EPOS system hidden costs: what appears after you sign (2026 guide)
The quote says £30 a month. The first full invoice says £112. This guide lists the eight places the difference comes from, with typical UK figures, and shows how to read a quote so none of them is a surprise.
- Eight fees that are rarely on the headline price
- How to read a quote line by line
- Posso prices published; systems from £499 + VAT
Written by the Posso team in Leicester · Reviewed by Paul Robinson, Managing Director · Last reviewed
Short answer
The hidden costs of an EPOS system are the recurring charges outside the advertised software price: kitchen display licences of £0–£30 a month per screen, delivery integration at £0–£60 a month per platform, online ordering commission of 0–15% or £20–£60 a month, support subscriptions attached to discounted hardware, installation at £0–£300, card rates that rise sharply on small tickets, early-exit and auto-renewal clauses, and out-of-warranty replacement. Together they routinely double a £30-a-month headline. The defence is a single all-in monthly figure, in writing, for everything you will switch on in month one. Posso publishes each price on one page, so the sum can be checked before you sign.
Key takeaways
- The advertised software price is rarely the monthly total; integrations, licences and support can double it.
- Discounted hardware is usually recovered through a support subscription, a higher card rate or a longer term.
- Percentage-plus-pence card rates cost far more on £5 tickets than the headline percentage suggests.
- Read the minimum term, notice period and auto-renewal clause before you read the feature list.
Takeaway: Insist on one written monthly figure that includes every line you will use, then read the exit terms before the features.
Why EPOS quotes come in under the real cost
EPOS pricing is modular, and the pricing page shows the smallest module. A till with software at £30 a month is a true price for a business that takes cash, prints to one kitchen printer and has no online orders. Almost nobody runs that business.
Add what a real takeaway or restaurant needs and the modules start billing: a second kitchen screen carries its own licence, each delivery platform is a separate monthly line, online ordering takes a commission or a flat fee, and the card terminal is rented under a different contract from a different company. None of this is dishonest. The problem is that it is priced in four places and totalled in none, and the owner finds the total on the first full month's statements.
The second pattern is subsidy. Hardware offered free or at a steep discount is paid for through something recurring: a support plan that cannot be cancelled while the hardware is on the agreement, a card rate a quarter of a percent above the market, or a minimum term that outlasts your patience. This guide, part of the EPOS cost hub, goes through each and ends with a method for reading any quote.
Six principles for finding the costs before you sign
Each is a principle for reading a quote, with the typical UK figure where one exists. Installation is covered in the line-by-line method below.
Count every screen as a licence until proven otherwise
A kitchen display is sold as a screen, but on many platforms it is also a monthly licence of £0–£30 per screen, and a second till, a bar screen and a pass screen each add another. A pizza shop with one till, a make-line screen and a pass screen can be paying three licences on top of £300–£800 per screen in hardware. Ask whether the software fee covers one device or every device. The kitchen display cost guide shows how to size this.
Price a discounted till at what the support plan costs over the term
If the hardware is free or £99 and the support subscription is mandatory for the length of the agreement, the support plan is the price of the till. A £20-a-month plan over a 36-month term is £720 for hardware that lists at £500 elsewhere, and the plan usually survives if you stop using the system. Compare the total paid over the term, not the delivery note. Then ask what a replacement terminal costs once the one-to-two-year warranty ends: a receipt printer in a chip shop breathes vinegar and flour twelve hours a day, and you want its replacement price published, not negotiated.
Treat online ordering commission as a card fee on top of the card fee
Online ordering through the EPOS provider typically costs 0–15% commission or £20–£60 a month. At 10% on 60 web orders a week averaging £22, that is £132 a week, nearly £6,900 a year, on top of card processing for the same orders. Marketplace commission on Just Eat or Deliveroo is 14–30% and a separate decision. Ask who pays the ordering fee, you or the customer, and whether it is capped. The commission-free ordering guide compares the models.
Add up delivery integration per platform, not per system
Connecting Just Eat, Uber Eats and Deliveroo so orders print in the kitchen instead of being re-keyed from three tablets is typically £0–£60 a month per platform elsewhere. Three platforms at £40 each is £120 a month, £1,440 a year, and that line is rarely on the pricing page. Check whether the fee is per platform or covers all of them, and whether there is a per-order charge on top. Re-keying is not free either: a wrong address on a Friday night costs the order, the refund and the driver.
