When Orders Are Sent to the POS

Direct Ordering controls when an order is passed through Checkmate to the POS. This setting is called Order Send Timing, and it can be configured differently for each Revenue Center within a store.

How Order Send Timing Works

An order is marked as CLOSED in Direct Ordering the moment it is sent to the POS. Once an order is CLOSED, neither the restaurant nor the customer can change it. For orders paid by credit card, the customer's card is charged at that point and the order shows a PAID status. After an order is CLOSED, it can no longer be edited or canceled, only refunded. Because of this, the chosen timing determines when the customer is charged and how long the order stays editable.

The Four Order Send Timing Options

Order Send Timing offers four options. The right choice depends on the kitchen's workflow and on when the customer should be charged.

"When placed by customer"

The order is sent to the POS as soon as the customer places it. Because the order is CLOSED on transmission, the customer's card is charged immediately and the order shows a PAID status in Direct Ordering. The order cannot be edited or canceled afterward, and tip adjustments cannot be made on the day of the order. Future orders are also sent to the POS hours or days early, which can lead to oversights or missed orders. This option is generally not recommended.

"When time to make the order"

Direct Ordering holds each order until it is time for the kitchen to begin preparing it, based on the current pickup or delivery wait time. In effect, every order is treated as an ASAP order. ASAP orders are sent to the POS as soon as the customer places them. Future orders are held until the wait time indicates that preparation should start. For example, if a customer places an order at 9:00 AM for a 1:00 PM pickup and the pickup wait time is 15 minutes, the order is sent to the POS at 12:45 PM.

Direct Ordering uses the current wait time when calculating send timing. If the pickup wait time is later changed to 20 minutes, the same order is sent at 12:40 PM instead of 12:45 PM.

This option is recommended for regular online orders, excluding catering, because it lets the kitchen treat every order as an ASAP order.

"When manually confirmed"

The order is sent to the POS only after it is confirmed on the Direct Ordering Upcoming Orders page. Until then, the order keeps an Open status and can be edited, including its payment. This option is recommended for catering orders, which are typically placed hours or days in advance and often need changes before they are finalized.

Catering operators commonly manage these orders on the Upcoming Orders page, editing items, adjusting payments and tips, and resending confirmation emails, and then send the order to the POS manually. This is usually done either on the morning of the order, when kitchen preparation begins and the order is finalized with no further changes, or after the order has been delivered. Because the card is not charged until the order is sent to the POS, sending it after delivery lets the customer set a tip at pickup or delivery.

"Never send orders to POS"

The order is never sent to the POS. This is an uncommon choice, but it can suit specific order types in certain business models. For example, a brand may use a single brand-wide Catering Revenue Center, where a catering manager routes each order to a specific store. With this option, the order does not reach any store's POS automatically, so accurate revenue tracking requires entering the catering order into that store's POS manually.

Setting Order Send Timing

Order Send Timing can be set at the store level, which applies to every Revenue Center that does not have its own setting, or at the Revenue Center level, which overrides the store-level setting for that Revenue Center.

Setting Order Send Timing at the Store Level

1. Log in to the Direct Ordering Admin Panel.
2. Go to Stores and select the store to update.
3. In the left navigation, select POS Integration.
4. Set Order Send Timing to one of the four options.
5. Click Submit to save.

Setting Order Send Timing at the Revenue Center Level

1. Log in to the Direct Ordering Admin Panel.
2. Go to Stores and select the store.
3. In the left navigation, select Revenue Centers.
4. Select the Revenue Center to update.
5. In the Revenue Center's POS Integration settings, set Order Send Timing to one of the four options.
6. Click Submit to save.