Guide to Managing Different Courses

Do you work with starters, main courses, and desserts?
Then courses are a handy way to bring more structure to your orders. By linking products to a course, it immediately becomes clear what should be served when.

This provides more clarity in the dining area, clearer communication with the kitchen, and smoother service for your customers.
 

What exactly are courses?

Courses are the different parts of a meal that are served in a specific order. Think, for example, of:
• starter
• main course
• dessert
• coffee or digestif

By linking each product to the appropriate course, you build orders logically and your team immediately knows how the service should proceed.
 

Why work with courses?

Using courses makes your operation clearer and more efficient. You create:
• more structure in orders
• a clearer flow between dining area and kitchen
• less chance of errors during service
• a more pleasant experience for customers

For hospitality businesses with table service, this is a simple way to bring more calm and clarity during busy service moments.
 

For which businesses is this interesting?

Courses are especially interesting for:
• restaurants
• brasseries
• other hospitality businesses where dishes are served in multiple stages

If you mainly work with quick takeaway orders or a simpler service concept, this feature is often less relevant.

This feature must be requested. Request this feature via our support channel: click here.
 

How do you set up courses?

Depending on the configuration of your management page, the exact location of this setting may differ, but usually it works like this:

1. Open the management page
2. Go to Cash Register Configuration and click on Default > settings
3. In the section Courses
4. Create the desired courses and provide a Print Name if desired, such as:
• Starter - ST
• Main Course - MC
• Dessert - Dessert

Tip: enter the courses immediately in the correct order. This keeps the build-up of orders logical and clear for both dining area and kitchen.


Example of a clear layout
A practical build-up could look like this:
• Soup, carpaccio or shrimp croquettes → Starter
• Steak, pasta or fish dish → Main Course
• Moelleux, ice cream or tiramisu → Dessert
• Coffee or tea → Coffee / digestif

5. Save your changes.

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6. Go to Products.
For each product, assign the course that fits this product in the section Course.

7. Save your changes.

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8. Check in the cash register whether orders are grouped correctly.
For this, you need to restart the cash register application and update to the latest version (from Unipos 1.8.0)
9. Go to Tables > click a table (note: the course system only works on table orders)

10. On the product overview:

A. When choosing the dishes to be ordered, the products are automatically assigned to the correct course. This appears in your order overview.


B. There is also an option to add a product to a course (for example a drink) by first clicking on the course and then selecting the product to be ordered.

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11. In the overview with the tables, it is indicated which course the table is currently at.

12. Click Send to forward the next course to the kitchen.


In the order overview you can see when which course was sent and which courses may still be sent.

The kitchen receives the order as shown in the example below:

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13. Using courses with Combo Menus: think of Day Lunch, Christmas Menu, Mother’s Day Menu, ...

In the cash register, on the product overview, select the combo menu and a pop-up window with the options will appear.
Click 'Add to ticket'.



14. In the order overview you can send the different courses.



Good to know:
 - Drinks are always forwarded automatically and you do not need to send them. This function can be configured.
- To work smoothly with courses, it is important that:
• products are linked correctly
• you use clear names
• after setting up, you test whether everything is correctly visible in the cash register

Our tip
Keep it simple. The clearer your course names are, the easier your team will work with them. This ensures more clarity behind the scenes and better service at the table.