18 Nov Point of Sale Comparison
Point of Sale Comparison
There are several different alternatives for those businesses that need Point of Sale (POS) capabilities to operate their business effectively. Which alternative is best depends on several variables.
Based on the research we have done over the last few months for a specific client, below is a summary of the Pros and Cons of three different solutions.
QuickBooks Premier 2003 Alone (the Enterprise Solution would be the same with the exception of double the list size and up to 10 simultaneous users). The advantages include: ability to generate sales orders for those items not in stock, inventory assembly for “package” sales, everything is in one system, and for different locations or lines of business class tracking works well (and if each location runs its own QuickBooks data file, using the QuickBooks Transaction Copier the transactions can be easily imported into the “main” QuickBooks file). The disadvantages include that is uses average cost by item, if an employee can see the quantity, they can also see the cost, there is no ability to easily run override reports (or lock people out of overriding pricing), there are no cash register features (i.e. scanning, change drawer, etc), and there is no ability to automatically log off the user after each transaction. The pricing varies but is approximately $499.95 for a single user license, $1,499.95 for a 5 user pack, or $3,500 for the 10 user Enterprise Solution. The later includes upgrades and tech support in addition to the software. The price will be less our discount of approximately 20%.
QuickBooks POS and QuickBooks Pro 2003 The advantages include: bar code/scanning for sales, ease of use for sales people, functions as a cash register, ability to set log off for each transaction, interface into QuickBooks is in summary rather than item detail, control over associated cost of an item, ability to see quantity on hand, there is an active Yahoo discussion forum available. The disadvantages include: only been around since June 2002, the only way to relieve inventory for individual items included in a “package” is to show the items on the receipt, there is no portable scanning capability, there is no way to run an override report, automatically updates QuickBooks and there is no way to edit prior to the import. The POS system is available as software only for $639.95 or for the software/hardware bundle, the price is $1,274.95. In addition, QuickBooks Pro would be needed at a cost of approximately$299.95 for a single user license, or $749.95 for a 5 user pack. By purchasing through the link from the site, you will pay less than these prices.
AccuPOS and QuickBooks Premier 2003 The advantages include: inventory is controlled by QuickBooks (i.e. AccuPOS does not try to “reinvent” the functionality of QuickBooks, simply add features not available within the software itself), packages can be sold using inventory assembly type items, sales staff cannot see the cost, override reports are available, including limiting the ability to override, the data is transferred into QuickBooks via an iif file so it can be edited prior to import, for an additional fee you can use a portable scanner for counts, has been in the POS business for 10+ years and interfacing with QuickBooks for 3+ years. The disadvantages include, you cannot see quantities in POS, it is strictly a front end system, strictly cash and carry (i.e. payments on accounts, etc. require work around in QuickBooks), the level of detail in QuickBooks can be cumbersome. There are many variables with this solution which makes providing a price challenging. Basically, the software (without the touch screen capabilities) is around $795, in addition the QuickBooks software would be needed. There are also options such as an annual support contract, credit card authorization, hardware bundle, etc.
Bonus solution – QuickSell 2000. This is a Microsoft Business product. Based on the discussions on the Yahoo QB POS discussion forum, this software is much more flexible, and much more costly. For most small retailers, however, the price is prohibitively expensive.