KOT and bill printing to your thermal printers

What prints, and when

With the KioSync Windows app running, a cash order’s KOT prints in the kitchen as soon as the order is placed and its bill prints once staff mark it paid; an online order prints both after the gateway confirms payment, so the kitchen never gets a ticket for an unpaid online order.

Each KOT shows the order number, dine-in or takeaway, the table, the guest’s name in large type, the time, the items and any note for the kitchen, such as “extra spicy, no onion”. The bill adds prices, the invoice number and the total GST. New to KOTs? Read what a KOT is and how it differs from a bill.

You can use printed KOTs, the kitchen display or both: the kitchen display shows the same orders on screen and reads them aloud.

Direct printing to LAN thermal printers

The Windows app sends tickets straight to network (LAN) thermal printers as ESC/POS over TCP port 9100, so there is no print server in between and no Windows printer driver to install.

KOTs and bills can go to different printers. In the Windows app’s setup screen, you enter the network address of a bill printer, a KOT printer or both, so one Windows PC at the counter can print bills on its own printer and KOTs on the kitchen’s network printer, and the kitchen needs no PC of its own. Leave one blank and that computer simply doesn’t print that ticket. Put the KOT printer where the cooks work and the bill printer at the counter, and each ticket comes out where it is needed.

No duplicate tickets

Each print job is claimed by one device before it prints, so two computers never print the same KOT, even if both run the Windows app with the same printers set up. That makes it safe to run the app on a counter PC and a back-office PC at the same time.

Reprint any ticket

A KOT got splashed in the kitchen, or a guest wants another copy of the bill? Reprint any KOT or bill from the admin panel and it goes back into the print queue, so the Windows app prints it again on the right printer. Reprints also help when a printer runs out of paper mid-service.

For a full tax invoice with your GSTIN and the CGST/SGST split, print the 80 mm receipt from the browser instead; the thermal bill shows the invoice number and total GST only. More on GST billing.

The KioSync Windows app

One installer opens either the admin panel or the kitchen display: on first launch you pick the role and your restaurant. Printing runs from the Windows app signed in with an owner, manager or counter staff login. For example, run it on a counter PC for printing and on a kitchen computer for the kitchen display.

The app is made for a computer that stays on through service. It starts when you sign in to Windows, keeps the screen awake, keeps alert sounds playing when minimised, shows a reconnecting page when the internet drops, and updates itself.

The app is Windows-only today, so automatic printing needs a Windows PC; there is no Mac or Linux version yet.