A new cafe in Qatar needs four kinds of software: a POS to take orders and payments, accounting software for your books, a way to order from suppliers, and a tool for stock, recipes and cost. Most online lists stop at the POS. The back-of-house half is where cafes lose money quietly. Ordering from suppliers with Wady's Purchase System is free forever. Stock, recipes and cost sit in Wady Central, which is paid. Wady does not sell a POS. This guide covers what each part does, when you need it, and which parts are free.
Key takeaways
A cafe needs four kinds of software: a POS, accounting, supplier ordering, and a tool for stock, recipes and cost.
Wady's Purchase System covers supplier ordering and is free forever. Wady does not sell a POS.
On day one, ordering matters most. A spreadsheet can carry stock and recipes for the first weeks.
Wady Central, the paid product, runs from one cafe up to a multi-branch group with a central kitchen.
Why does every list start and end with a POS?
A POS is the piece you see on opening day, and most search results are pages written by POS sellers. A POS takes the order, prints the receipt and takes the payment. That is the front of the cafe.
It does not tell you what you paid for milk last month. It does not tell you why the croissant now costs more to make. It does not hold your supplier orders. Those live behind the counter, and on opening day most cafes run them on WhatsApp, memory and a notebook.
Read any "software for a cafe" list as half a list. The other half is below.
What is the full software stack for a new cafe?
Five pieces, in the order you will need them.
POS and payments. Takes orders and card or other payments at the counter.
Accounting. Keeps your books, invoices and records.
Supplier ordering. Where your orders to coffee, dairy, bakery and dry goods suppliers go out and get recorded.
Stock. What you hold, what came in, what went out, what was wasted.
Recipes and cost. What each drink and dish costs you to make, kept current as supplier prices move.
Pieces 1 and 2 you choose yourself, from any provider you like. Pieces 3 to 5 are where Wady fits.
What do I need before opening?
Three pieces: POS and payments, accounting, and supplier ordering. Before you open, you must be able to take money, record it and buy product. Everything else can start small.
POS and payments. Pick one that fits your counter, your payment methods and your menu. Prices and terms vary by provider, so compare more than one. Wady does not sell or replace a POS.
Accounting. Pick accounting software, or an accountant who uses one. Prices and terms vary by provider. Wady does not replace your accounting either.
Supplier ordering. Before day one you need coffee, milk, bread, packaging and more on order. Set up the Purchase System now. It takes about five minutes, and it is free for your business, forever, with no fees and no contracts.
Your first orders will be the biggest of your life as a cafe owner. Opening stock is where mistakes cost most. Place them from a catalogue with your prices on screen, not from memory. The ministry's food establishment classification program covers hotels, restaurants, fast-food outlets and cafes, and grades them in six levels by risk. See also how to track supplier orders in Qatar.
What do I need in the first month?
In the first month, add a stock routine and a recipe sheet. Real sales data now exists, and you need to see what each cup costs against what you charge for it. A spreadsheet is a fair start for both.
Count your stock weekly or more often. Write down what you hold, then compare it with what you bought. For a method, see how to do a restaurant stock count.
Write a recipe for every menu item. List each ingredient, its quantity and its price. Add what you lose in prep. For the maths, see how to calculate food cost.
Record waste. Milk that went off and pastry left over are costs. Write them down with a reason.
Wady Central imports your costing spreadsheet as it is, with your own columns, so you do not retype it later. A National Restaurant Association (US) piece on menu pricing strategy says costing must be accurate before pricing, and quotes food cost targets of about 24 to 26 percent. More on tools is in recipe costing software.
What do I need when the cafe grows?
When you open a second outlet, or add a small kitchen, you need one system for stock, purchasing and cost. Spreadsheets break when two people type into them. Wady Central runs from one cafe up to a multi-branch group with a central kitchen. It works alongside the POS and accounting you already have. Groups can read how multi-branch restaurants centralize purchasing.
Signs you have outgrown the spreadsheet:
You check one ingredient across several files, and they disagree.
A supplier raises a price and you find out when the invoice lands.
Two outlets order the same things and nobody sees the total.
