Point of sale for independent cafes.
Muster POS runs the counter, the kitchen printer, the card terminal and the online orders for a working cafe in Canberra. It was built for that shop first, which is why it covers the parts most systems leave to somebody else.
The real application, seeded with sample data. No signup. Pick a name on the sign in screen, then the PIN: Staff 1111, Manager 1234, Admin 0000. The data resets every night.
Bring your own hardware
Many point of sale systems sell or lease their own tablet and card reader, and that reader only takes payments through them. Muster POS runs on hardware the shop chooses.
Cards on the shop's own bank terminal
The amount goes from the till to the shop's bank EFTPOS terminal through Linkly, so nothing is keyed in twice. Square Terminal is supported too, and online orders are paid through Square.
Who does what
Muster sets up the point of sale and keeps it running. The shop looks after its menu, its staff and its bank.
At the counter
Orders, split bills and adjustments
Split by amount or by item, per item discounts, and order level adjustments such as a public holiday surcharge.
Cash drawer and end of day
Till sessions, cash movements and a Z report that accounts for every refund and payout.
Printing over the shop network
Receipts and kitchen dockets to thermal printers, with a reprint queue when a printer drops off the network so no docket is silently lost.
Keeps serving when the internet does not
The till is a local application on a machine in the shop. An outage upstream does not stop a sale.
Beyond the till
Online ordering
A customer ordering page with pickup times, paid online and sent straight to the kitchen.
Loyalty and reservations
Stamp cards that work at the counter and online, and table bookings including recurring ones.
Reporting, stock and staff
Sales, product mix, payment reconciliation, stock, vouchers, timesheets and a payroll report.
Looking after itself
Back on after a power cut
The shop computer switches itself back on when the power returns, and the till starts without anyone signing in. Tested by pulling the plug at the wall.
Notices when it has not come back
After every restart it checks the till is actually serving, and sends an alert saying what broke if it is not. If the machine never checks in at all, the silence raises the alarm.
Updates that check themselves
Updates install after close. The tests run before the till is touched, and an update that leaves the till unhealthy is rolled back automatically.
Backups proven by restoring them
A backup every night, kept on the machine and off site, and each one is read back before it counts. Four times a year the newest is rebuilt into a test copy of the shop.
Reliability and data: outages, updates, backups and security
Status
In use every day at Ichi Cafe in Kippax, ACT, taking in-store card payments on the bank's EFTPOS terminal through Linkly, and orders online.
Accredited by Linkly for on premises EFTPOS over TCP/IP, and listed on the Linkly accredited POS directory since September 2026. It is built and maintained by one developer, so it moves at the pace of the shop it runs.