A bar EPOS system needs six things: one-tap drink buttons, open tabs with card pre-authorisation, split bills, integrated card payments, stock control by measure and reporting by hour and product. Everything else is optional. These are the features a pub or bar relies on during every busy shift.
The pressure on pubs is real. British Beer and Pub Association data published in May 2026 shows 350 pubs closed in 2025, leaving 44,650 across the UK. UKHospitality estimates the average pub faces £1,400 of extra costs in 2026 alone. Yet CGA by NIQ reported in May 2026 that wet-led pubs grew like-for-like sales by 3.6%, so a till that keeps the bar moving still pays for itself.
Why is a bar EPOS system different from a restaurant till?
Bars sell a small range of products many times over, at speed, to customers standing in a queue. A restaurant till is built around tables and courses. A pub till system has to take 40 rounds in ten minutes on a Friday, keep tabs open all evening and be usable by a member of staff who started yesterday.
Speed at the bar: layout and one-tap rounds
Screen layout matters more than the spec sheet. Look for customisable buttons for your top-selling lines, modifiers for doubles, mixers and pint or half, and a repeat-round function.
A good bar till should ring through a round of four drinks in under ten seconds. If a demo takes longer, the system will slow your bar down on the nights that matter.
Tabs, split bills and card pre-authorisation
Open tabs are where bars lose money. Card pre-authorisation holds an amount on the customer's card when the tab opens, so a walk-out no longer means a write-off. Tabs should be searchable by name or card and transferable between staff.
Split bills should work by item or equal share in two taps. Groups expect it, and doing it manually with a calculator at 11pm creates errors and queues.
Integrated payments and mobile wallets
The Payments Association's 2026 consumer survey found 26% of UK consumers now mainly pay by mobile wallet and another 26% by contactless debit card. Your bar EPOS system should push the amount straight to the card reader, so nobody keys in £45.00 as £4.50, and tips and service charges are recorded correctly.
Before you sign a contract, check the system covers:
- Stock control by measure (25ml, 35ml, pint, half) with wastage and line-cleaning allowances
- Staff logins with void, refund and no-sale reporting per user
- Offline mode that keeps taking orders if the Wi-Fi drops
- Kitchen display and table ordering if you serve food
- Sales reports by hour, product and staff member
Do pubs need QR or app ordering as well?
Increasingly, yes. The Zonal and CGA by NIQ GO Technology report from December 2025 found 34% of pub-goers would rather order from their table through an app or website, and 55% favour some form of digital ordering or pre-booking. An EPOS for bars that connects to QR table ordering lets customers order a second round without queuing, and every order hits the same till and the same stock count.
Choosing a bar EPOS system: the bottom line
Pick a bar EPOS system on speed, tabs, payments and stock, then confirm the monthly cost and contract length in writing. OrderApps combines EPOS, QR and NFC table ordering and kitchen display in one platform for UK pubs and bars, so drinks, food and payments all run through a single system.
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