Cash register software makes the sales process simpler, ensures safe payment, and organizes the sales recording. A startup can appear more professional and legitimate by using cash register software, also known as POS software. The software renders your till system highly customizable. With software, you spend much less time on manual work. This is particularly important if you have a restaurant with table service or a store with a high inventory. You eliminate human error by letting the system track sales and stock. You can analyze sales trends in detail.
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What Can Software Help you Do?
You can manage your stock, store, and finances using this software. Other useful and important features for business owners are client management, support for multiple currencies, inventory control, multiple payment forms, refunds, and tax exemption.
Cash register software works as an inventory system offering all the features you need to keep track of your stock and sell your products. It can sort products by name or price, support a barcode scanner, apply discounts, search products by typing name or barcode, accept different payment methods, and enable refunds as well as manage and track your inventory easily. It can also add details to your products such as name, category, image, price, cost, barcode, quantity, and size.
You can create customer accounts with their name, address, email, and birthday and create individual as well as admin accounts.
Display
You can see sales reports by payment, time, customer, or employee. A chart will show you the revenue and profit by year or month. You can print your sales report, receipt, or inventory or send them via e-mail.
Regular Cash Register vs. Software Based Registers
Regular cash registers are easy to use, affordable, and simple to set up. You can find them locally. On the downside, their programming guides are sometimes complicated. They aren’t always durable. They do not offer inventory management, purchase order creation, support for physical inventory counts, or detailed reporting. They won’t display menu items for delis and restaurants. There is no customer tracking and no table seating arrangement (for diners). There are neither a time clock for employees nor gift card capabilities. Regular cash registers are not designed for delivery transactions. They cannot save or transfer sales data, customize receipts, or support multiple tax codes.
A software-based register or POS system is often user-friendly and the equipment comes with a manufacturer warranty. Installation and set up are usually straight forward and often performed by the vendor in advance. You can uninstall software and switch to a different kind.
The Right Software for your Business
Software-based registers are suitable for all types of businesses, including healthcare, retail, restaurant, and hospitality. It is easy to back databases up, transfer files, track sales, and manage inventory. They have diverse reporting features and guarantee speedy transactions. You can always upgrade to better software or a better computer.
Cash register software offers integrated credit card processing and is compatible with scales, printers, and handheld scanners.
On the downside, the printer, computer, monitor, and cash drawer are usually not integrated as one unit. Cash register software costs more than a traditional cash register. All the separate equipment requires more counter space.
Best Cash Register Software
Our final section is dedicated to the best POS software. We’ve made a list of practically free systems, which include Vend, eHopper, Nextar, Chromis, Floreant, and Brilliant CRE.
eHopper
eHopper was created to help small business owners enjoy quality while sticking to their budget. The software prevents small business owners from getting trapped in contracts for hardware that is a poor fit for their establishment. While the free version only integrates with one credit card processor, eHopper has all the basic features a small business needs.
Vend
This leading US cash register software works with the best merchant providers around the world to help businesses choose the right way to accept payments, ranging from debit and credit to gift cards. Vend works well on almost all Windows systems. Here are some of its key features:
- Custom receipts with logo
- It works well on Windows PC, iPad, Mac
- It works offline (Automatically sync when you are back online)
- Add discounts and notes to specific items
- Create individual staff accounts and track sales
- Track all cash movement from cash float to cash register
Nextar
Its free version can be installed and used at once. Its innovative features include revenue report generation, sales tracking, cash register management, faster checkout service, and creating individual staff accounts.
Brilliant CRE
BCRE features fast customer checkout, employee management, and accurate inventory tracking. It is available for companies of all sizes, ranging from mom and pop stores to large multi-store chains. Its best features include sales and inventory reports, free gift card processing, tracking inventory and employee hours/activity, and a web portal for multi-location management. The POS gives retailers the option to download the free trial or build their own POS.
Chromis POS
This Windows-only system is compatible with Windows XP through 10. It is an open source product supporting customized layouts for screens and receipts, an inbuilt customer database, CSV-based product import, and use of kitchen monitors for order displays.
Floreant POS
Finally, Floreant POS is an open source, free POS created for restaurants. It can run on Mac, Windows, or Linux. The company makes money by assisting businesses in setting the software up and by providing ongoing support.
Even though it’s an open source, it comes with a simple installing feature for users who want things simple and easy. The system can be run on tablets and taken to the customers’ tables. You can pre-authorize cards by using the bar tabs feature, holding them until the customer asks for the bill. Apart from these basics, the software connects to kitchen printers, gives managers a set of tools including voids and splits, runs a great set of reports, and lets you easily manage menus and recipes.
The fact it is limited to restaurants comes as restrictive, but everything else associated with Floreant is great unless you’re selling insurance or new tires. It’s a great place to start if you’re looking for free software for your restaurant’s cash register.
