In a lot of billiard halls, play time is still recorded the way it always has been. The cashier glances at the wall clock when a table opens, writes it in a book, and flips the light on from a switch behind the counter. When the players finish, the cashier works out the time, adds the drinks from a separate note, and turns the light off. On a busy night, one missed step is enough for a bill to come out wrong or for a light to keep burning over an empty table.
XETPOS Billiard was built to tidy up that whole sequence. It is a dedicated edition of XETPOS, our cashier app, designed for pool and billiard halls. Two things set it apart: the system calculates play time, and the table lights are controlled from the cashier screen through a smart relay. This article walks through how it works, from opening a table to the report at the end of the month.
If you are still working out which kind of system fits your business, start with our guide to choosing business software by type of business. This article picks up from there for one specific kind of venue.
One table session, from open to paid
Everything the cashier does in XETPOS Billiard revolves around the table. The cashier picks a table, picks a package, and the timer starts. At the same moment, the light above the table comes on without anyone walking over to a switch.
While the session runs, food and drink orders land on the same table bill. The cashier can enter them, or players can scan the QR code on the table and order from their own phone. Orders taken separately in the cafe area can also be merged into the table's bill, so players pay once at the end.
Real nights are rarely as neat as the plan, and the system is built for that:
- Pausing a table. If players take a break, the table can be paused and the paused time is not billed.
- Moving tables. If players ask to switch, their bill and orders move with them.
- Extending time. If a package runs out and players want to keep going, the session is extended without opening a new table, and the light comes back on.
When players pay, by cash or QRIS, the session closes and the light goes off. The receipt shows the start and end time of play, so players can see exactly what they are paying for.
Two ways to bill play time
Billiard halls usually sell time in two ways, and XETPOS Billiard handles both.
The first is a fixed package: players buy time up front, say one or two hours. The second is open play, or open bill: the table opens with no time limit and the bill is worked out at the end. For open play, the hourly rate is converted to a per-minute rate automatically, minus any paused time. While the session is still running, the cashier can see a running estimate, so the question "how much are we at?" gets an answer on the spot.
Rates do not have to be one number for the whole day either. The owner can set rate rules by time of day, for example a different afternoon and evening rate. The system applies whichever rate is in effect when the session starts, so the cashier never has to remember which one to use.
Table lights that follow the cashier
The part people ask about most is the lighting. Each table is fitted with a Shelly Plus 1PM smart relay connected to the venue's Wi-Fi. The XETPOS Billiard system holds the status of every table, in play or free. The cashier PC runs a small program that acts as a bridge: it pulls table status from the system and passes the on or off command to the relay on the right table.
The result is simple. The light comes on when a session starts and goes off when it closes. A lit table is a table the system knows about. If a light needs to be on outside a session, for cleaning for instance, the cashier still has a manual switch for each table on screen.
There are two technical requirements worth knowing up front. The relays need a stable local Wi-Fi network, and the cashier PC needs to stay on during opening hours because that is where the bridge runs. The bridge program can be set to start automatically whenever the cashier PC boots.
What gets recorded behind the cashier screen
Most billiard halls run a small cafe, and that is where money tends to leak without anyone noticing. XETPOS Billiard is built on XETPOS, so the cafe and stock side comes fully equipped.
Each menu item can be linked to its recipe and ingredients. When an item sells, ingredient stock drops automatically. Purchases are recorded per supplier, stock counts record the gap between physical and recorded stock, and the stock card shows every movement per ingredient. When an ingredient runs low, the cashier gets a warning before selling an item that cannot be made. We cover this kind of leakage in more depth in our article on ingredient and kitchen asset leakage.
For regulars, there is a membership feature with points that can be earned and redeemed at checkout, along with vouchers. Discounts a cashier gives by hand are logged in their own report, so the owner can see who discounted what.
On the reporting side, the owner can review sales and profit with ingredient cost counted per transaction, operating expenses, member performance, and which tables saw the most use in a given period. Reports export to Excel. Access is set by role, so cashiers, admins, and owners each see only the menus that are theirs to use.
Who it is for
XETPOS Billiard fits best for:
- Pool and billiard halls that still log play time by hand and want the system to work out the bill.
- Venues with their own cafe or kitchen that want ingredient stock under control as well.
- Owners who are not always on site and want to read the numbers without waiting for a recap from the cashier.
If your business rents out time in a similar way, such as courts or rooms booked by the hour, tell us how it runs. The time, rate, and relay logic in XETPOS Billiard is a solid starting point for adapting it. QRIS payments have also become lighter on small transactions under the latest merchant fee rules, which we explain in our article on the 0% QRIS MDR.
See it running
The easiest way to judge a system like this is to watch one session from start to finish: a table opens, the light comes on, orders come in, and the bill comes out. We can set up a demo with sample data and talk through your venue, including the number of tables and the Wi-Fi you already have.
Reach us on WhatsApp at +62 823 1499 5005, email bisnis@xetup.id, or browse the rest of the XETUP lineup at xetup.id/products.