Plain-English summary#
A Kitchen Order Ticket (KOT) is the slip — printed on a kitchen printer or shown on a kitchen display screen — that tells the kitchen what to make. It's created automatically when an order is accepted (for example with Save & Accept), and again when items are added to the order afterwards. The KOT shows the items, add-ons, prep notes and order details (table number, takeaway, customer name where relevant) but no prices — the kitchen doesn't need them. The kitchen also marks KOTs as prepared, and that shows back on the order so front-of-house knows what's ready.
When you'd use this#
- A cashier taking a counter or dine-in order sends items to the kitchen, and accepting the order does that.
- A server adds more items after the order was accepted, and the kitchen gets a new KOT for just the extra items.
- A KOT printer is offline and orders are piling up — knowing what a KOT is helps you tell whether the problem is the printer, the kitchen display, or the order.
- A new staff member learning the kitchen display asks "what's a KOT?".
- The order is accepted but the kitchen says it never got the items.
Key concepts#
- KOT (Kitchen Order Ticket): the printed or on-screen slip sent to the kitchen when an order is accepted or changed: items, add-ons and order details, no prices.
- Accepting an order: when an order is accepted (Save & Accept), Foodops creates its KOTs automatically. Later changes create a new KOT for added items, or cancellation slips for removed ones.
- Kitchen Display — a screen that replaces or works alongside printers, receiving KOTs as they're created. See Kitchen Display.
- Itemwise KOT — an alternative layout where each single portion of an item gets its own slip (instead of one ticket per order). Turned on by a setting. Useful when different stations prepare different things.
- Void — cancelling a sent line. The kitchen is told; the KOT isn't deleted.
- Reprint — printing the same KOT again. Just a print; no new KOT.
- Prepared — the kitchen's signal back to the order that an item is ready.
Common questions#
Q: Why does the KOT not show prices? A: The kitchen makes food, not bills. Prices on a KOT just get in the way of prep and cause confusion around discounts and waste tracking. The customer's receipt has prices; the KOT doesn't.
Q: Can I edit an item after the order has been accepted and the KOT created? A: Yes. You can add items, raise or lower quantities, or remove lines on the order. The kitchen gets a new KOT for added items and a cancellation slip for removed or reduced ones. Whether you can remove items or reduce quantities depends on your role, unless your outlet uses the Discard bin.
Q: I accepted the order but the kitchen says they didn't get it. What's wrong? A: Three usual causes: (1) the kitchen printer is offline or out of paper — check the printer; (2) the item has no kitchen selected, or the kitchen has no printer set up for it, so the KOT printed elsewhere or not at all, so check the kitchen selected on the item (Restaurant tab) and the printer's kitchens in Settings → Outlets → Outlets → [your outlet] → Printing; (3) the kitchen display device is disconnected — check the network and reconnect. The KOT almost always exists in Foodops; the problem is getting it to the kitchen.
Q: Can I reprint a KOT? A: Yes, use Reprint KOTs in the order detail panel. It shows a list of the order's KOTs, each with a print icon. It doesn't create a new KOT; it prints the existing one again, and the reprint looks the same as the original.
Q: What's the difference between a KOT and a receipt? A: The KOT goes to the kitchen and lists what to make; the receipt goes to the customer and shows what they paid. The KOT has no prices; the receipt does.