Ready Times & Prep Time

Prep time is how long your kitchen needs for an order. OpenPOS uses it to tell guests when their order will be ready and your team when it's due. It never turns an order away.

Where to find it

Store Settings › Services, then Configure on Online Ordering, under Order Flow.

1. Enter your Default Prep Time (minutes).
2. Under How prep time is set, choose the same time for every order, longer when the kitchen is full, or longer for bigger orders.
3. Choose Save.
4. For slower dishes, such as party trays, set Prep Time on the item in MENU › Menu Items, or on its category.

Good to know

• Guests see a range, never one exact time: an estimate at checkout, then a ready window on their order page, receipt, email and text. Scheduled orders show their time.
• The slowest item sets the time; times don't add up. A 20-minute pizza and a 10-minute salad are ready in 20. An item's own time wins over its category's, and blank uses the default.
• Kitchen behind? Add Extra time here, or from Store controls in the staff app (tap your initial). It can clear itself at 4 AM each day.
• One order running late? In the Terminal app, open it, tap ⋯, then Delay pickup. The guest's order page shows the new time; no text goes out.
• Catering uses notice instead, which decides the dates guests can pick. See Catering.

If something's not working

• Waits look too long? Check Extra time isn't still on, then the item and category Prep Time.
• No ready time on a table's order? Table QR orders don't get one.
• Still stuck? Email [email protected].