The monthly count never matches what the sheets say.
Operators in Qatar told us the same thing: the work gets recorded in pieces, so no number can be traced back. They described counts that never match, wrong digits that run for a month, and costs that move without warning. The fix is one record.
Which parts are free, and which are paid?
Supplier ordering is free. Stock, recipes and cost are paid. POS and accounting are paid or free depending on the provider you choose, and Wady has no say in that.
Piece | What it does | Who needs it | When | Typical cost basis |
|---|---|---|---|---|
POS and payments | Takes orders and payments at the counter | Every cafe | Before opening | Varies by provider |
Accounting | Keeps books, invoices and records | Every cafe | Before opening | Varies by provider |
Supplier ordering (Wady Purchase System) | Orders from all your suppliers in one app, at your prices, with a record of every order | Every cafe that orders from suppliers | Before opening | Free for your business, forever. No fees. No contracts. |
Stock and counts (Wady Central) | Every movement, count and waste line in one ledger | Cafes that want to know what they hold and why numbers differ | First month, or when you grow | Wady Central is from QAR 299 per outlet per month, early adopter price |
Recipes and cost (Wady Central) | Costs every item on usable yield, re-costed when a price moves | Cafes that want to know their margin per cup | First month, or when you grow | Wady Central is from QAR 299 per outlet per month, early adopter price |
Purchasing and receiving (Wady Central) | Orders every supplier from one place, receive by confirming | Cafes with several suppliers, outlets or staff ordering | When you grow | Wady Central is from QAR 299 per outlet per month, early adopter price |
"Varies by provider" is the honest answer for POS and accounting. Wady does not sell them and will not guess at their prices. Suppliers can take orders in the paid Order Management System.
Can I run a cafe on WhatsApp and a spreadsheet?
You can, and many cafes do at the start. WhatsApp is fast and familiar. A spreadsheet is free. The trouble comes with volume: orders spread across chats, calls and email, prices you have to ask for again, and no clean record when a delivery arrives wrong. WhatsApp's own page for the WhatsApp Business app describes it as a way to talk to customers one-on-one, show products and answer messages while away.
In Wady's Purchase System, the usual morning of two hours becomes about 10 minutes. That is the typical morning, not a measured study. Read WhatsApp vs one app for the full comparison.
A sensible path: start with the free Purchase System for ordering, keep stock and recipes in a spreadsheet for the first weeks, and move to Wady Central when the spreadsheet starts to cost you time.
How Wady helps with cafe software in Qatar
Wady is a B2B food supply platform in Qatar. It connects restaurants, cafes, hotels and catering with the food suppliers they already work with. Same suppliers, same prices, same relationships. Wady is not a marketplace.
The Purchase System (free)
On iOS, Android and any browser, in five languages.
Pick the supplier. Your connected suppliers sit in one list.
Fill the basket. The full catalogue, your prices, minimum order and pack size shown as you add.
Choose the delivery date. Their delivery days and cut-off times are already in there.
Send it. The supplier gets it straight away, and you both hold the same record.
A supplier not on Wady yet? Add them yourself with their products and prices. The purchase order goes out by email with you copied. Your own team gets their own logins, and you can see what each branch spent by supplier.
Wady Central (paid)
Runs in any browser, on laptop or tablet. It holds stock with a full history behind every balance, counts and waste, purchasing and receiving, and recipes costed on usable yield. When a supplier raises the price of butter, the croissant's cost moves that morning. Month-end can be a two-minute morning read, with every finding priced in riyals.
Over 100 businesses in Qatar already use Wady, including Crave Holdings and OMC. See pricing for how each product is charged.
What Wady does not do
Wady does not sell a POS, does not replace your accounting, and does not change your suppliers or your prices. Ordering from suppliers is the free part, and it stays free.
Reading about the buying side in more depth? See restaurant purchasing software. Wondering how order management works for small businesses? See cloud order management for small businesses.
Start with the free part
Set up the Purchase System in about five minutes, before your first order. Then talk to the Wady team when you want to see Wady Central on your own cafe.
Frequently asked questions
All your orders from your suppliers in one place, free forever.
