CPA_Practice_Advisor_July_2020 - 14

REVIEW: POINT OF SALE SYSTEMS

By Mary Girsch-Bock

Advantages of Using a Dedicated Point of
Sale Application
TODAY'S POINT OF sale systems bear little resemblance to
the original cash register. Touch screens, scanning capability, mobile capability, and inventory and stock management
are all fairly common features in today's point of sale
systems. Designed for ease of use, many of these applications require little training before employees can begin
processing sales. Here are some additional advantages of
using a dedicated point of sale application:
quantities properly. Why track your
inventory using another application?
A good point of sale system will adjust
your inventory totals each time a sale
is completed and notify you when
stock is replenished.
■■ More options to connect with customers. Many point of sale applications
include loyalty programs and other
options for tracking and targeting
your customers better.
With competition from various
payment processing apps, point of sale
vendors have had to step up their game
in recent years. And they have, with
products now offering features such
as remote access, anytime/anywhere
sales processing, and barcode scanning
for managing both incoming inventory
as well as outgoing sales items.

■■ AccuPOS
■■ Celerant Stratus
■■ Cougar Mountain Denali Point of Sale
■■ Cumulus Retail
■■ Keystroke
■■ QuickBooks Desktop Point of Sale
■■ Vend
As always, we've included a
chart that displays some of the most
important features available in the
application. We also recommend a
visit to the website of any application
in which you are interested to learn
more about the product and perhaps
download a demo to try out.
Making the move to a point of
sale application is much easier than
you may think. Why not get started
today? ■

Mary Girsch-Bock is a freelance writer specializing in
business and technology
issues and is the author
of a book, several HR handbooks, training manuals,
and other in-house
publications. She can be
reached at mary.girschbock@cpapracticeadvisor.com

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■■ Increased speed and efficiency. In
many cases, pressing a single button
will complete a sale.
■■ Shift reporting. No longer do you
need to worry about what shift is
responsible for a shortage. With shift
reporting, you'll always know how
each shift performed.
■■ Punch in/punch out options for
employees. Instead of your employees
needing to punch in on a separate
device, clocking in using the point of
sale system is more efficient.
■■ Quick processing of returns. Whether
a change of heart, or an unsuitable
gift, people always bring things back.
Using a point of sale system, you can
locate the transaction and process the
return quickly and accurately.
■■ Abil it y t o manage invent or y

But perhaps there is one feature
that whose importance far outweighs
the others: Product support.
One of a retailer's biggest nightmares is to find that their entire point
of sale system is down. I've seen stores
close and sales lost because staff could
not process sales. When your point of
sale system becomes inoperable, support availability is the most important
feature a point of sale application can
offer.
If you're currently shopping for
point of sale systems, do not overlook
the support options they offer. You
never know when you may need them.
Point of sale applications vary
tremendously, with some best suited
for smaller retail businesses such as
gift shops, while others are designed
for larger stores with numerous locations. Many systems also offer niche
market applications that are designed
for businesses such as liquor stores,
grocery stores, convenience stores, and
restaurants. Of course, we can't forget
about online retailers, who have their
own set of requirements.
Like the industry itself, the point
of sale products reviewed in this issue
vary in price and performance, with
the following products included:

ACCUPOS
CELERANT STRATUS ENTERPRISE
COUGAR MOUNTAIN DENALI
CUMULUS RETAIL
KEYSTROKE ADVANCED
QUICKBOOKS DESKTOP
VEND

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*ANDROID ONLY
**AVAILABLE AS AN ADD-ON

JULY 2020 ■

www.CPAPracticeAdvisor.com

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4.75
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