6 ways to automate bar opening checklists

#1 - Simple checklist

Who it's for: Single-site bars where the duty manager opens themselves and wants the checklist on a phone instead.

What it is: A bar opening checklist is the set of tasks done before service so the bar is ready and safe. This version is the tick-list of 15 opening tasks, plus a notes field. It covers lines and taps, fridges and stock, glassware, garnishes, tills, and a clean, safe customer area.

In practice: A single-site pub opens at noon. The supervisor works down the list, ticks each task, notes the lager line poured cloudy and needs a clean, and the bar opens ready rather than fixing problems mid-service.

Why it works: The list lives on the canvas, so opening doesn't depend on the opener remembering all fifteen steps. The notes field flags anything that needs following up before or during service.

Steps included:

• 1 checklist (15 opening tasks: lines, fridges, glassware, garnishes, tills, customer area)
• 1 notes field

#2 - With guidance

Who it's for: Bars where opening is delegated to whoever is on the rota, not always the same trained person.

What it is: The simple checklist plus a guidance note at the top. The note explains what makes a bar genuinely service-ready: fridges cold and stocked, lines and nozzles flushed, glassware clean, and tills floated and reconciled to the float.

What it adds to the simple checklist:

1. The steps that lose you the first hour of service are called out
2. New openers know what "ready" means, not just the task names
3. The open is consistent whoever runs it

Why it works: The guidance sits with the list, so a new opener reads what matters as they work, not in a training session weeks ago.

Steps included:

• 1 guidance note (what makes the bar service-ready)
• 1 checklist (15 opening tasks)
• 1 notes field

#3 - With a signature

Who it's for: Bars where the opening needs a name against it. Single sites where a different person opens each week, or groups where head office wants to know who opened each location.

What it is: The simple checklist plus a signature captured at sign-off. The 15 tasks and the notes field stay the same; the signature confirms who did the opening and when they signed it.

In practice: A bar with a rotating opening rota. Whoever opens works through the 15-task list, notes anything needing maintenance, and signs. The next day the manager knows exactly who to ask about that note, not just that someone left one.

What it adds to the simple checklist:

1. A signature naming who opened the bar, captured at sign-off
2. A record of when the opening was signed, next to what was ticked
3. Accountability without asking anyone to take a photo

Why it works: The name goes on the record at the moment the work finishes, not from memory later. When something is found unprepared the next morning, the conversation starts with who signed it off, which is specific instead of general.

Steps included:

• 1 checklist (15 opening tasks)
• 1 notes field
• 1 signature (opening sign-off)

#4 - With photo evidence

Who it's for: Teams that want proof the bar opened to standard, not just a ticked list, whether for compliance, head office, or their own peace of mind.

What it is: The simple checklist plus a photo of the speed rail and garnish station, taken on completion as a record alongside the ticks. One specific, telling spot rather than a vague wide shot.

What it adds to the simple checklist:

1. A photo of the speed rail and garnish station, captured at the time
2. Proof that holds up to an auditor, not just a ticked box
3. A visual record kept alongside the checklist

Why it works: A photo taken on completion is far stronger than a tick. It shows the state things were actually left in, not just that someone said the work was done. A single named spot like the speed rail is easy to shoot and easy to check.

Steps included:

• 1 checklist (15 opening tasks)
• 1 notes field
• 1 photo of the speed rail and garnish station

#5 - With Poppi checking the photo

Who it's for: Bars where the opening photo gets taken but nobody looks at it. Multi-site groups where head office can't review every bar's opening photos.

What it is: A photo-checked opening is the simple checklist plus a photo of the speed rail and garnish station that Poppi (AI) reviews the moment it's saved. Poppi answers one question about that photo, set by you: Are the speed rail bottles stocked and the garnish station organized and clean, ready for service? If the answer is no, Poppi posts what it spotted to the team chat, so it gets sorted before service starts.

