# Café step 5: tabs for regulars and groups

> Let guests order now and pay when they leave with open tabs, add rounds, see every open tab, and pay one bill with cash and card together.

Source: https://docs.smartposhub.com/business-types/cafe/step-5-tabs/  
Last updated: 2026-10-30  
Product: SmartPOS Hub (https://smartposhub.com)

Regulars who sit with a laptop, groups that order round after round, the table that wants "one more cake": **open tabs** keep a running bill and take one payment at the end.

> **How to turn it on**
> 1. **Plan:** Included with the restaurant features
> 2. **Switch:** Restaurant › Restaurant settings › Open tabs › Open tabs on the POS (Tables or Kitchen must be on)
> 3. **Permission:** Add POS sell to open and pay tabs; View own orders limits staff to their own tabs
> - **Mobile app:** SmartPOS Business app › Restaurant › Open tabs

## Turn on tabs

1. Open **Restaurant › Restaurant settings** and find **Open tabs (eat first, pay later)**.
2. Tick **Open tabs on the POS**.
3. Tick **Paying a tab completes the order** so a paid tab closes the order.
4. Save.

![Restaurant settings with Orders and POS options and the Open tabs section with Open tabs on the POS and Paying a tab completes the order ticked](https://docs.smartposhub.com/_astro/cafe-open-tabs-setting.CIGNQamG.png) (web app page: `/modules/restaurant/settings`)

## Use a tab at the counter

1. Add the first drinks on the POS. Open **Order details** and enter the tab name (or pick a table) and guests.
2. Click **Send to kitchen**. The round goes to the bar screen and the tab is saved.
3. For the next round, open the tab from the **Open tabs** panel, add items and send again.
4. When the guest leaves, open the tab, print the bill if asked, and take the payment with **Card**, **Cash** or **Pay** (several methods allowed).

The full flow, with split payments and the difference to credit customers, is in [Restaurant step 9](https://docs.smartposhub.com/business-types/restaurant/step-9-open-tabs-and-split-payments/) and [Open tabs](https://docs.smartposhub.com/modules/open-tabs/).

![Open tabs in the SmartPOS Business app with the number of tabs, amount still to pay and tabs with round, status, guests and Add items, Bill and Pay buttons](https://docs.smartposhub.com/_astro/open-tabs-list.CfSmQG3j.png)
*Staff can add rounds and take payment from a phone.*

## Tips and mistakes to avoid

- Use a name staff can recognise ("Window seat – red scarf").
- Close every tab before you close the register.
- Regulars who pay weekly are credit customers, not tabs: see [Credit and part payments](https://docs.smartposhub.com/selling/credit-and-partial-payments/).

## Next step

  - [Step 6: Loyalty with reward points](https://docs.smartposhub.com/business-types/cafe/step-6-loyalty-reward-points/)
  - [Open tabs module](https://docs.smartposhub.com/modules/open-tabs/)

## Frequently asked questions

### Do I need tables to use tabs?

No. A tab can be named after the guest ("Ali – blue shirt") instead of a table. Tables or Kitchen must be switched on for open tabs to work.

### Is an open tab the same as credit?

No. A tab stays open only until the guest leaves today and needs no customer record. Credit means a known customer owes you money after the sale is finished.

### Can a tab be paid by two people?

Yes. When paying, add several payment lines, for example part in cash and part by card.

### Can waiters see only their own tabs?

Yes. Staff whose role has View own orders only see the tabs they opened.

### How do I stop forgotten tabs?

Check the Open tabs panel before closing the register. A tab left open is not in your sales until it is paid.