Hospitality software
Hospitality software has to cover four things to be any use in Spain: take the order, get it to the kitchen, take payment — often split between several people — and close the till balanced under the anti-fraud rules. This page explains what each demands and how to tell a system that covers them from one that promises them.
No card, no lock-in and no hardware to buy.
Compliance is not optional
VeriFactu across Spain and TicketBAI in the Basque Country. If your program is not registered as guarantor software, you are the one who gets fined.
The bill gets split
In Spain the table pays evenly. A system that only knows how to charge the total turns your waiter into a cashier four times over.
And the till has to balance
Close to close, not midnight to midnight. A venue that shuts at three cannot have its shift split across two tax days.
What separates hospitality from any other retail
In a shop the sale closes in one act: you pick, you pay, it is over. In hospitality it does not. A table opens, takes several rounds spread over time, changes waiter mid-service, gets split between four people paying separately and may close two hours after it opened.
That is why a retail till will not do, however good it is. What to look at is not the payment screen: it is how the system holds up with a full room at half past two on a Friday.
What Spanish law requires of your software
Since the Regulation approved by Royal Decree 1007/2023, billing software must produce signed, chained and unalterable records of every receipt. That is VeriFactu, and it affects any venue issuing receipts from a computer system.
In the Basque Country TicketBAI applies as well. It came first, it is provincial, and it does require every invoice to be sent to its provincial tax authority. A group with venues inside and outside needs both at once.
- Signed, chained records on every payment.
- A verifiable QR code on the receipt handed to the customer.
- Dual-use software banned: no keeping two sets of books.
- The program must be registered as guarantor software with the authorities.
- All fourteen allergen groups visible before the customer orders.
How people pay here, which is not how they pay elsewhere
The normal split in Spain is even: the bill is divided into equal shares between the diners, and splitting by dish is the exception rather than the rule. A system built for another market usually does it the other way round and forces arithmetic over coffee.
And nobody prompts for tips. Suggesting one on screen — standard in imported POS systems — makes a Spanish customer uncomfortable. They can leave one, but the system should not be proposing it. In Catalonia there is a rule behind it too: a compulsory tip counts as an unfair practice.
Five questions before you sign anything
They work on any supplier, not just on us. If any of them has no clear answer, push before you sign.
- Is the software registered as guarantor with the Tax Agency, or with the provincial authority that applies to me?
- What exactly happens if the internet goes down mid-service?
- Is there a minimum term, and what do I take with me if I leave: my menu, my history, my invoices?
- Is the hardware theirs, or can I use what I already have?
- Can the bill genuinely be split, including one dish shared between three?
Where Ordeli fits
Ordeli covers the four pieces in one system and adds one almost no POS covers: the guest ordering and paying from their own phone, with nothing to download. It does not replace the waiter — it takes off them the two jobs that eat the most time at peak service.
It runs in the browser, so it neither forces you to buy hardware nor ties you to a supplier. And VeriFactu and TicketBAI come in every plan, not as a separate module you buy when the deadline starts to bite.
Frequently asked questions
Does "hospitality" here include hotels?
Not for accommodation. Ordeli covers food and drink service — bars, restaurants, cafes — including a hotel's restaurant or bar. What it does not do is rooms, check-in or a channel manager, which is a different kind of software entirely.
What is the difference between a hospitality POS and a retail one?
In hospitality the sale does not close in one act. A table stacks up rounds, changes waiter and gets split between several people. A retail till cannot do that, however good it is at taking payment.
Do I have to change software because of VeriFactu?
Only if yours does not adapt. What has to comply is the billing software, not the hardware: the computer or tablet works the same. Ask your supplier whether they are registered as guarantor software.
Do I need to buy a closed terminal?
Not with Ordeli. It runs in the browser, so a tablet, a laptop or the phone your team already carries will do. If you want to print orders or receipts, any networked thermal printer works.
Does it work the same for a bar as for a restaurant?
The system is the same; what changes is which pieces you switch on. In a bar the weight is on quick payment at the counter and the terrace; in a restaurant, on kitchen courses and splitting the bill.
How long does it take to go live?
As long as it takes you to build the menu. No installation, no engineer visit, no migration: you sign up, load dishes and tables, and print the QR codes. A normal venue is ready in an afternoon.
What happens to my data if I leave?
It is yours and you take it with you. There is no minimum term. Issued invoices are kept for the five years the tax obligation requires, as in any system.
Try Ordeli for 14 days
No card, no lock-in and no hardware to buy.