Splitting the bill made easy using Zonal’s EPoS

Dining out with friends or colleagues often involves splitting the bill – a common practice that can vary based on the group’s preferences. Some may opt to divide the total bill equally, while others prefer instead to pay only for the items they ordered. As more hospitality operators adopt loyalty programs, vouchers, and gift cards, the operational complexity of splitting a bill has increased significantly over the years.

To help you understand how technology can help streamline and simplify this process, as well as provide an enhanced customer experience, Zonal’s Customer Success team explore some of the ways our technology can facilitate the process of splitting the bill.

Splitting the bill

When processing a payment on the POS, there are 3 primary methods for splitting a bill on an open account:

Even Split: divide the total equally among all parties.

Itemised Split: splitting the account by individual items.

Visual Split: allocate items based on items consumed.

The table below outlines each method, provides example scenarios, and highlights key considerations to keep in mind.

Now that we’ve covered the three primary ways for splitting a bill, its important to consider how additional systems like loyalty cards, rewards, vouchers, promotions, discounts and deposits can impact the process.

The table below outlines how the split bill functionality within Zonal’s POS operates when these systems have already been applied to the Aztec account, detailing how each scenario is managed during the split.

Definitions

We know too well that terminology can often be confusing, so to help with the above tables, we’ve listed some definitions.

• Account: An account is a guest-specific record used to track purchases, payments, and outstanding balances for charge or credit transactions.
• Bill: A bill is a detailed statement of charges for products or services rendered. It includes: line items (products/services sold), quantity and unit price, tax and service charges (if applicable), and Total amount due.
• Deposit: A deposit refers to a partial prepayment made by a guest to reserve goods or services. It is often used in: Bookings or even Pre-orders. The deposit is typically deducted from the final bill when the transaction is completed (unless you have automated redemption).
• Loyalty Reward: A loyalty reward is a benefit or incentive given to returning customers as part of a loyalty program. These can include: Points earned per purchase, discounts on future purchases or even free items after a number of visits or purchases.
• Voucher Code: A voucher code is a unique identifier (usually alphanumeric) used to redeem a specific offer or promotion. These can include: Customer-Specific Promotions (e.g., birthday voucher), Monetary discounts (e.g., £5 off a bill).
• Promotion: A promotion is a temporary marketing offer intended to boost sales or attract customers. Examples include: Buy One Get One Free (BOGO), Flash sales, Limited-time bundle deals or Seasonal offers
• Discount: A discount is a reduction in price offered on a product or service. It can be: Percentage-based (e.g., 20% off), Fixed amount (e.g., £5 off) or Applied to specific items, categories, or the entire bill.