In practice: A 3-bar group opens at 5pm for evening service. The opening barista photographs the speed rail and garnish station as always. Poppi reads the photo: bottles stocked, garnishes clean and organized, verdict yes, and nothing changes. On a Friday the photo shows empty bottles and a messy garnish tray. Poppi answers no and posts the reason to the team chat ("The speed rail has empty bottles and the garnish station is disorganized"). The barista restocks while still in the building and retakes the photo.

What it adds to the simple checklist:

1. A photo of the speed rail and garnish station that gets checked the moment it's saved, not just stored
2. A team chat message with Poppi's reason the moment a photo fails the check
3. The manager stops being the only person who ever looks at opening photos

Why it works: The check happens in the seconds between the photo being taken and service starting. That's the only moment the problem is still cheap to fix. A manager reviewing photos later can only record that the opening was poor; Poppi catching it at 5pm gets it fixed before the first customer arrives.

Steps included:

• 1 checklist (15 opening tasks)
• 1 notes field
• 1 photo of the speed rail and garnish station
• 1 Poppi decision (judges the photo against your question)
• 1 Poppi action (posts to the team chat if the photo fails the check)

#6 - With a team alert when opening is due

Who it's for: Bars with a fixed opening time that has to be hit. Duty managers in busy groups, venues with early doors.

What it is: A late-open alert is the simple checklist plus a Poppi (AI) action set to the workflow's start time. If the opening tasks aren't finished by the opening deadline, Poppi posts a message in the Pilla team chat so the outstanding steps get done before service starts. It watches the start time, so it catches the opening that quietly got abandoned half-done, not just the one that never started.

In practice: A busy West End bar opens at 5pm for evening service. On a Saturday the opening barista gets held up restocking and it's easy to skip the final checks: float reconciliation, customer area sweep, garnish top-ups. With this version, if the opening isn't finished by 5pm, the team chat gets a message, so the shift lead catches the incomplete work before the first customer arrives, rather than discovering problems mid-service.

What it adds to the simple checklist:

1. A message in the team chat if the opening isn't finished on time
2. A catch for the opening that got abandoned half-done, not just the one that never started
3. A record of when opening should have been done, next to when it was
4. The manager finds out that moment, not from angry customers ten minutes later

Why it works: The alert is tied to the opening deadline, so an unfinished opening raises its own hand. Nobody has to notice it's missing; the deadline does.

Steps included:

• 1 checklist (15 opening tasks)
• 1 notes field
• 1 Poppi action (posts to the team chat if the opening isn't finished by start time)

How to pick the right version

You don't need to know our product to choose. Every version here is the simple checklist plus one addition, so pick the additions your bar actually needs.

Is it always you opening, or do other people do it too?

If you open yourself and know every step, a plain list is enough: #1. The moment rota staff open, what "ready" means needs to be on the screen: #2.

Does the opening need a name against it?

If knowing it was done is enough, skip this one. If you want who opened it on the record, #3 adds a signature.

Do you need photo proof?

A ticked checklist says the work was done; a photo shows it. If you want visual proof, #4 adds a photo of one telling spot like the speed rail and garnish station.

Does anyone actually look at the photos?

If a manager genuinely reviews every photo, #4's record is enough. If photos get taken and filed unseen, #5 has Poppi (AI) check each one as it's saved, and tell the team chat when something's wrong.

Does your opening have to be finished by a set time?

If staff sometimes leaves the last steps, #6 posts a message to the team chat when the opening deadline passes with the work unfinished.

Need more than one addition? Open the version with the addition that matters most in the playground and add the others as steps. That's how the product works anyway: every option here is one step added to the same list.

Related workflows

• Bar closing checklist - the end-of-night counterpart to this open
• Kitchen opening checklist - the same opening discipline for the kitchen
• Daily bar cleaning checklist - the cleaning side of the bar in more detail

Conclusion

A good opening is what keeps the first hour of service from being firefighting. A recorded checklist turns "we always open properly" into something you can see across every site. Every version above is the same simple list plus one addition: guidance, a signature, a photo, an AI check on the photo, or a deadline alert. Pick the ones your bar needs and combine them in the playground.

More additions are coming in future refreshes, like pulling every site's opens into one report. Those need more review time and will land separately.

→ Build your own bar opening checklist on Pilla.