Café owner toolkit
Café owner glossary: business English you can use today.
Owners and staff use terms that customer-facing lessons skip. This glossary gives the plain meaning and one example for each, useful for training new staff and for owners who are new to the Australian café trade.
Terms and examples
| Term | Plain meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| allergen | something that can cause an allergic reaction | Please list each allergen. |
| back of house | kitchen and storage areas | Back of house is the kitchen. |
| booking | a reserved table | We have a booking for six at 6 pm. |
| cabinet food | food in the display fridge or glass case | Cabinet food is on the left. |
| cash float | coins and notes kept in the till for change | Count the cash float before we open. |
| closing down | finishing work for the day | Start closing down at 4 pm. |
| compost bin | bin for food waste | Use the compost bin. |
| contactless | pay by tapping a card or phone | We take contactless payments. |
| delivery | goods brought to your shop | The delivery arrives at 7. |
| docket | a printed order slip | Put the docket on the rail. |
| EFTPOS | card payment system | The EFTPOS machine is down. |
| front of house | customer area and staff who work there | She works front of house. |
| handover | passing information to the next shift | Please write a handover note. |
| knock off | finish work | I knock off at 3. |
| opening up | getting ready to open | I open up at 6. |
| POS (point of sale) | the till and order system | Enter the order in the POS. |
| prep | getting food or drinks ready before service | Do the prep before opening. |
| quiet period | slow time | Do cleaning in the quiet period. |
| roster | the schedule of who works when | Check the roster for Friday. |
| run out | have none left | We have run out of oat milk. |
| rush | the busiest time | The morning rush starts at 8. |
| shift | a work period | I have a morning shift. |
| sold out | none left today | The croissants are sold out. |
| specials board | a board listing today’s special items | Update the specials board. |
| stock | items you keep to sell | Check stock before ordering. |
| stocktake | counting what you have in stock | We do a stocktake every Sunday. |
| supplier | a business that sells you goods | Our milk supplier delivers at 6 am. |
| surcharge | an extra fee added to a bill | There is a card surcharge. |
| tab | a bill that is paid later | Put it on my tab. |
| takings | money earned in a day | Daily takings were up. |
| walk-in | a customer with no booking | We have two walk-ins. |
| wholesale | selling in large amounts to businesses | We buy beans wholesale. |
For customer-side words, see the A–Z café English glossary. For staff conversations, try barista workplace English.
These are language tips, not legal or financial advice. For food labelling, allergen rules, surcharges, signage and trading rules, check FSANZ, your local council or state food authority, and the ACCC. Rules differ by state.