Work the card rate out on your smallest common ticket
A rate of 1.5% + 5p sounds close to 1.75% flat. On a £3.20 coffee the first is 9.8p (3.06%) and the second 5.6p. On a £28 bill the first is 47p (1.68%) and the second 49p. A café doing 300 transactions a day at £6 pays about £10 a day more under 1.5% + 5p than under 1.75% flat, roughly £3,500 a year. Get the fee quoted in pounds on a real week of receipts. The card machine fees guide goes further.
Read the exit before you read the features
Three clauses decide what the system costs if you want to leave: the minimum term, the notice period and whether the contract auto-renews for a full term if notice is missed. An early-exit fee of the remaining months of software plus the hardware subsidy can run into four figures. Ask for all three in writing from every provider, including us. Features can be checked on a demo; exit terms only in the document you sign.
Hidden EPOS costs at a glance (UK, 2026)
The eight costs, their typical UK range, and how Posso prices the same item.
| Cost | Typical UK range elsewhere | Posso |
|---|---|---|
| Kitchen display licences | £0–£30 a month per screen, plus £300–£800 hardware | £399 + VAT per screen |
| Support subscription tied to discounted hardware | Mandatory for the term on subsidised bundles | Hardware bought outright from £499 + VAT; support included in software from £25 + VAT a month |
| Online ordering commission | 0–15% or £20–£60 a month | Hosting free; 60p service fee per order paid by the customer; store pays card processing only |
| Delivery platform integration | £0–£60 a month per platform | £45 a month, unlimited orders |
| Card rate on small tickets | Readers 1.5–1.75% flat; merchant accounts around 1–1.5% plus pence | Posso Pay from 1% + 10p, quoted on card turnover |
| Installation and menu build | £0–£300; menu build often extra | Setup and menu build free; on-site installation for larger sites priced on application |
| Early exit and auto-renewal | Varies; ask for the clause in writing | Ask for the terms in writing |
| Hardware replacement | Warranty 1–2 years; replacement at list price | two-year warranty standard; printers £99 each |
Ranges are typical UK figures at October 2026; Posso prices are published on EPOS pricing. Posso Pay is quoted on card turnover; the rate shown is the published from-rate.
How to read an EPOS quote line by line
Draw three columns beside the quote: one-off, monthly and per-transaction. Put every line in exactly one. Hardware, installation and menu build are one-off. Software, each integration, each licence, support and terminal rental are monthly. Card processing, ordering commission and per-order charges are per-transaction. If a line does not fit a column, it is not priced yet; ask.
Look hardest at the installation line. It is £0–£300 elsewhere, and whether it includes the menu build is what matters: a menu with 180 items, modifiers, meal deals and allergen flags is two days of work, and if you upload a spreadsheet yourself the installation is cheap because you are doing it. Make the line say whether the menu build is included, remote or on site, and what a menu change costs after go-live.
Total the monthly column and multiply by the minimum term. Total the per-transaction column against a realistic year of your own trade. Add the one-off column once. That is the price of the system over the term; done for two quotes, it is the only comparison that means anything.
Then read the clauses: minimum term, notice period, auto-renewal, early-exit fee, what happens to the hardware, and whether your customer database and sales data come with you. The switching guide covers what transfers; with Posso the customer database transfers and historic sales data does not, which is true of most moves between systems.
What to ask a provider before you sign
What will my first full month's invoice say, in total?
Not the software price: the total. List what you will use from day one (software, kitchen screens, delivery platforms, online ordering, card terminal) and ask for the sum as one figure plus VAT, each line underneath, billing company named. If part of it comes from a payments company or a hardware lessor, ask for their paperwork too.
What does it cost me to leave after twelve months?
Ask for the minimum term, notice period and auto-renewal clause by paragraph number, and the early-exit figure at month twelve as a pound amount. Ask whether the hardware is yours at that point or must be returned, and whether the support plan ends with the software. The answer tells you whether the provider expects you to stay because the system works or because the contract says so.
What is not included that I will probably need within a year?
A straight question that good providers answer well. The usual list is a second screen, a handheld, a customer-facing display, a delivery integration or a booking tool. Ask for each as a published price now, so growth is a known cost rather than a new negotiation, and ask what menu changes and extra users cost after go-live.
