How to Choose a Restaurant POS in Saudi Arabia and the UAE (2026 Guide)

A restaurant's POS does far more than print bills. It takes the order, tells the kitchen what to cook, keeps dine-in, takeaway and delivery apart, and tells you at the end of the day what sold and who sold it. In Saudi Arabia it must also issue invoices that meet ZATCA's e-invoicing rules.

Choosing the wrong system costs you during every rush hour. This guide explains what to look for, the tax rules that apply to restaurants and cafes in Saudi Arabia and the UAE, and the questions to ask before you buy.

The signs you have outgrown your current system

• Handwritten or printed tickets get lost, misread or cooked twice when the restaurant is busy.
• Dine-in, takeaway and delivery orders get mixed up, and bills go to the wrong table.
• Closing the day takes too long, and the cash never quite matches the sales.
• When you are away from the restaurant, you have no idea how the day is going.
• Your invoices are not ready for ZATCA Phase 2.

Features every restaurant POS should have

1. Fast order taking. Cashiers and waiters should be able to pick items, add notes such as "no onion" or "extra spicy", and send the order in a few taps on a touch screen.

2. A kitchen screen. A kitchen display system (KDS) shows every order in the kitchen the moment it is taken, in sequence and with its notes, and the kitchen marks it ready when done. It ends lost tickets and arguments at the pass.

3. Order types. Dine-in with table numbers, takeaway and delivery should each be tagged and tracked from order to payment, so bills never go to the wrong table.

4. Reports you can check from anywhere. Daily sales, top-selling items and payment totals by order type and by cashier help you spot problems early, such as a slow item or an unusual number of discounts.

5. Tax-compliant invoices. In Saudi Arabia every invoice must come from a ZATCA-compliant system. In both countries VAT must be calculated correctly on every bill.

6. The right hardware. Check which devices the software runs on (Windows, Android or both), and that it works with your receipt printers, kitchen printers or screens, and cash drawer.

7. Room to grow. A system that suits one counter today should also handle more counters, more staff and more branches tomorrow.

Tax rules for restaurants in Saudi Arabia

• VAT is 15%, and menu prices shown to customers should include VAT.
• Restaurants mostly issue simplified tax invoices (to consumers) with a QR code. Invoices to companies, for example for catering, are standard tax invoices with the buyer's VAT number.
• Under ZATCA Phase 2, simplified invoices must be reported to ZATCA within 24 hours, and the system must be connected to the Fatoora platform.
• Wave 25 brings in businesses with VAT-taxable sales above SAR 187,500 in any year from 2022 to 2025. The deadline to integrate is 1 February 2027, so many cafes and small restaurants are affected for the first time. See our ZATCA e-invoicing guide.
• Mistakes are fixed with a credit note, never by editing or deleting the bill.

Tax rules for restaurants in the UAE

• VAT is 5%, and prices shown to customers should include VAT.
• The UAE's new e-invoicing system, which starts on 1 January 2027 for large businesses, covers business-to-business sales. Restaurants that sell only to consumers are not included in the first phases, but catering or corporate orders to other businesses may be. See our UAE e-invoicing guide.

10 questions to ask before you buy

1. Does it run on the devices we already have, or what do we need to buy?
2. Is there a kitchen screen, and how do orders and notes reach the kitchen?
3. Does it handle dine-in with tables, takeaway and delivery separately?
4. What happens if the internet goes down in the middle of service?
5. Are the invoices ZATCA Phase 2 compliant, and is the vendor listed in ZATCA's directory of e-invoicing solution providers?
6. Can I see sales by item, order type and cashier from my phone?
7. How long does setup take, and who loads our menu and trains our staff?
8. Is there local support in our time zone and language, including Arabic?
9. What does it cost each month or year, per device and per branch?
10. Can it grow with us to more counters and branches?

How Rassasy helps

Rassasy is the restaurant and cafe POS from Vikn Codes, built for restaurants and cafes in Saudi Arabia and the UAE:

• Fast order taking on a touch screen made for rush hours, with notes on each item.
• Kitchen screen: orders appear in the kitchen in sequence, with notes, and are marked ready when done.
• Order types: dine-in with table numbers, takeaway and delivery, each tracked from order to payment.
• Sales reports by item, order type and cashier, to check from anywhere.
• ZATCA Phase 2 compliant invoices for Saudi Arabia.
• Runs on Windows and Android, and suits a single-counter cafe as well as a larger restaurant with several counters.

Our team in Jizan, Jeddah, Riyadh and Sharjah sets it up with you. See the Restaurant POS or book a free demo.

This article is general guidance, last updated October 2026. Tax rules change, so confirm the details for your business with ZATCA, the UAE Federal Tax Authority or your tax adviser.