A pool hall needs an unambiguous way to charge for table time. The core inputs are the hourly rate, actual playing time, paused time, any grace period, and the rounding increment. Decide those rules before opening a session so staff and guests can understand the bill.
CueBizz stores the table rate and applicable billing settings when a session begins. In the current release, table charges can be calculated by time or by number of matches; products sold at the counter can be added to the session bill.
1. Separate elapsed time from chargeable time
Record when play starts and when it ends. Exclude time that was explicitly paused. Then apply the configured grace period. A table occupied for 74 minutes with no pauses and a 4-minute grace period has 70 chargeable minutes before rounding.
2. Apply the agreed billing increment
With a 15-minute billing increment, the 70 chargeable minutes round up to 75 minutes. At an example rate of $12 per hour, the table-time charge is 75 ÷ 60 × $12 = $15.00. This is a hypothetical demonstration, not the rate used by every club.
Worked example — hourly pool table
| Elapsed table time | 74 minutes |
|---|---|
| Grace period | 4 minutes |
| Chargeable before rounding | 70 minutes |
| Billing increment | 15 minutes |
| Rounded billed time | 75 minutes |
| Hourly rate | $12.00 |
| Table charge | $15.00 |
| Two drinks at $1.50 | $3.00 |
| Total bill | $18.00 |
| Customer pays | $12.00 |
| Remaining balance | $6.00 |
3. Add products and record payments separately
Products such as bottled water or snacks have their own quantity and price. Adding two $1.50 drinks adds $3.00 to the example bill, bringing the total to $18.00. A $12.00 payment reduces the outstanding balance to $6.00; it does not change the original table-time charge.
Record whether a payment is cash, card, bank transfer or another method. In CueBizz, recording a method creates a payment record, but does not itself charge a bank card; a payment provider is not configured.
4. Handle different billing rules consistently
Some venues charge by the match rather than the minute. In CueBizz, match billing multiplies the match rate by the number of recorded matches. Hourly billing instead uses rounded chargeable minutes and an optional minimum table charge. The club should make its chosen method clear to customers.
A useful end-of-day review compares billed session totals with payments actually recorded. An outstanding balance is not cash already received, and counter stock costs are not the same as a complete profit calculation.