Documentation

Quick Start Guide

Get your restaurant up and running on Butler in under 10 minutes. Follow these steps:

1. Create your account

   Go to the registration page and sign up with your restaurant name, email, and password. You'll be taken to the dashboard immediately.

2. Add your menu

   Navigate to Menu from the sidebar. Click Add Item to create menu items with name, price, category, and optional image. Toggle availability on/off anytime.

3. Set up tables

   Go to Tables and add your restaurant's tables with numbers, capacity, and section names (e.g., "Main Floor", "Patio"). Tables will show as available by default.

4. Start taking orders

   Open the POS screen, select a table, add items from the menu, and submit the order. It will appear instantly on the Kitchen Display.

5. Generate a bill

   When the customer is ready to pay, go to Billing, find the order, review the items, apply any discounts, and generate the invoice.

Adding Menu Items

Butler supports unlimited menu items (on Professional and Enterprise plans). Each item has:

• Name — the display name shown on POS and QR menu
• Price — base price for the item
• Category — group items (Starters, Mains, Drinks, Desserts, etc.)
• Description — optional, shown on the QR ordering page
• Image — upload a photo (recommended size: 400x300px)
• Availability — toggle on/off to show or hide the item

To edit or delete an item, click on it in the menu list and use the edit/delete buttons.

Table Setup

Add tables to match your physical restaurant layout. Each table has a number, capacity (seats), and optional section name.

Table statuses update automatically:

• Available — no active orders
• Occupied — has an active order
• Reserved — manually reserved through the tables page

Using the POS

The POS is your main order-taking interface. Here's the workflow:

1. Select order type

   Choose Dine-In (assign a table) or Takeaway at the top of the POS.

2. Add items

   Search or browse by category. Click an item to add it to the current order. Adjust quantity with +/- buttons.

3. Review & submit

   Review the order summary on the right panel. Add any notes, then click Place Order. The order fires to the kitchen immediately.

Kitchen Display

The Kitchen Display System (KDS) shows all active orders in real-time. Orders are sorted by time received.

Each order card shows:

• Order number and table assignment
• Order source badge (POS or QR)
• Itemized list with quantities and special notes
• Time since order was placed

Kitchen staff tap individual items to mark them ready. Once all items are ready, the order completes automatically.

QR Ordering Setup

Enable contactless ordering by placing QR codes at each table. Here's how to set it up:

1. Get your QR link

   Your public ordering page is at: /pages/order.html?restaurant=YOUR_ID&table=TABLE_NUMBER. Each table gets a unique URL with the table number in the query string.

2. Generate QR codes

   Use any free QR code generator to create QR codes pointing to each table's URL.

3. Print & place

   Print the QR codes and place them on each table. Customers scan with their phone camera, browse the menu, and order directly.

4. Orders appear in KDS

   QR orders show up in the Kitchen Display and POS with a QR badge so staff knows the source.

Customer CRM

Butler automatically builds customer profiles from order data. View your customer database from the Customers page in the sidebar.

Each profile tracks:

• Name, email, and phone
• Total orders and lifetime spend
• Last visit date
• Complete order history

Analytics

The Analytics dashboard provides real-time insights into your restaurant's performance. Access it from the sidebar.

Available widgets:

• Revenue chart — daily/weekly/monthly revenue trends
• Order volume — track order count over time
• Top items — best-selling menu items
• Peak hours — busiest times of day
• Order sources — POS vs QR breakdown
• Average order value — track AOV trends

Staff Management

Add and manage your team from the Staff page. Butler supports four roles:

• Owner — full access to all features and settings
• Manager — access to POS, kitchen, billing, analytics, and staff
• Waiter — access to POS and tables only
• Kitchen — access to Kitchen Display only

Each staff member gets their own login credentials. Deactivate accounts anytime without deleting data.

Billing Setup

Visit the Billing section to manage invoices. You can:

• View all orders with their totals
• Generate itemized invoices
• Apply discounts (percentage or flat amount)
• Configure tax rates
• Print or share invoices digitally