The coffee shop ops stack (2026)

The rule

This is an operations stack for a US independent café or coffee bar — one counter, maybe a second location, not a dining room you are pretending to be. It is not a craft stack. We will not rank AI menu writers, photo generators, or review-reply bots. That catalog is Aiacent. If the leak is the coffee, leave. If the leak is a register that cannot tip-out, a schedule in a group text, and the owner’s personal checking, stay.

The default stack

• POS: Square Free $0 software, in-person 2.6% + 15¢, until Plus $49/location is obviously worth it. Toast only with a written quote if you are becoming a restaurant. Shopify POS if bagged beans already live on Shopify. See Best POS for coffee shops and Square vs Toast for cafés.
• Payroll: Square Payroll $35 + $6 if hours live on Square. Gusto Simple $49 + $6 if they do not. Homebase if hiring and shift swaps are the weekly fire. See restaurant payroll if tips are the leak after the register works.
• Scheduling: the POS or Homebase first. Deputy $5–$9/user, $30 minimum, when a crew outgrows the free tier.
• Books: Wave $0 in year one if you will reconcile. QBO Essentials $85 or Plus $140 when a CPA and two locations appear. Tips and sales tax are a ledger job.
• Banking: a business checking account in the entity name. A branch if you bag cash. Mercury or Relay at $0 if you do not.
• Bill pay: Melio ACH for beans, milk, and the roaster. Do not put the wholesale invoice on a personal card “for points.”

Bar and labor

Time on the POS is the timesheet. That is why Square Payroll wins when the iPad is already Square, and why Toast payroll only belongs on a Toast quote. Homebase is the fork when hiring is the fire and you are not ready to re-platform the register. Gusto is the clean published-payroll default when the reader and payday should stay separate — a roastery with a simple Square stand, or a group whose POS vendor is a quote you will not sign this quarter.

Scheduling is not HRIS. Buy a crew tool the floor will open on a phone. PTO and handbooks can wait until the first salaried manager. Classification of baristas, “salary” shift leads, and event staff belongs to counsel and a CPA. We are not your tip-credit or overtime advisor. Restaurant ops stack is the sibling if you have a dining room. Food-truck POS is the sibling if you are a window on wheels.

Money

As of September 21, 2026: Square Free in-person 2.6% + 15¢; Plus $49/location (2.5% + 15¢); Premium $149. Square Payroll $35 + $6. Gusto Simple $49 + $6. Homebase payroll $39 + $6-class — confirm joinhomebase.com/pricing. QBO Simple Start $38; Plus $140. Wave $0. Toast is quote-shaped hardware plus processing — get the effective rate in writing. Confirm squareup.com/us/en/point-of-sale/retail/pricing and gusto.com/product/pricing.

Processing is the tax you already pay. A $0 Square month still takes 2.6% + 15¢. Open business checking before the milk distributor wants ACH. Cash businesses still need a branch. Sub-accounts for tax and payroll stop you raiding Friday’s debit. How to compare POS for retail is the method. How to accept payments as a new LLC is the formation sibling.

What to skip

• A five-year Toast contract for a three-item menu.
• Rippling or a PEO for six baristas.
• AI menu and caption tools as a buying criterion. Aiacent.
• A second register “for the pastry case.” Appoint one POS.
• Personal Venmo as the tip jar and the operating account.
• Buying Square Plus on day one because the stand is pretty.