When a party leaves (Departed)

Parties often go before their booked time is up. When they've gone, mark them Departed and their table is free straight away — for a walk-in, the next booking or your online booking page — without dragging anything on the timeline.

Where you'll find it

Departed does the same thing wherever you press it:

• The diary — open the booking and press Mark left, bottom right, where Mark arrived was. See Booking details panel.
• The front-of-house screen (/foh) — open a seated booking and tap Departed. See Run front of house on a screen.
• The till — on a seated booking in Bookings Mode and on the Bookings tab.
• The till, after the last bill closes — the table-closed screen asks Party gone? Free the table. Tap it if they've left.

What it does

Departed ends the booking now. It keeps its real start time and its table; only the end moves, so the table is free from this moment on every screen — the timeline, the table picker for walk-ins and new bookings, and your online booking page. The booking reads Left. Nothing is sent to the guest.

A booking always holds its table for at least 15 minutes, so a party that leaves within 15 minutes of their booked time frees it 15 minutes after that time. The screen tells you when.

A closed bill doesn't free the table

Closing their bill on the till marks the party as Left, but it doesn't free the table: guests often linger after paying, so the booking keeps the table until its booked end. When they actually go, press Departed (or Mark left) — it's still offered on a booking that reads Left — or tap Party gone? Free the table on the till's table-closed screen.

Their bill is still open

You can mark them Departed with their bill still open — they may have moved to the bar with it. You're asked first: Their bill is still open on T5. Free the table anyway? Say yes and the booking ends now, but the open bill keeps its table busy until it's closed or moved, so the screen reminds you rather than calling the table free: close or move the bill on the till before you seat anyone else there.

Undo

Pressed it by mistake? Undo (on /foh, Undo departed) is on the booking wherever Departed was pressed, and puts the booking back exactly as it was, with its full booked time. It won't go ahead, and tells you why, when:

• their booked end has already passed — Too late to undo. Their booking has already ended.
• one of their tables has been given to someone else — a walk-in or another booking now sits there. Move them first, or leave the party marked as left.