Staff Training Guide: Toast Mobile Order & Pay®
Last updated: Nov 12, 2025, 12:33 PM
There's a new service model shaking up restaurants across the country. Read The New Steps of Service by On the Line to learn how to use it in your restaurant.
By putting your guests in control of their dine-in experience, Toast Mobile Order & Pay® can help you reduce your labor costs, improve table turn times, and increase sales. All while offering your guests a safer and more efficient way to dine in your restaurant.
 | Toast Mobile Order & Pay® Pre-Authorization is not currently available in Canada, Ireland and the UK. |
- Staff Training Video
- Get Your Staff to Own the Toast Mobile Order & Pay® Experience
- Introduce Toast Mobile Order & Pay® to Guests
- Server-Started Ordering With Toast Mobile Order & Pay®
- Close Out Tabs With Toast Mobile Order & Pay®
- Split Payments
Staff Training Video
We recommend all staff members watch this short video prior to their first shift with Toast Mobile Order & Pay®.
Get Your Staff to Own the Toast Mobile Order & Pay® Experience
Getting your staff excited about this new ordering experience is crucial. If they are passionate and confident about the Toast Mobile Order & Pay® experience, your guests will want to try it!
With the removal of the cashier aspects of the job like placing orders and taking payments, the role of your staff will be to focus on more personal guest interactions like welcoming them to the restaurant, giving food recommendations, and running orders to their table. By automating the transactional steps of service, your staff may see the following benefits:
- Less staff needed to cover a service area - by reducing the number of staff members needed to support a section of the restaurant, staff members have the potential to generate more revenue in tips each shift.
- Increased table turns - with guests in the driver's seat of their dining experience, you may see more guests each shift because they are able to submit orders as soon as they sit down and close their check as soon as they've finished their meal.
- Higher check averages - by allowing guests to order on their own or as part of a group, you may see an increased number of items ordered to the kitchen. This provides an opportunity for staff to make key recommendations off the menu that pique guest's interest and generate a larger tip value.
The key aspect of launching this new experience in your restaurant is to introduce the benefits of this operational change to your staff and ensure they are trained and confident in presenting this option to your guests. Because this operational style is still fairly new to most restaurants, your staff will need to take ownership of this experience and become the bridge between this new technology and the familiar comforts of dining out in a restaurant.
Introduce Toast Mobile Order & Pay® to Guests
Toast Mobile Order & Pay® is most successful when it's positioned to guests as the preferred way to order. If it's positioned as optional, guests feel like they're receiving conflicting messages about what their dining experience should be. Check out the following talk tracks to help your staff communicate this new experience to guests.
| Experience | How to Introduce it to Guests |
|---|---|
| Toast Mobile Order & Pay® | For your safety and convenience here at [Your_Restaurant_Name], we have transitioned to mobile contactless ordering. This means in place of a physical menu, you are able to access the menu on your phone, place your order and pay without leaving the table or flagging down a server. I'll show you how:
|
| Standard Tabs | For your safety and convenience, we now offer a contactless way to start a tab and order rounds without leaving your seat! Then, when you're ready to go, simply close out your tab directly from your phone. |
| Preauthorized Tabs | For your safety and convenience, we now offer a contactless way to start a tab and order rounds without leaving your seat! Start by scanning the QR code, entering your name and payment information, and send your orders directly to the kitchen—It's that easy! |
| Group Ordering | Have some friends coming to join you? When they arrive, they can scan the QR code here, enter their name, and add to your tab from their phone! |
Change can be hard. For guests who may be a little apprehensive about trying something new, check out the following talk tracks for how they will benefit from this new experience:
| Experience | Guest Benefit |
|---|---|
| Toast Mobile Order & Pay® | With Toast Mobile Order & Pay® in our restaurant, you are in the driver's seat. From the convenience of your phone, you can peruse the menu, send orders to the kitchen, and close out your tab on your schedule. As always, I will be here to help answer any questions you have, make recommendations from our menu, and bring you your meal! I'll be here every step of the way to ensure you have a wonderful time at [Your_Restaurant_Name_Here]. |
| Standard Tabs | With Toast Mobile Order & Pay®, you'll have the option to "pay as you go" or start a tab to easily submit subsequent orders to the kitchen. By starting a tab, it will be easier to order another round of drinks or submit additional food orders to the kitchen without entering your payment information every time. If you have any questions along the way, I will be here to help and can show you how to close your check from your phone once you've finished your meal. |
| Preauthorized Tabs | With Toast Mobile Order & Pay®, you'll have the option to "pay as you go" or start a tab with your payment information saved to easily submit subsequent orders to the kitchen. By starting a tab, it will be easier to order another round of drinks or submit additional food orders to the kitchen as you progress through your meal. If you have any questions along the way, I will be here to help and can show you how to close your check from your phone once you've finished. |
| Group Ordering | If you have additional guests on the way to join your party, you may begin an order or tab that they can join by scanning the QR code at the table. No need for multiple tabs or checks, each person who joins your order will be prompted to enter their name and can submit their own menu choices from their phone. Then, once you're ready, you can fire your order off to the kitchen so everyone's meal lands at the table at the same time. |
Server-Started Ordering with Toast Mobile Order & Pay®
Servers can start orders on the POS (Point of Sale), which guests can add to using Toast Mobile Order & Pay®. Watch the video below to learn more about this feature:
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To start orders servers can begin on the table management screen in Toast. Guests later join the same check by scanning a QR code at the table.
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Once an item is sent to the kitchen, guests use their mobile device to add items to the check through Toast Mobile Order and Pay® .
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When ready to pay, guests can choose to pay for added items or the entire check. Group ordering must be enabled in Toast Mobile Order and Pay® settings. If pre-authorization is enabled, the card must be pre-authorized on the device where the check is started:
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If started on the POS, the server pre-authorizes the card.
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If started on the guest's mobile device, the guest pre-authorizes their card through Toast Mobile Order and Pay® .
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Close Out Tabs with Toast Mobile Order & Pay®
When utilizing the standard tabs or preauthorized tabs features, your staff should remind guests to close out their check at the end of their meal. Specifically, we recommend your staff:
- Check in with guests regularly - though they will no longer need to place orders for guests, they should check in regularly to provide water, condiments, answer questions, and remind guests how to close their check when they have finished.
- Look for checks with a balance due - when managing a section with guests using standard Toast Mobile Order & Pay® tabs, keep an eye on checks with a remaining balance due from the POS screen. If you've noticed that a party has finished their meal and their tab is still open, be sure to swing by their table and check in - if they have any questions about closing their tab from their phone, be prepared to help them as needed.
- Save preauthorized payments at the end of your shift - whether transitioning from the floor to another part of the restaurant or ending your shift, we recommend closing all preauthorized tabs. Be mindful if your guests who submitted orders on the preauthorized tab are still enjoying their meal in the restaurant, you will simply want to make sure these tabs are closed in a timely manner before payments are batched at the end of the day.
Split Payments
With split payments for Toast Mobile Order & Pay®, your guests can choose to pay for the items they ordered or for the check balance. Learn how to turn this feature on for your guests and what they will see on their phones in the video at the top of this article. Specifically, we recommend your staff tell guests they can easily move items from tab to tab by claiming or rejecting ordered items.