Setting up payments for your new bar or brewery

Open tabs, busy rushes, tips, and a taproom that might also sell merch and beer to go. Here is what to plan for in your POS and card processing, what to have ready before you apply, and what to ask before you sign anything.

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What to get right

Tabs that open, transfer, and close cleanly

Most of your revenue will run through tabs. Your POS should let staff start a tab with a card, keep it open through the night, move it between the bar and a table, split it, and close it quickly at last call. Ask how the system handles cards held on file for a tab, what happens with tabs left open at close, and how tips added after the fact are captured. If this part is clumsy, you will feel it every weekend.

Speed at the rail and anywhere you pour

A packed Friday is not the time for a slow terminal. Plan for enough stations behind the bar, and think about handheld or mobile devices if you have a patio, beer garden, events, or a festival booth. Check whether the system keeps working if your internet drops, and how offline transactions are handled once you reconnect.

Tips, payouts, and staff permissions

Bartenders and servers need tips recorded accurately per person and per shift, with reports you can use for payroll. Set up permissions so voids, comps, and discounts require a manager, and so you can see who rang what. This protects your staff and your margins.

Inventory and mixed sales in one place

Bars track pours, kegs, and bottles. Breweries often sell pints, flights, cans, growlers or crowlers, merchandise, and sometimes kegs or wholesale. Choose a POS that can handle modifiers like pour sizes and happy hour pricing, track inventory by item, and keep taproom, retail, and online sales in one set of reports. If you plan to sell online, ask about e-commerce integration from the start.

How it works

Get your business basics in order. Before applying for a merchant account, have your business entity formed, your EIN from the IRS, a business bank account, and a government-issued ID for each owner. Liquor licensing runs on its own track through your state and local authorities, and breweries also deal with federal permitting through the TTB. Licensing timelines vary widely, so check with your state and local offices early, and start your payments setup while that process moves forward.
Talk through how you will actually operate. Walk a processor through your layout and service style: how many bar stations, whether you run table service, outdoor or event sales, to-go sales, merchandise, and online orders. This shapes what hardware and software you need. If you already have a processing statement from another location or a prior business, send it and we will show you, line by line, what you are paying and beat it, or tell you honestly that we cannot.
Apply and get approved. You will submit your business details, ownership information, bank account, and expected sales. Review the pricing structure and terms before you sign. With TouchSuite, pricing is interchange-plus, meaning you pay the card networks' actual cost plus a fixed margin, and the agreement is month-to-month with no cancellation fees.
Set up, train, and test before opening night. Once approved, most merchants are processing within 24 to 48 hours. Use the time before you open to build your menu in the POS, set up tip handling and staff permissions, and run test tabs and transactions. A soft opening or friends-and-family night is a good chance to find gaps before you are busy.

Questions to ask a processor

How does your system handle open tabs and card holds?

This is the first thing to ask any processor as a bar or brewery. You want to understand how a card is used to open a tab, how the final amount and tip are captured, and what happens to tabs left open at the end of the night. Have them walk you through it on the actual device your staff will use.

What will I pay, and how is it structured?

Ask for the pricing model in writing and make sure you understand it before signing. TouchSuite uses interchange-plus pricing: you pay the card networks' actual cost plus a fixed margin, so you can see what each part of your cost is. A cash discount program is also available if you want to eliminate processing cost; check your state's rules on cash discounting and surcharging before choosing that route.

Am I locked into a contract?

Ask directly about contract length and any cancellation fees. TouchSuite accounts are month-to-month, and you can cancel anytime with no fees.

Do I have to buy hardware up front?

Ask what equipment you will need and how it is provided. With TouchSuite, qualifying merchants receive free terminals and POS hardware with no upfront cost. Make sure whatever you get covers every station, including any patio, event, or mobile setup.

Will it connect to the other software I plan to use?

Think about accounting, inventory, customer lists for a mug club or events, and online sales of cans or merch. Ask whether integrations cost extra each month. TouchSuite's ERP, CRM, and e-commerce integrations are included at no monthly fee with a TouchSuite merchant account.

How long until I can take cards?

Timelines depend on how complete your application is, so have your entity documents, EIN, bank account, and ID ready. Once approved, most TouchSuite merchants are processing within 24 to 48 hours. Your liquor license and any local permits are separate and can take much longer, so check with your state and local offices and plan around them.

Get your payments sorted before opening night

Tell us how your bar or brewery will run, from the rail to the patio to the merch shelf, and we will help you plan the right POS and processing setup. If you have a current processing statement, send it and we will show you exactly what you are paying.

TouchSuite · 800-793-3250 · Month-to-month, cancel anytime, no fees.