Frequently Asked Questions

All questions

• GeneralWhat is Vetka?

  Vetka is a phone-first operating system for restaurants, cafés and bars. POS, payments, inventory, kitchen display, scheduling and reports — one app, any device. No hardware lock-in, no sales call to start.

• GeneralWho is Vetka for?

  Independent restaurants, cafés and bars running one to five venues. We are not built for hotel chains or enterprise franchises — the product opinion is sharper for small, owner-operated hospitality.

• GeneralWhere is Vetka available?

  Day-one launch covers DACH markets — that's where the tax bar is highest. We extend across Europe and the Middle East right after. If you operate outside DACH, request a demo and tell us where — it helps us prioritise rollout.

• GeneralWhy phone-first?

  Because the iPad-on-counter pattern slows the room down. With Vetka, the POS lives in your waiter's pocket: tickets fly to the kitchen the second they leave the table, not after a walk back to the till. Same brain, smaller footprint, lower hardware bill.

• GeneralDo I need special hardware?

  Any modern phone or tablet runs the app. We ship pre-configured devices for operators who want plug-and-play, but it's never required — bring your own and you're live in an evening.

• Tax & LegalHow does TSE compliance work?

  You start in demo mode against a sandbox-TSE — same flow, real cryptographic signatures, but receipts are clearly labelled Test. Once you enter your Steuernummer we provision a production BMF-certified Cloud-TSE in the background, usually within 24 hours. Every receipt is BSI-signed from minute one of go-live.

• Tax & LegalWhat is GoBD and how does Vetka handle it?

  GoBD is the German requirement that bookkeeping data is unalterable, traceable and exportable. Vetka writes a hash chain across every transaction, retains records for eight years, and exports DSFinV-K v2.4 on demand. Your Steuerberater plugs the export straight into DATEV.

• Tax & LegalWhat changes for German restaurants on 1 January 2026?

  Three things, all handled in Vetka without a click on your side. (1) Mehrwertsteuer for restaurant Speisen returns to 7% in-house — Vetka splits VAT per line so drinks stay 19% and takeaway is calculated automatically. (2) The last TSE transition windows close (Wegstreckenzähler, taxi); every electronic till must be on a certified TSE. (3) Kassen-Mitteilungspflicht via MeinELSTER is fully in force — Vetka generates the report your Steuerberater needs to file.

• Tax & LegalWhat about a Kassennachschau?

  A § 146b AO audit is unannounced. The auditor checks your TSE first, then asks for a DSFinV-K export, the recent Z-Berichte (with unbroken numbering), and your Verfahrensdokumentation. Vetka exposes all four from one screen. The 30-minute monthly self-check we walk you through prevents the long Tuesday — see the post on our blog for the full playbook.

• Tax & LegalDo you provide a Verfahrensdokumentation template?

  Yes. The template lives at /steuerberater — a complimentary, GoBD-aligned base your Steuerberater can fork for the venue. Vetka co-brands the output and pre-fills the technical sections (TSE, hash chain, archival policy) so they only fill the operational bits.

• Tax & LegalWhere is my data stored?

  EU-region cloud, encrypted at rest. Backups are versioned daily and retained eight years to meet GoBD obligations. We never sell or share transactional data — your venue's numbers are yours.

• Pricing & billingWhat does Vetka cost?

  One simple monthly subscription — founder pricing locked for the first 100 venues. No surprise hardware bills, no setup-fee traps. Card payments (and percentage-based pricing) arrive later, on the same flow.

• Pricing & billingIs there a free trial?

  No free trial and no free tier — premium product, premium posture. Test mode runs in a sandbox until you provision a production TSE, so you can evaluate the product (staff training, menu modelling, dummy services) before committing. The subscription starts when you go live.

• Pricing & billingAre payments included?

  Not yet — card acquiring (Vetka Pay) is on the way. Today you take cash or your own card terminal, and Vetka records and TSE-signs every sale either way. When Vetka Pay goes live, card present, tips and split bills move into the same flow — one reconciliation.

• Pricing & billingAre there contracts or long-term lock-in?

  No annual contracts. Cancel any time — your data exports in DSFinV-K and CSV, including the eight-year archive. We earn the next month every month.

• MigrationHow long does it take to switch from my current POS?

  An evening. You bring a CSV of your menu (any modern POS exports one — we accept the messy ones), we rebuild the venue in Vetka overnight, you train staff in the morning, you cut over at lunch service. The switchover checklist is printed for you.

• MigrationCan I import my menu?

  Yes — CSV from your old POS. If you don't have a clean export, snap a photo of the printed menu and our AI builds the digital version in minutes. You review, then publish.

• MigrationWhat about my existing TSE?

  You can keep it or switch to a Vetka-provisioned BMF-certified Cloud-TSE. If you keep yours, we run alongside until your renewal; if you switch, we provision a production TSS within 24 hours of your Steuernummer. Either way, the hash chain stays intact.

• MigrationDo my historical Z-Berichte come over?

  Your archive stays where it is — the GoBD eight-year retention obligation lives with the original system. Vetka starts a fresh audit-clean record on day one, which is what your auditor will check from then on.

• Demo & onboardingWhen does the demo open?

  Soon. We're finishing the dashboard, then onboarding new venues in waves — single-venue restaurants in Germany first, then cafés and bars worldwide. Request a demo on the homepage and you'll be in the first wave.

• Demo & onboardingHow long does onboarding take?

  About an hour for a single-venue setup: account, menu import, payment terminal pairing, staff PINs. We don't require a sales call or a consultant — the product walks you through it.

• Demo & onboardingCan I train staff before I go live?

  Yes. Demo mode runs against a sandbox TSE so your team can practice on real flows — open service, ring orders, split a bill, run a Z-Bericht — without touching a single live receipt.

• Demo & onboardingWhat if something breaks at the worst possible moment?

  Offline mode keeps you serving. Tickets queue locally, receipts hash-chain on reconnect, the TSE catches up. If something we did breaks, support answers in minutes — we live in the same time zone as you do.

• For SteuerberaterI am a Steuerberater. Why should I recommend Vetka?

  Because the close gets cheaper. DSFinV-K v2.4 + DATEV exports drop straight into your workflow, the Verfahrensdokumentation is pre-filled on the technical side, and the hash chain plus Z-Bericht numbering pass a Kassennachschau without a long Tuesday. Less remediation, fewer Rückfragen.

• For SteuerberaterDo you have a referral programme?

  Yes — see /steuerberater for the Channel partner page. Complimentary Verfahrensdokumentation template, co-branded export covers, and a recurring share on every venue you bring on. It's a quiet, professional exchange — no badges, no leaderboards.

• For SteuerberaterHow do I get the Verfahrensdokumentation template?

  Visit /steuerberater and request the template — we email a GoBD-aligned base document, customisable to your client's venue. Sections covering TSE, hash chain and archival are already filled in.

• For SteuerberaterCan I see anonymised exports before recommending it?

  Yes — request a sample DSFinV-K and DATEV export through the form on /steuerberater. We send a redacted bundle from a real production venue (with their consent) so you can validate it inside your software before any client of yours signs up.