Pick your venue type and shift, remove what does not apply, add your own tasks, and print a sheet with space for initials and times on every line. The kitchen items carry FSSAI's own numbers, and the closing list ends with the cash, not the lights.
Both prints the opening checklist followed by the closing checklist as two sections.
Untick anything that doesn't apply to your place. Add your own line under any section.
In the print dialog, choose "Save as PDF" for a file, or print it for the shift folder.
Most checklist templates say "check the fridge". That is not a task, it is a mood. A task has a number on it, and for an Indian kitchen FSSAI has already written the numbers down in its guidance for the catering sector.
| What to check | The FSSAI figure |
|---|---|
| Fridges and chillers | High risk food at or below 5°C |
| Hot holding | At or above 65°C |
| Freezers | -18°C or below |
| Cooling cooked food | 60°C to 21°C within 2 hours, then to 5°C within a further 4 hours |
| Chilled cooked food | Consumed within 24 hours of preparation |
| Thawed food | Used within 12 hours of thawing |
| Frying oil | Discard beyond 25 percent total polar compounds |
| Wet garbage | Kept cold and dry if not disposed of within 12 hours |
The source for all but the oil line is FSSAI's Guidance Document for the Catering Sector, built on Schedule 4 of the licensing regulations. The oil limit is on FSSAI's RUCO page. Items in the checklist that come from these are marked FSSAI, so a new manager can tell a rule from a house habit.
Most closing lists end with "switch off the lights". The expensive mistakes happen a few minutes earlier, at the till.
A proper close checks that cash, card, UPI and online totals each match what the system says was sold, not just that the grand total looks about right. It checks that bill numbers ran with no gaps and no repeats, because a GST invoice series must be consecutive and a hole in it is what gets questioned at filing. And it looks at voids, cancellations and discounts by staff member, because that is where small leaks hide.
If your bill numbers are handwritten or a counter can be reset, our free bill format generator explains the numbering rule, and the bar version of the same problem, stock against sales, is in how to calculate pour cost.
A checklist fails in one of two ways. It is too long, so people tick the whole page at 11pm without doing it. Or nobody owns it, so everyone assumes someone else did the gas.
The checklist is one piece of a wider set of standard operating procedures. We cover the rest, from receiving deliveries to handling a complaint, in restaurant SOPs: the eight you actually need.
A checklist catches what got missed at open and close. It doesn't take the order, route it to the kitchen, or close the day with the totals already reconciled. dineomAI runs the order end to end, GST and all.
See it on your own menu →Fridge and freezer temperatures, a gas check, a sweep of yesterday's food, stock rotation, hand wash stations, the floor and washrooms, menu availability, the opening cash float, and a test bill on the card machine, UPI QR and printer. Add bar stock and aggregator tablets if they apply to you.
Cooling and labelling leftovers, recording wastage, cleaning and sanitising, shutting gas at the main valve, closing every open table, and a day close where cash, card, UPI and online totals each match the system. Check that bill numbers ran with no gaps, then lock up and set the alarm.
FSSAI's catering guidance says high risk food should be held at or below 5°C, or hot at or above 65°C. Frozen food should be at -18°C or below. Log the readings at opening and closing so you have a record, not just a feeling.
FSSAI's catering guidance says cooked food that is chilled should be consumed within 24 hours of preparation. It should also be cooled quickly first: from 60°C to 21°C within two hours, then down to 5°C within a further four hours.
FSSAI has fixed a limit of 25 percent total polar compounds, beyond which vegetable oil must not be used. Test strips or a handheld meter give you the reading. Since July 2018 all food businesses have been required to monitor oil quality during frying.
Yes. No signup, no watermark, no limit. It runs in your browser and remembers your edits on this device only, so nothing about your restaurant is sent to our servers. Print it, save it as a PDF, or download it for Excel.