There are two main components to your point of sale system. The hardware, which would include the “registry”, the monitor, and all peripheral parts such as scanners, printers, and any card readers. Then you have the software, the heart of the retail management system. Without the software, the hardware is useless; The software can monitor your inventory, take your orders, manage accounts payable and receivable, and even help you develop a great marketing strategy targeting your most loyal customers.
Quickbooks Point of Sale software is an easy-to-use interface that does everything from literally managing the point of sale, tracking sales history, to controlling inventory and purchases. Intuit Quickbooks Point of Sale is a perpetual inventory management system, keeping your stock updated in real time. Adding new items is relatively easy, you can assign items or UPC numbers, tax status, quantities, images of the item and even assign it a department name. It also includes a size style grid, which will allow you to set different attributes for an item. For example, a tennis shoe in three different colors and a total of 6 different sizes. This grid reduces errors made when keying in inventory amounts. If you offer commissions on certain items to your employees, Quickbooks POS includes a feature that allows you to set certain items as eligible for commission as well. The “End of Day” feature is also another plus. There are several End of Day reports you can run that will make reconciling your cash drawer a breeze. It also accounts for net sales, cash flow, and discount breakdowns. The customer tracking feature keeps up with your top customers, keeping all of their purchase history in one neat file. This allows you to build a better relationship with your most loyal customers with targeted sales and loyalty discounts.
Those are just a few of the features that come standard with Quickbooks POS software, you’ll find those and many more in the POS Basic and POS Pro versions. So what sets the two apart? To begin with, the basic software is for use in a single store, single user environment. With POS PRO, you have the option to upgrade to the convenient Multi-Store software that has the ability to manage up to twenty stores from one location. Some of the other features of Pro not found in Basic are: employee hour tracking, custom price tags and receipts, work order and sales order tracking. You can easily create customer letters, serial number tracking, POs, and the ability to send timecards to QuickBooks Financial for payroll processing.
Intuit also has a selection of retail hardware available for purchase. While you may prefer to use your own, please note that it may not be compatible with Quickbooks point of sale software. This hardware includes a card reader, receipt printer, cash register, barcode scanner, inventory scanner, and several PIN pad debit card options.
Quickbooks software is priced at just under $900 for Basic and under $1,300 and $1,700 for Pro and Pro Multi-User respectively. While Quickbooks software is a phenomenal tool, the challenge will be finding a reliable service and support provider. The Intuit company doesn’t provide technical or customer support on site, so you’ll need to outsource that aspect, and while the software itself is quite popular with small retailers, that doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll find a lot of service and support. options in your immediate area.