The Posso approach to pricing without surprises
Posso publishes each price on one page so the sum can be checked. The POS system is £499 + VAT and includes the touchscreen terminal, kitchen printer, receipt printer, cash drawer, menu build and training. The hardware is yours outright; there is no subsidy to recover. Software and support are from £25 + VAT a month, and the two-year warranty is standard.
The lines hidden elsewhere are priced in the open here. A kitchen display screen is £399 + VAT, an extra printer £99, a handheld waiter pad £259 + VAT. Just Eat, Uber Eats and Deliveroo integration is £45 a month with unlimited orders. Online ordering is hosted free, with a 60p service fee per order paid by the customer; the store pays only the card processing. The Posso Dispatch driver app is 30p a delivery and AI phone ordering £1 per order taken. All of it is on the EPOS pricing page.
Card processing runs through Posso Pay, Posso's own merchant service, from 1% + 10p and quoted on your card turnover, with the same rate in store and online. Do what this guide recommends: send a week of receipts and get the fee in pounds. Teya and Dojo terminals are supported too.
Support is UK-based from Leicester, Monday to Friday, 9am–9:30pm, with an urgent out-of-hours line for till-down issues. Setup (menu build + configuration) is free; on-site installation for larger sites is priced on application. Systems are preconfigured and shipped plug-and-play.
Where to look elsewhere
If your business is retail-led, with hundreds of stock lines and barcode purchasing, the hidden costs that matter are stock-module and multi-location licences, and a retail-first platform will price them more clearly. See the retail POS guide.
If you take fewer than forty card payments a day and have no kitchen, a card reader with its free app tier has almost no hidden costs because it has almost no modules. Read the card rate on your real tickets and you have read the deal.
Related guides
Related guides
How much does an EPOS system cost in the UK?
Every component priced with UK ranges and two worked three-year totals.
Read the guideEPOS system monthly fee
What the software subscription covers and what a fair monthly figure looks like.
Read the guideCard machine fees explained
Percentage, pence and flat rates worked through on real ticket sizes.
Read the guideReduce Just Eat commission
Moving repeat customers from marketplace commission to your own ordering site.
Read the guideBuy or lease an EPOS system?
Ownership against subscription bundles, with the term-length arithmetic shown.
Read the guideThis is one part of the Posso EPOS system — the same till, kitchen display, ordering and card payments, set up for your type of venue. Every one-off and monthly cost is on the EPOS pricing page.
EPOS hidden costs — frequently asked questions
What are the hidden costs of an EPOS system?
The usual eight: kitchen display licences per screen, support subscriptions tied to discounted hardware, online ordering commission, delivery integration charged per platform, card rates that bite on small tickets, installation and menu-build charges, early-exit and auto-renewal clauses, and out-of-warranty replacement. Together they routinely double a £30-a-month headline. Ask for one written monthly total covering everything you will switch on.
How much does an EPOS system really cost per month?
Headline software is typically £25–£70 a month, but a takeaway using two delivery platforms, online ordering and a kitchen screen can reach £100–£150 a month elsewhere once each module is added. Posso software and support are from £25 + VAT a month, with delivery integration at £45 a month for unlimited orders and online ordering hosted free.
Is free EPOS hardware really free?
Rarely. The cost is recovered through a mandatory support plan over the term, a higher card rate, or a longer minimum contract, sometimes all three. A £20-a-month support plan over 36 months is £720 for hardware that lists at around £500. Compare the total paid over the term, not the delivery note.
How much does a cheap EPOS system cost once everything is added?
Take the till, the software and the card fees over three years. A single-till Posso setup is £499 + VAT once, 36 × £25 = £900 + VAT in software, and card processing from 1% + 10p on turnover, around £1,000 a year for a takeaway taking £60,000 on card. Roughly £4,400 over three years, most of it card fees. A quote far below that is leaving a line out.
What should I check in an EPOS contract before signing?
Minimum term, notice period, whether the contract auto-renews if notice is missed, the early-exit fee as a pound figure, who owns the hardware at the end, whether support can be cancelled separately, and whether your customer database exports. Ask for each by paragraph number, from every provider including Posso, in writing.
Why is my card processing bill higher than the quoted rate?
Because the pence component is invisible in a percentage. At 1.5% + 5p, a £3.20 coffee pays 9.8p, which is 3.06% of the sale. Businesses with low average tickets see an effective rate well above the headline. Get the fee quoted in pounds on a real week of receipts, and compare quotes as a single effective percentage of turnover.
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