QuickBooks POS: A Complete Guide

Do you remember the time when shopkeepers used to take entries of customers on a notepad, and add it to the inventory manually? And the time when you received a hand-written bill at a restaurant? We have come a long way from there with brilliant technological advancements. Nowadays retailers use the POS (Point of Sale) system for sales, payments, and maintaining inventories. POS systems can be a combination of software like QuickBooks POS and Hardware (like barcode scanner, receipt printer, etc).

With the largest community of customers across the world, QuickBooks is a widely trusted accounting software. With various business needs of small and middle-sized companies, QuickBooks developed an Inventory Management and Analytics system i.e. QuickBooks Point of Sale (POS).

What is QuickBooks Point of Sale (POS)?

The importance of inventory management for any business plays a vital role in the development of it. It is one of the most essential, critical, and exigent requirements for a business. QuickBooks POS takes care of the modern inventory system by tracking and analyzing usage with regular monitoring and providing details of average usage in a given time.

POS is a highly adopted software around the world. POS helps the user to analyze the sales trend with the knowledge of picked items and what to purchase. In short, a complete sales history and analysis is built by the software for future decision-making. It eliminates the possibility of cash fraud or wrong price entries, as it scans the barcode placed on the item.

Moreover, along with Sales and Inventory Management, QuickBooks POS consists of several other capabilities such as:

1. Credit Payment Processing: A secure management of cash, credit and debit card payments. The system supports EVM and other payment technologies.
   
2. Sales Reporting: This maintains sales history and then creates sales reports by analyzing the data. Also, in sales transaction management, you offer discounts and add customer information directly at the POS. This will save your time in accounting for discounts and other costs.
   
3. Customer and Reward Programs Management: Making customer experience seamless, the system provides complete details of each customer including the amount due, available credit limit, and other important information. One can also conduct and manage the loyalty program using the POS system to reward the best customers. You can print discount coupons and limited deals on receipts. You can also track the promotions offered to the customers and manage them via the dashboard.
   
4. Employee Management: It helps you keep track of employee’s working hours, commissions and performance. It also manages scheduling and payroll for the employees.
   

POS software can be implemented in two ways:

On-Site: The license of the software is purchased, and then it is installed on the computer. Here, the person who purchased will be in charge and has to update and maintain the software on a timely basis. On-site setup is usually preferred by professional IT experts to undertake this work.

Online Cloud Platform: Here users get online access to the software via cloud provider by paying some additional amount. With this online cloud platform, the users do not need to worry about software updates and taking backups. As your software is on the cloud, data security, regular backups, and the latest software updates are a few of the benefits available by QuickBooks POS Cloud providers.

There are tons of POS software solutions in the market but QuickBooks POS allows you to pick a plan as per your business requirement. However, QuickBooks accounting software can also be integrated with the QuickBooks POS system.

What is POS integration?

An integrated QuickBooks Point of Sale (POS) software with QuickBooks, automatically syncs daily records from sales invoices to inventory. This process eventually eliminates the need for manual data entry. POS reduces time consumption and avoids human errors. As many business owners believe book-keeping is the most efficient manner to keep records. So, the integration of QuickBooks with POS provides exactly what they prefer. This integration provides an easy, fast, and reliable platform for SMBs.

How to set up integration of QuickBooks POS with QuickBooks?

This procedure is taken from the QuickBooks Support website for integrating QuickBooks POS and QuickBooks.

For integrating POS with QuickBooks, you require QuickBooks POS in one system which is front-end operation, and QuickBooks software into another system which is a back-end office operation. You must have a copy of the QuickBooks company file in the front-end system. Also, ensure that QuickBooks is installed in both front-end and back-end systems. For the integration process, the data file must be placed in a back-end system. Open the QuickBooks file in the front-end system by accessing it over the network from the back-end system, and then follow these steps given below.

Version 10-12

• Open Point of Sale and choose File > Preferences > Company.
  
• Select the Financial preference, put a checkmark on Use with QuickBooks Financial Software, and click Set Up QuickBooks Connection Now.
  
• Follow the wizard through to completion, ensuring that the QuickBooks file on the mapped network drive has been selected.
  
• Click Next, then Finish.
  

Version 5–9

• Open Point of Sale and choose File > Setup Interview.
  
• From the list, select Financial Exchange, and click Yes.
  
• Click Run QuickBooks Connection Wizard and follow the wizard through to completion, ensuring that the QuickBooks on the mapped network drive has been selected.
  
• Click Next, then Finish.
  

Version 4

• Open Point of Sale and choose File > Setup Interview.
  
• From the list, select Financial Exchange and click Yes to open the browse window.
  
• In the Look in the field select the mapped drive and double-click your QuickBooks company file. Complete the Financial Exchange section of the Interview.
  
• Click Leave, then Yes to save the changes.
  
• 
  

Version 3

• Open your data file on the front register computer.
  
• Choose Company > Set Up Users then click Add User.
  
• Enter POS Remote for the User Name. Do not assign a password. Click Next.
  
