How to choose a POS system in Cambodia: 10 questions to ask

Search for a POS system in Cambodia and you will find a long list: local systems such as POSCAMBODIA, CamboPOS, EZEPOS, MAQSU and WINTECH, international ones such as Odoo, and newer cloud ones such as Point Hub. Most of them take an order and print a receipt. What tells them apart is everything around that: how they handle riel and dollars, what happens when the power goes, and whether your sales data is yours to take away.

Here are the ten questions we would ask, as a restaurant or café owner in Phnom Penh, Siem Reap or Battambang, before paying for any till — with Bill&Go’s own answers, so you can hold us to the same standard.

1. Can one payment mix riel and dollars, with the change worked out?

In Cambodia a customer pays a $7.50 bill with a $5 note and 12,000 riel, and expects change back in riel. A POS made for one currency leaves the cashier to do that sum in their head, under pressure. Ask to see a mixed payment on the till, and the shift close counted per currency.

Bill&Go: each shop sets its own riel-to-dollar rate. The cashier taps the notes the customer hands over, in any mix, and the till shows the change in whole dollars first and the rest in riel, rounded to the nearest 100 riel in the customer’s favour. At the end of the shift the drawer is counted per currency. See multi-currency payments.

2. Does it take KHQR?

Most customers now pay by scanning a KHQR code. Ask whether the till shows a code with the amount already on it, and whether it knows when the payment has arrived — or whether the cashier checks a phone and taps “paid” by hand.

Bill&Go: QR payments are a payment method on the till, next to cash and card, and a customer screen can show the KHQR for the customer to scan. Each payment method is counted separately when the shift closes.

3. Can the menu be in Khmer?

Your kitchen may read Khmer and your customers English, or the other way round. Ask whether a dish can have both names, and which one prints on the kitchen ticket and on the bill.

Bill&Go: dishes, options and categories carry an English and a Khmer name, and the receipt template decides which prints where.

4. What happens when the internet or the power goes?

Outages happen. A cloud POS that stops taking orders the moment the Wi-Fi drops costs you a lunch rush. Ask exactly what keeps working offline, and what happens to those orders when the connection is back.

Bill&Go: the Bill&Go POS app keeps taking new orders and cash payments without a connection, and sends them to the kitchen and the shift once it is back. See when the internet drops.

5. Does every kitchen ticket reach the right printer, by itself?

Drinks to the bar, food to the kitchen, the bill to the counter, a sticker on each cup. Ask whether the till prints without a print dialog, which printers it works with, and what you see when a printer is out of paper.

Bill&Go: kitchen tickets, bills and cup stickers each go to their own printer through the free Bill&Go Printing app on a Windows or Mac computer, or a Bill&Go Printing Core box, which also prints to USB printers. The console shows each printer’s state. See kitchen printing.

6. Can you get your data out?

One day you will want your sales in a spreadsheet for your accountant, or in another system. Ask for a sample export before you buy, and ask what format the full sales, stock and customer history comes out in.

Bill&Go: sales and shift summaries download as Excel, CSV or PDF from the Starter plan. Every order keeps the names, prices and choices as they were sold, so a report months later still reads right.

7. Is there a documented API?

If you sell online, use an accounting system or a delivery partner, they need to talk to your till. “We can integrate” is not an answer; a public API reference is.

Bill&Go: a shop API with its reference on this site: an API key per shop, scoped and optionally tied to one branch, for your website, accounting or a delivery partner.

8. Can you see the shop without standing at the till?

An owner with two branches cannot watch both counters. Ask what you can see from your phone, and whether the day’s takings come to you.

Bill&Go: the Bill&Go Console app and the web console show sales, orders, staff and printers for every branch. Linked to Telegram, the shop’s bot sends alerts and answers /total and /summary with the day’s takings.

9. Does it grow with a second branch?

Ask whether each branch can have its own menu, prices, staff, tables and stock, and whether one owner sees them all from one place — or whether a second branch means a second subscription and a second login.

Bill&Go: one shop, several branches, each with its own menu, staff, tables, stock, promotions and currency settings, all from one console. See multi-branch POS.

10. What does it cost over three years?

A one-time licence often costs $500 to $1,500 up front, then extra for updates and support. A subscription is usually $20 to $80 a month per till. Add the hardware, then compare the three-year total, not the first invoice.

Bill&Go: published prices with no setup fee: Free for one small shop, Starter at $15 a month and Growth at $29 a month for the whole shop, not per till. Every new shop gets a month of Pro free, with no card. See pricing.

Try before you choose

The quickest test is to ring up a real order. Demo Café is open to everyone, or create your own shop — it takes a minute. The till runs in any browser, and the Bill&Go POS app is on the App Store for iPad and iPhone.

Tip. Ask every POS you consider these same ten questions, in writing. The answers to 1, 4 and 6 are the ones owners most often wish they had asked.