Digitise · Project
Restaurant and bar technology, without the sales pitch
Tills, bookings, stock, rotas, and payments: chosen for how you work, set up properly, and connected, by someone with nothing to sell you.
Fixed-price projects from €2,345, plus IVA. A fixed quote after a free scoping call.
How do you choose a till and booking system in Spain without being sold to?
Start with how you work, not with the software. Write down your service style, your menu, how many tills you need, how bookings come in, how you count stock, and what has to connect: your gestor, your payroll, and your rota. Then compare systems against that list, on the full cost over three years: software, hardware, card fees, contract length, and the cost of leaving. Check that the till meets Spain's invoicing rules. Ask every supplier how your data comes out if you go. And take advice from someone who earns nothing from your choice.
Digitise is how I do that with you. It is Atelier Sawyer's fixed-price technology project for independent restaurants, bars, chiringuitos, and cafés in Spain: an independent review of what you run, the right systems chosen for your operation, and the work of setting them up, connecting them, and training your team.
Independent means independent
I do not sell any system, and I have no preferred supplier. I will not take an exclusive arrangement with anyone, so the recommendation is always the one that suits your business, not mine. If a supplier ever pays me for an introduction, I will tell you before you choose, and it will never change what I recommend.
I also look at two things many suppliers never ask about: how comfortable your team is with technology, in whichever language they work in, and where the business is going. Selling you more than you need is wrong. So is selling you something that suits today but will not cope with the second site you plan to open next season.
Does this sound familiar?
- Your till, your bookings, and your stock system do not talk to each other.
- Cashing up and end-of-day reporting mean three spreadsheets and a late night.
- Every quarter, your gestor asks for figures your till cannot produce.
- A supplier has told you your till must be replaced for Verifactu, and you are not sure whether to believe them.
- You got a system through Kit Digital, and it has never quite fitted how you work.
- New staff take weeks to learn the till, and the seasonal team starts again every summer.
- You are paying for features you never use, and missing the ones you need.
- You want a second site, and your systems would not survive it.
How Digitise works
The project takes about six weeks from the scoping call to go-live, followed by three months of fine-tuning. It runs in five stages.
1. Review and selection
I look at what you run now, where it slows you down, how confident your team is with technology, and what you need now and over the next year or two. Then we choose the right tools for your operation: the till, bookings, stock, rota, and payments, compared on fit, on full cost, and on whether they meet Spain's invoicing rules, not on the sales pitch.
2. Connection
Your systems should share what they know. Sales should flow to your gestor in the form they need; guest notes should be visible at the table; labour should be measured against takings as they happen.
3. Moving your data
Changing systems is where things go wrong. I plan and manage the move of your menus, guest lists, and history, so nothing you need is lost.
4. Go-live and training
A system is only as good as the people using it. I manage the switch-over, and train your managers and your team, in English or Spanish, until they are confident, before the first service on the new set-up. Go-live is planned around your season, never in the middle of it.
5. Fine-tuning
For three months after go-live, we adjust the set-up to how you actually use it, so the reports are right and the everyday tasks are quick. Three months takes your new reports through a full IVA quarter, so the figures are proven before you rely on them. If the software itself develops a fault, that goes to the supplier under your contract with them.
What is included
- A review of your current systems, costs, and contracts
- A written recommendation, with each option compared on fit, three-year cost, and compliance with Spain's invoicing rules
- Set-up and connection of the chosen systems
- Data migration, planned and checked
- Go-live support and training for managers and team, in English or Spanish
- Three months of fine-tuning after go-live
- WhatsApp and email throughout the project: replies within four hours between 08:00 and 21:00, email the same day, and an urgent call back within two hours
Why work with me
I have spent more than 30 years running restaurants, cafés, bars, pubs, and nightclubs, in London and on the Costa del Sol. I have worked double shifts on tills that fought back, and I know what a system has to do at ten o'clock on a Saturday night in August, not just in a demonstration. I choose technology the way an operator does: by what it saves the team, not by what it promises.
What Digitise costs
From €2,345, plus IVA, fixed price. Every venue starts from a different place, so the final fee depends on what you need and what you already have. After a free scoping call, you get a fixed, written quote. No hourly billing, and no surprises. Half is paid when the project starts, and the balance at go-live.
Software, hardware, and card fees are paid to the suppliers you choose, so you always see exactly what they cost.
Prices are shown without IVA, which is added at 21%. If your business is registered for IVA, you can normally deduct it on your return.
Digitise is not right for everyone
- If your systems work and the problem is how the business runs, start with the Health Check or Run. New technology will not fix an old process.
- If you need a website or a booking site built, that is a separate service.
- If you have already chosen a system and only need it installed, your supplier should do that as part of the contract.
Frequently asked questions
Does my till need to be ready for Verifactu?
Yes, before the deadline that applies to you. Verifactu requires the system you invoice from, your till included, to keep records that cannot be altered and to be able to send them to Hacienda. The current legal dates are 1 January 2027 for companies and 1 July 2027 for autónomos, and Hacienda has announced a further delay that is not yet law. Ask your supplier for its Verifactu declaration, and check your date with your gestor.
Do I need a new till, or am I using the one I have badly?
In my experience, it is often the one you have. Before you replace anything, check how it is set up: menu buttons in the order your team actually sells, modifiers that print clearly in the kitchen, reports you read, and staff trained beyond the basics. A badly set-up system looks like a bad system. If it still cannot do what you need after that, change it. A Digitise review tells you which.
What technology does a restaurant actually need?
Less than most suppliers suggest. A till that suits your service and meets Spain's invoicing rules, a way to take bookings if you take them, a way to count stock, a rota, and a link to your gestor. Everything else should earn its place by saving time or money you can measure. Start with the list of what you need, then find the systems that fit it, not the other way round.
What is the best till system?
There is no best one, only the right one for your operation: your service style, your menu, your number of tills, and the systems it has to work with. Compare the ones that fit on their full cost over three years, including card fees and the cost of leaving. Anyone who names a single answer without asking those questions is selling something.
How do I know if I am paying for technology I do not need?
List every system and subscription, what it costs each month, and when you last used each feature. You may well find something you could cancel or combine, or a contract that renews automatically at a higher price. A Digitise review does this with you, with the contracts in front of us, before anything new is chosen.
Not sure where to start?
Start with a conversation. We will look at what you run now, what is causing friction, and whether Digitise is the right level of help. If the wider picture is unclear, start with a Health Check instead.