How to choose a POS system in the UAE: a 12-point checklist
· 4 min read
A point of sale (POS) system is the screen your team uses all day, so changing it later is painful. In the UAE it also has to get VAT right and print in two languages. Before you sign up for one, go through these twelve questions with the vendor, ideally with your own menu or product list in hand.
1. Does it issue proper VAT invoices?
If you are registered for VAT, every sale needs a tax invoice that shows your TRN and the 5% VAT, numbered in sequence. Ask how corrections work: an issued invoice should never be edited, only corrected with a credit note. Our guide to UAE tax invoices lists everything they must show.
2. Does it work in Arabic and English?
Check three places, not one: the receipt your customer takes home, the screens your staff use, and anything customers see online, such as a QR menu or booking page. Arabic should read right to left properly, not as a translated afterthought.
3. Which card machines does it connect to?
When the till sends the amount to the card machine, nobody types it twice and the payment is matched to the order automatically. If the POS can’t talk to your bank’s terminal, you will reconcile by hand every night. Ask which terminals are integrated, and whether tips can be added on the card.
4. What happens when the internet drops?
A busy Friday is the wrong moment to find out the till stops without a connection. Ask whether you can keep selling and printing kitchen tickets offline, and how the sales are sent back once the line returns, with the right time and cashier.
5. Does it run on hardware you can buy anywhere?
Some systems only run on their own terminals. Others run on an iPad, an Android tablet or a Windows PC, with standard receipt printers, cash drawers and barcode scanners. The second kind is cheaper to start and easier to replace when something breaks.
6. Restaurants: tables, kitchen and split bills
A restaurant till needs more than a price list. Look for open tabs per table, orders sent to kitchen printers or screens by station, bills split by seat or item, and delivery orders with their own fee. Ask to see a table being moved and a bill split, not just described.
7. Shops: stock, variants and barcodes
If you sell products, stock should drop the moment something sells, in the shop or online, with sizes and colours tracked separately and a barcode scanner that just works. If you have more than one branch, check that each branch keeps its own stock.
8. Does it take online orders too?
A separate website, a separate delivery tablet and a separate till mean three sets of stock and three reports. A POS that also runs your website, QR menu or booking page puts every order in one list and every dirham in one report.
9. Can you control what staff can do?
Each person should sign in with their own PIN, so every sale, refund and discount has a name on it. Look for permissions per role, a manager’s approval for sensitive actions such as removing a dish already sent to the kitchen, and a shift close with a cash count.
10. Will it grow with a second branch?
Ask what changes when you open another location: is it a second account with its own menu, or a branch inside the same one, with shared products, separate stock and reports you can compare side by side? Ask what each extra branch costs.
11. Are the reports useful on day one?
At minimum you want an end-of-day report per till, sales by item and by payment method, and the VAT figures for your return. Exports to Excel matter when your accountant asks for them.
12. What does it really cost?
Add everything up for a year: the monthly plan, any commission on each order, card fees, hardware, setup and support. Check whether prices are in AED and whether VAT is included, how long the contract runs, and what happens to your data if you leave.
Where Tajerio fits
We built Tajerio to answer this list. It issues tax invoices with your TRN and 5% VAT, works in Arabic and English on screen and on paper, runs on an iPad, an Android tablet or any browser, links to supported card machines, and keeps selling offline in the Tajerio app. Restaurants get tables, kitchen screens and per-seat bills; shops get variants, barcodes and stock per branch; and the same system runs your website. There is no commission on your orders.
