusion around pay and keeps team members in the know.

Staff accordingly with scheduling assistance

How do you know how many servers to schedule each Thursday? You could guess and run the risk of having too many servers or forgetting a busser — but if you’re using a POS with labor scheduling capabilities, your point of sale has the answer ready for you. Using historical sales data on your POS can help you plan for the future. Whether it’s next week or next month, you’ll know what sort of shift to expect and how many cooks, bussers, and servers to put on the schedule. Additionally, your POS can display gratuity, total guest count, table turn time, and payment methods. This gives you insight into how to prepare your kitchen and dining room staff.

Plus, some POS platforms offer integrated or first-party scheduling tools that can help you manage time off requests, overtime considerations, and communication with your staff via real-time notifications.

During a time in which labor shortages dominate the news, having data to back up your staffing decisions can greatly improve your restaurant operations (and your stress levels!)

Learn how Sling by Toast can save you time and help you manage your restaurant scheduling

Sling by Toast helps you easily build schedules, communicate with your team, and save time each week. With single employee profiles, employee information flows seamlessly between your Toast and Sling accounts. Plus, managers can release new shifts to their team at any time, and team members can easily swap shifts independently while managers handle approvals remotely.

When used with Toast Payroll & Team Management, Sling by Toast helps to bring all of your restaurant labor management tools into one platform.

Want to learn more about Sling by Toast or Toast Payroll & Team Management? Request a Toast demo here. Already a Toast customer? Get Sling by Toast here or add Payroll & Team Management to your Toast account here.