Switching restaurant POS systems: a checklist from contract to go-live

To switch a restaurant POS, work back from the date your current contract ends. Give notice on time, export your menu, customers, gift cards and reports while you still have access, move card processing and any stored cards, set up and test the new hardware, reconnect every tool that sends orders into the POS, train staff, then go live on a quiet day.

This page is the move itself. To choose the new system, start with our guide to choosing a restaurant POS; to price the switch, see what a restaurant POS costs. If you are leaving Clover, our Clover exit guide has Clover's own steps.

When should each step happen?

Start about three months before your term ends. The timeline below is our suggestion; the notice periods in it come from each vendor's agreement.

When	Job	Why then
90+ days before the term ends	Find your term end date and notice rule; book demos	Lightspeed's agreement needs written notice at least 90 days before a term over 90 days ends
60 days before	Pick the new POS; get a written quote; plan the network	Leaves time to order hardware and fix Wi-Fi gaps
45 days before	Ask the old provider to export stored cards, if you keep cards on file	Square says its export takes up to two weeks; Shift4 aims for five weeks
30+ days before	Send written notice; build the menu in the new POS	Toast and Clover each ask for at least 30 days' notice before the term ends
14 days before	Install hardware; send test orders from every channel; train staff	Two weeks to fix routing, modifiers and printers
2 to 3 days before	Export final reports, customers and gift card balances	Catches the last sales and cards sold
Go-live day	Switch payments, online ordering and phone ordering to the new POS	Pick your slowest day of the week
After go-live	Return or buy old hardware; close the old account; save the last reports	Return and data-access clocks start when the contract ends

What notice does your current POS need?

Read your own order form first, since it sets your term. These are the rules the standard agreements print:

• Toast: the merchant agreement renews for one-year periods unless either side gives at least 30 days' written notice before the term ends. Leaving early costs the software fees left in the term, or $150 for each month left on Pay-as-you-go.
• Clover on Clover.com: the pricing FAQ says subscriptions cannot be canceled. Tell Clover at least 30 days before the end whether you will return or buy the equipment, or the subscription carries on at the same monthly charge.
• Lightspeed: the service agreement renews for the same length as the first term unless either side gives written notice at least 90 days before the end of a term longer than 90 days.
• SpotOn: the merchant terms say a client who leaves early owes the subscription months left in the term.
• Square: the pricing page says "No hidden fees or locked-in contracts. Cancel or switch anytime."

What data should you export, and how?

Export while the old account is open. Toast says it has no single export of all your data, so plan on several files from any system.

POS	Menu and items	Customers	Gift cards and reports
Toast	Items database: download icon, spreadsheet without photos	Ask Toast which report holds your guest list	Gift card balances report, plus the inactive cards file. Reports cover the last 48 months, six months at a time
Square	Items, then Actions, then Export Library, as Excel or CSV	Customer directory, then Import / Export, then Export customers	Ask Square for the gift card file your new provider needs
Clover	Items, then Item List, then Options, then Export, as an Excel file	Customers list, then Options, then Download, as CSV from the web dashboard only	Ask your provider
Lightspeed (K-Series)	Menu management, then More actions, then Export, as CSV; items export separately	Customers, then Customer list, then Export	Ask Lightspeed

Sources: Toast's items database guide, gift card export and data backup answer; Square's item import guide; Clover's inventory export and customer export; Lightspeed's menu export and customer export.

Toast's help center says your data stays available for 60 days after you close the account, while its merchant agreement lets Toast delete it 30 days after termination, so export before you give notice. Files hold less than you might expect: Lightspeed's menu file, for example, lists each item's SKU and the screen it sits on. Check which fields the new POS can import, and plan to check modifiers, kitchen routing and tax settings by hand with test orders.

How do gift cards move to a new POS?

Unspent gift cards are money you owe guests, so plan them early. Toast's gift card import guide shows what a new system can ask for:

1. A gift card liability report from your old provider, with active cards (those with a balance) and unsold cards in separate files.
2. Full card numbers with no asterisks, and balances in dollars.
3. No more than 15,000 rows in each file.

Toast also warns that some imported cards will not swipe on its devices, so staff key in the number. Ask the new vendor to import a test file and redeem three real cards before go-live.

What happens to card processing and stored cards?

Plan the card processor with the POS. Lightspeed's agreement, for example, requires Lightspeed Payments where it is offered, and Clover accounts need credit approval. Apply as soon as you pick the system. Cards that guests saved with you, for house accounts or online orders, move only from processor to processor:

• Square sends card-on-file data, as an encrypted file, only to a PCI DSS Level 1 processor, after the account owner calls to verify, per its card export article.
• Shift4 charges for a token export to a PCI-validated third party. It estimates the cost at over $10,000 and aims to deliver within five weeks.

If the fee is more than the stored cards are worth to you, ask guests to add their card again on the new system.

What hardware do you need, and what goes back?

Check whether any old device can carry over. Clover's pricing FAQ says Clover devices bought or leased from other sellers cannot be used with other processors, and Toast's services run only on hardware Toast approves. Count every device before you order: stations, handhelds, kitchen screens, printers, cash drawers, kiosks, routers and access points.

Then sort the old hardware. SpotOn's merchant terms ask for rented or loaned hardware back within 15 days of termination, or charge a replacement fee. Clover's return guide asks you to sync all orders, uninstall paid apps and deactivate SIM cards before you ship, and to pack every cable.

Which tools write orders into your POS?

List every tool that sends orders or data into the POS, then check each one works with the new system before go-live.

Tool	What to check	Test before go-live
Online ordering	Whether it belongs to the old POS and must be rebuilt	Place an order with modifiers and pay by card
Delivery apps	Whether the app connects to the new POS directly or through another service	One order from each app, with its dining option
Phone ordering	Whether the phone service supports the new POS	A phone order with a modifier and a change
Kiosks	Whether the kiosk software writes into the new POS	A kiosk order through to the kitchen screen
Drive-thru	Timers, order screens and any voice ordering	A lane order through to the window
Payroll, loyalty and reservations	Which data moves and which starts from zero	One shift of time entries and one loyalty sign-up

Maple's Pro phone ordering, and its drive-thru and kiosk units in early access, write orders into the POS systems on its integrations page, including Toast, Square, Clover, Lightspeed, SpotOn and SkyTab (now Shift4 Dine). Our menu worksheet for phone ordering helps you check each item after the move.

How should you train staff?

1. Give each role its own short session: servers, counter, kitchen, managers.
2. Have servers ring their ten most common orders, split a check and close out a tip.
3. Have the kitchen bump, recall and read allergy notes on the new screens.
4. Have managers void, comp, refund and run the end-of-day report.
5. Run a practice service with staff playing guests, using test orders you can void.

What should go-live day look like?

1. Open on your slowest day, with a vendor contact on call.
2. Keep the old system boxed on site until the first day closes.
3. Take a tapped card, a chip card and a cash sale in the first hour, and check each in the new reports.
4. Send one order from each channel in the table above and watch where it lands.
5. Redeem one gift card and look up one customer.
6. At close, compare card totals with the processor's report.

Published by Maple. This AI-assisted checklist combines the agreements and help pages of Toast, Clover, Square, Lightspeed, SpotOn and Shift4 with an original timeline and test lists. It does not report a switch we ran for a restaurant, a quote from any vendor, or legal advice about any contract.