Hold an order now, finish it later
Hold lets a cashier park an open order with one tap, serve whoever is next in line, and pick the order up again exactly where it was left.
Hold and resume orders in SeroPOS
One-tap Hold
HOLD in the cart, or Hold on the floating dial, saves the order and prints the kitchen ticket.
Held Sales list
Every parked order shows as a card with its service type, items, table, waiter and total.
Search and filter
Find a held order by invoice, customer or table, and filter by dine-in, takeaway or walk-in.
Only new items printed
When a resumed order is held again, the new ticket carries only the items added or increased.
Edit, reprint or delete
Resume an order into the cart, reprint its kitchen ticket, or delete it and free its table.
Kitchen lock
Once the kitchen has started an order, the till stops changes to it so cooks are not surprised.
Why hold an order
A customer realises their wallet is in the car. A table orders drinks now and food later. A phone order comes in while someone is standing at the counter. In each case the cashier needs to set the current order aside without losing it. Hold does that in one tap and leaves the till free for the next sale.
In restaurants, Hold is also how an order reaches the kitchen. Holding saves the order and prints the kitchen order ticket, so dine-in tables can run a tab through the meal and pay at the end. Retail shops use it to park a basket while a customer fetches another item, then resume and pay when they return.
Holding an order
On phones and the standard tablet cart, tap HOLD at the bottom of the cart. In QSR Mode, Hold sits in the utility row under the pay buttons, or on the floating dial if you use the Quantity First layout. Holding saves the order on the server, or on the till when offline, and prints the kitchen ticket if kitchen printing is on.
If the order was already held and has been resumed, holding it again updates the same order instead of creating a new one. The new kitchen ticket carries only items that were added or increased, so the kitchen does not cook the first round twice. The cart then clears and the till is ready for the next customer.
Finding and resuming held orders
Open Held Sales from Resume Order on the home screen Quick Actions, from Resume on the floating dial, or from the speed dial on phones. Each held order shows as a card with its service type, a Paid chip if it has been settled, the items, the table, the waiter and the total, so staff can spot the right one at a glance.
Search by invoice number, customer name or table. Filter by All, Dine-in, Takeaway or Walk-in, and sort by most recent, amount or customer. Each card has three actions, listed below. Delete also frees the table it was on, which keeps the floor plan accurate. Because the search covers tables as well as names, a server can type a table number and jump straight to that table's order.
- Edit: resume the order into the cart to add items or take payment
- KOT: reprint the kitchen ticket
- Delete: remove the held order and free its table
Rules that protect the kitchen
Once the kitchen has started cooking an order, the till will not let staff change it, and shows a message that the order is in process. Lines already sent to the kitchen are locked in the cart too. This stops a server quietly removing an item the cook has already plated, and keeps food cost and kitchen records honest.
Held orders are shared across tills when you run several tills in server and client mode, so a server can hold an order at the bar and a cashier can resume it at the front counter. A table with a held order shows as Occupied on the floor plan until it is paid or deleted, so hosts can see at a glance which tables are free.
Frequently asked questions
How do I hold an order in SeroPOS?
Tap HOLD at the bottom of the cart, or Hold on the floating action dial. The order is saved and the kitchen ticket prints if kitchen printing is on. The cart clears so you can start the next sale, and the order waits in Held Sales.
Where do I find held orders?
Open Held Sales from Resume Order in the home screen Quick Actions, from Resume on the floating dial, or from the speed dial on phones. Search by invoice, customer or table, filter by service type, and tap Edit to bring the order back into the cart.
Will holding an order again print the whole ticket twice?
No. When you resume a held order, add items and hold it again, the new kitchen ticket carries only the items that were added or increased. The kitchen sees what is new without the original items repeated. Use KOT on the Held Sales card if you need the full ticket again.
Can I change a held order after the kitchen starts it?
No. Once the kitchen has started an order, the till blocks changes and says the order is in process. Lines already sent to the kitchen are also locked in the cart. Add new items as a new round instead, or speak to the kitchen before anything is removed.
Do held orders work offline?
Yes. When the till has no internet, holding saves the order locally and the kitchen ticket still prints. The order uploads when the connection returns. Some actions, such as printing a hold bill with BILL, need an internet connection, and the online indicator shows the till's status.