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Norvet MSP

Restaurant POS migration guide

Switching from Heartland to Shift4: what Norvet checks first

A point-of-sale system (POS) is the software and hardware that takes orders and payments, and a kitchen display screen (KDS) is the screen that shows orders to the kitchen. Heartland-to-Shift4 migrations need more planning than a simple “export and import” assumption. In the Shift4 onboarding material Norvet reviewed, Heartland was not listed among the named direct conversion sources, so Norvet treats the move as a manual extraction and reconciliation project unless Shift4 confirms a supported conversion path for that specific restaurant.

Check my Heartland setup

What needs to be compared before you leave Heartland

A POS switch is a business-process migration. The safe sequence is source capture, field mapping, owner approval, target configuration, testing, cutover, and acceptance. Do not cancel the source system until the records and workflows you need have been accounted for.

  • Menu groups, items, modifiers, revenue classes, and tax classes
  • Employees, jobs, pay rates, permissions, and report access
  • Rooms, tables, sections, printers, and KDS routing
  • Discounts, gratuities, cash handling, tips, refunds, and closeout
  • Online ordering, delivery, payroll, accounting, loyalty, and gift cards

Export this before canceling Heartland

  • Every available Heartland export
  • Screenshots of settings that do not export cleanly
  • Employee / job / permission records
  • Menu, modifier, tax, and pricing records
  • Table / room layout and printer-routing references
  • Historical financial and settlement reports

Watch-outs

Do not assume Heartland fields map one-for-one into Shift4 objects.

Room-level tax flags do not by themselves document the actual tax rules to rebuild.

Employee roles should not be translated into broad admin access without owner approval.

Migration counts should reconcile source → canonical data → target configuration before go-live.

Conversion-path note

Current Norvet procedure is manual extraction + reconciliation unless Shift4 provides written confirmation of a supported Heartland conversion for the merchant.

Quick switch check

See if your restaurant is worth a Shift4 switch review

We screen the basics before asking for a call. No EIN, bank information, statement upload, or long application.

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What POS do you use today?