Set up and manage real-time bill view for restaurants

About real-time bill view

Real-time bill view is a new checkout experience for food and beverage sellers that displays a live basket panel alongside the item details screen. As you add or edit items, modifiers, quantities and prices, the basket updates in real time – no screen switching required.

With real-time bill view, you can:

• See your bill update instantly as you configure items and modifiers.

• Select multiple items in the basket for bulk actions (comp, void, move, remove).

• Edit items in place by tapping them in the cart panel.

• Keep full visibility of the running bill total while building orders.

Real-time bill view works with Square KDS – orders sent from the live basket panel are routed the same way as the previous workflow. It also works with coursing – you can hold and fire courses, and the live basket panel displays course groupings and fire status.

Before you begin

• You need a Square Point of Sale app on iOS or Android, Square Register, Square Terminal or Square Handheld.

• Your device must be running the latest version of the Square Point of Sale app.

• You need Full service, Quick service or Bar mode enabled. Learn how to set up your restaurants point of sale.

• You must be enrolled in the real-time bill view open beta via early feature access. Learn how to set up early feature access.

Build a bill with the live basket

1. Open your Square Point of Sale app and navigate to your floor plan or the Bills tab.

2. Tap a table or start a new bill.

3. Tap a menu item to open the item details screen. The live basket panel appears on the right-hand side of the screen.

4. Select variations and modifiers for the item. As you make selections, the basket panel updates in real time to reflect your choices and the running total.

5. To discard an in-progress item, cancel or remove the item before tapping Done.

6. Tap Done. The item appears in the basket panel immediately.

7. Continue adding items. Each item you configure is reflected in the basket panel as you go.

8. When you’re ready, tap Send to send the order to the kitchen or bar.

On larger screens, item details appear beside the bill instead of covering it. This lets you review the running total while you configure items. The bill updates as you make selections – items are only saved after you tap Done.

Edit an item from the basket

1. Tap any item in the live basket panel.

2. The item details screen updates to show that item’s current configuration.

3. Make your changes (modifiers, quantity, notes, price). The basket panel reflects your edits in real time.

4. Tap Done to confirm your changes.

You can also swipe on an item to access available quick actions.

If you can’t navigate away from an item, it’s missing a required selection. Complete the highlighted selection, then tap Done or choose another item.

Use multi-select for bulk actions

You can select multiple items in the live basket panel and apply an action to all of them at once – saving time during busy service.

1. In the live basket panel, tap and hold any item to enter multi-select mode.

2. Tap additional items to add them to your selection. Selected items are highlighted.

3. A toolbar appears at the bottom of the basket panel with the following actions:

   • Comp – Removes the cost from all items selected. Select a comp reason when prompted. Use when items are already prepared or delivered but need to be complimentary.

   • Void – Voids all items selected from the bill and inventory. Select a void reason when prompted. Use when items were entered incorrectly and not yet prepared.

   • Move to Bill – Moves all selected items to another course, a new bill or an existing bill. Use when reorganising items between bills or courses.

   • Move to Seat – Moves all selected items to another seat.

   • Repeat – Adds the same items to the bill again.

   • Remove – Removes all selected items from the bill.

4. Tap an action and follow the prompts (for example, select a comp reason or choose a destination bill).

5. Tap outside the selection or tap Done to exit multi-select mode.

Note: Bulk actions respect the same permissions as individual actions. Team members need the appropriate comp, void or checkout permissions. Learn how to set permissions in Square Dashboard.

Manage your item details settings

You can adjust how the item details screen behaves from Modes settings – including tile size and auto-progression. These settings apply to all devices using that mode. Learn how to Manage item details settings.

Real-time bill view is designed for larger screens where item details and the bill can appear side by side. On compact devices, item details may appear in a full-screen or focused view, and some display settings may not be available.

Return to the previous checkout experience

Real-time bill view is turned on by default. For a limited time, you can return to the previous experience from early feature access.

1. From the Square app, go to Settings.

2. Tap Early Feature Access.

3. Find Live Bill.

4. Tap Remove feature.

5. Tap Remove to confirm. You can share feedback or skip this step.

You can add real-time bill view again from early feature access while it’s available. After the early access period ends, it is automatically added as part of an upcoming release.

Related articles

• Manage bills

• Build your customer’s basket

• Set up your restaurants point of sale

• Create and edit modifiers

• Manage item details settings