How to switch restaurant POS vendor 2026
Switching POS mid-year without losing service takes 6-10 weeks end-to-end. Data migration is the under-estimated line. Contract exit is the bigger swing.
Switching POS mid-year: 6-10 weeks end-to-end. Data migration $0-$2,500 (menu, customer, gift card, loyalty balance). Contract exit: Clover lease residual $1,500-$3,500. Legacy Revel contracts are now administered by Shift4 and no exit terms are published, so read your own agreement. Parallel-run weekend is mandatory.
Realistic timeline
Week 1-2: new vendor contract signed, processor change application filed. Week 3-4: menu build, hardware ship, network test. Week 5: staff training. Week 6: parallel run weekend (both POS live, single processor). Week 7: cutover, old POS sunset, processor migration final.
Data migration line items
- Menu: re-built from scratch on new POS, or exported and imported if vendor supports it. Most vendors offer free menu build for new accounts.
- Customer database: CSV export from old POS, import into new. Friction varies by old vendor.
- Gift card balances: contract negotiated separately; some vendors offer free gift-card balance migration as an onboarding incentive.
- Loyalty balances: vendor-specific. Toast offers loyalty migration tools. Most do not.
- Historical sales data: rarely migrated; usually archived as PDF/CSV report. Plan to lose interactive historical reporting on old POS.
Contract exit math
Clover: Lease residual on hardware + processor contract early termination. 2-year-in Clover account exit: typically $1,500-$3,500 Clover pricing · 2026-06-20.
Revel: no published contract or termination terms. Revel was absorbed into Shift4 and every revelsystems.com path now redirects to shift4.com/food-beverage, so the only authority on your exit cost is your own signed agreement and Shift4 quote-only. Ask Shift4 for the termination formula in writing before you give notice.
SpotOn: 3-year processing contract; SaaS rolling. Exit cost is processing contract early termination.
Toast: 2-year SaaS contract early termination fee plus return of financed hardware.
10-step pre-cutover checklist
- Sign new POS contract; lock processor application.
- Freeze menu changes on old POS 1 week before cutover.
- Build menu on new POS; have manager spot-check every item.
- Hardware ships; install on a closed day.
- Network reconfigured for new POS; old POS continues running.
- Staff training session (6-8 hours senior staff + 2-4 hours per FOH/BOH).
- Print contingency cheat sheet (menu, modifiers, common workarounds).
- Parallel-run weekend: both POS live; close out night on new POS.
- Cutover: old POS read-only, all transactions on new POS, processor switched.
- Sunset old POS 30 days post-cutover; download all historical reports first.