Fast, GST‑compliant counter billing for cafés with Ferbz

Below is a step‑by‑step walk‑through of the counter‑billing flow, exactly as it appears on the Ferbz dashboard. The example follows Chai & Brew, a mid‑size café in Pune serving specialty coffees, sandwiches, and a monthly loyalty card.

1. Open the Billing screen

• Log in at dashboard.ferbz.com.
• From the left‑hand navigation, click Billing → New Sale.

2. Choose or create the Customer

• In the Customer drop‑down, type the guest’s phone number (e.g., +91 98765 43210).
• If the number exists, the profile loads, showing past orders, GST details, and any active reminder journeys.
• If it’s a first‑time visitor, click Add New Customer, fill Name, Phone, Email (optional), and tick GST‑exempt (most cafés fall under the 5 % flat rate). Save – the new profile appears instantly.

3. Add the Order items

• On the Item selector, type or scroll to Espresso, Cheese Toastie, Combo: Coffee + Pastry, or Monthly Loyalty Card.
• For each line, enter Qty, and the system auto‑calculates the subtotal.
• The GST column automatically adds 5 % on the subtotal (e.g., a ₹250 combo becomes ₹262.50, with ₹12.50 GST).
• The Total field shows the final amount the customer needs to pay.

4. Apply discounts or loyalty benefits (optional)

• If the guest has a loyalty card, click Apply Loyalty Discount and select the predefined 10 % off for the next purchase. The discount reflects before GST, so the GST amount adjusts accordingly.

5. Generate the receipt

• Once all items are entered, hit Checkout.
• Ferbz instantly creates a PDF receipt named Order_#10234.pdf, embeds the café’s GSTIN (if applicable), the 5 % tax breakdown, and a QR‑code that points to the online receipt link.
• A Shareable Link appears beneath the PDF preview.

6. Send the receipt on WhatsApp (optional)

• Click the WhatsApp icon next to the link. Because Ferbz uses the official WhatsApp Business API, the message is sent from the café’s registered business number, not a personal phone.
• The default message reads: “Thank you for visiting Chai & Brew! Here’s your receipt: [link]”.
• The owner can edit the text on the fly or use a saved template from Automation → Templates.

7. Automatic enrollment into reminder journeys

• As soon as the receipt is shared (or even if the owner skips the WhatsApp step), Ferbz evaluates all active Automation journeys that have the trigger “Order completes”.

• For Chai & Brew, the owner has set up two journeys:

  1. Thank‑you follow‑up – wait 2 days, then send a “Thanks for coming, enjoy 10 % off your next visit” message.
  2. Win‑back – if no order occurs within 30 days, start a “We miss you” flow.

• The system enrolls the customer into both journeys, calculates the reminder clock, and creates entries on the Reminders board (status: Scheduled).

8. Monitor reminders and messages

• Navigate to Reminders → Board.
• Here you see a live list: Order_#10234 – Thank‑you follow‑up – Scheduled for 12 Oct 2026, 10:00 AM; Win‑back – Pending.
• After the 2‑day wait, the message dispatches automatically. The Sent, Delivered, and Read timestamps appear, letting the owner verify that the guest actually saw the offer.

9. Review reports

• After a week, go to Reports → Messaging Effectiveness.
• Filter by date range (e.g., 01‑Oct to 07‑Oct) and by journey name.
• The dashboard shows: Thank‑you follow‑up – 45 sent, 43 delivered, 38 read, 12 orders generated, ₹3,240 incremental revenue.

Worked example – a full order

All of these actions consume only the necessary credits: one credit for the WhatsApp receipt (if sent) and one credit for each automated reminder that actually dispatches. No flat monthly fee is charged; the café simply tops up the wallet as needed.

Time saved:
Before Ferbz, a typical café owner spends about 7 minutes per order on POS entry, printing a GST invoice, manually noting the customer’s phone, and later copying that number into a spreadsheet for WhatsApp outreach. With Ferbz, the same order takes ≈2 minutes – the receipt is auto‑generated, GST is calculated, and the WhatsApp link appears instantly. For a café serving 120 orders per day, that’s a daily saving of ~14 hours, or ≈84 hours per week of staff time that can be redirected to service or food prep.

Revenue recovered:
Consider Chai & Brew before automation: out of 120 daily customers, roughly 15 % (18 guests) drift away after a week because the owner has no systematic reminder. After implementing the 2‑day thank‑you + 30‑day win‑back journeys, the café recorded 12 additional orders in the first month, each averaging ₹260 (including GST). That’s ₹3,120 of extra revenue, which more than covers the credit cost (2 credits per win‑back flow, 1 credit per receipt).

Fewer manual errors:
Manual GST calculation can lead to rounding mistakes; Ferbz applies the statutory 5 % automatically and prints the exact amount on the PDF, ensuring compliance and avoiding penalties. The CRM eliminates duplicate entries – the same phone number cannot be saved twice, so the owner always has a single, up‑to‑date profile for each regular.

Consistent communication:
Instead of ad‑hoc WhatsApp messages that get missed or sent from a personal number, every reminder follows the exact template defined in Automation, guaranteeing brand consistency and legal compliance (official Business API). The Reminders board shows any failed sends instantly, so the owner can re‑run a broadcast if needed, rather than discovering the lapse weeks later.

Overall, the counter‑billing GST feature turns a routine checkout into a data‑driven engine: each order feeds the CRM, triggers personalized follow‑ups, and produces measurable revenue lift—all while staying fully GST‑compliant and costing only a few credits per message.

Ready to replace your separate POS, invoicing, and messaging tools with a single, GST‑compliant counter‑billing solution? Sign up for a free trial at https://dashboard.ferbz.com/, top up your credit wallet, and start creating orders in seconds. If you need a hand setting up your first automation or importing your customer CSV, our support team is on standby at support@ferbz.com. Join the growing community of Indian café and quick‑service shop owners who are billing faster, staying compliant, and keeping regulars coming back—without the hassle of multiple spreadsheets or manual reminders.