• Select All areas of QuickBooks and click Next.
  
• On the Warning window, click Yes then click Finish.
  
• On the User List, click Close.
  
• Open Point of Sale and click Company > Interview > Financial Exchange.
  
• If the browser window does not launch:
  

i) Click the button to the right of the Company File Name field.

ii) From the Look in field, choose the mapped drive and click your QuickBooks company file.

• Complete the Financial Exchange section of the Interview.
  
• Click Leave, then Yes to save the changes when Financial Exchange is complete.
  

Initiate a Financial Exchange.

In QuickBooks, choose File > Switch to Single user mode if it is available. In Point of Sale, choose Financial > Update QuickBooks (for Version 3, click QuickBooks > Update)

What are the features of QuickBooks POS?

Here is the list of all the features provided by QuickBooks POS.

Since each business has its own specific needs, QuickBooks POS provides three one-time purchase pricing plans with various features. Also, it provides a free trial for these services. Remember that POS hardware or machines are sold separately.

What are the benefits of QuickBooks POS?

There are several benefits that you can avail with the integration of QuickBooks POS and QuickBooks. The major advantage of this integration is to track transaction balances and maintain inventory. But there are more benefits of working with QuickBooks POS.

1. Time-Efficient

This integration will save your time as you enter any transaction in the integrated ledger, then it automatically gets transferred. Moreover, if your POS system is hosted on the cloud you can access it from anywhere at any time. This makes your business robust and mobile.

2. Data-Accuracy

The integration eliminates manual errors and mistakes. POS integration guarantees data-entry in both the business ledgers and enhances data and financial transactions.

3. Enhanced Customer Support

With the latest version of QuickBooks, POS users get online interactive and easy support services. Numerous videos, articles, and tutorials are also available to tackle any issue with QuickBooks POS.

4. Effective Decision Making



For progressive decision making, QuickBooks POS provides discrete records with advanced data analysis. The integrated system data helps the owner in taking effective future decisions for the business.

Hope this article helped you understand QuickBooks POS and it’s integration with QuickBooks accounting software. Whether you have just started with a new store or already running a well-established business, QuickBooks POS has the solution to address your needs.

 

[Dhruv Bindhani]

The provided article effectively traces the evolution of retail operations from manual record-keeping to the sophisticated Point of Sale (POS) systems used today, with a particular focus on QuickBooks Point of Sale (POS). It highlights how POS systems, combining software and hardware, have become essential for managing sales, payments, and inventory.

The article introduces QuickBooks POS as a widely trusted solution, especially for small and medium-sized businesses, developed by QuickBooks. It emphasizes the critical role of inventory management in business development and how QuickBooks POS addresses this by providing modern tracking, usage analysis, and average usage details.

Key capabilities of QuickBooks POS are detailed:

• Sales and Inventory Management: The system builds complete sales history and analysis, helps identify popular items, and guides future purchasing decisions. It eliminates cash fraud and incorrect price entries through barcode scanning.
• Credit Payment Processing: Securely manages cash, credit, and debit card payments, supporting modern payment technologies like EVM.
• Sales Reporting: Maintains sales history and generates reports through data analysis. It also allows for direct discount application and customer information entry at the POS, saving time in accounting.
• Customer and Reward Programs Management: Provides comprehensive customer details (amount due, credit limit) and facilitates loyalty programs, including printing discount coupons and tracking promotions.
• Employee Management: Tracks employee working hours, commissions, performance, scheduling, and payroll.

The article explains two implementation methods for POS software:

• On-Site: Involves purchasing a software license and installing it locally. This requires the purchaser to manage updates and maintenance, typically preferred by IT professionals.
• Online Cloud Platform: Users access the software online via a cloud provider, eliminating concerns about updates, backups, and ensuring data security and the latest software versions.

A significant portion of the article is dedicated to QuickBooks POS integration with QuickBooks accounting software. This integration automatically syncs daily records from sales invoices to inventory, eliminating manual data entry, reducing time consumption, and preventing human errors. It's presented as an easy, fast, and reliable platform for SMBs that value efficient record-keeping.

The article then provides a detailed, step-by-step guide on how to set up the integration of QuickBooks POS with QuickBooks for various software versions (10-12, 5-9, 4, and 3), drawing information from the QuickBooks Support website. This practical guide walks users through the necessary preferences, setup wizards, and file selections to ensure a smooth connection between the front-end POS and back-end accounting software.

Finally, the article lists the general features provided by QuickBooks POS (mentioning different pricing plans for one-time purchase, excluding hardware) and highlights the key benefits of this integration:

1. Time-Efficient: Automated data transfer saves time, and cloud-hosted systems offer anytime, anywhere access, making businesses robust and mobile.
2. Data-Accuracy: Eliminates manual errors, ensuring precise data entry in both business ledgers and financial transactions.
3. Enhanced Customer Support: Users benefit from online interactive support, videos, articles, and tutorials for QuickBooks POS.
4. Effective Decision Making: The integrated system provides discrete records and advanced data analysis, enabling owners to make informed future business decisions.

The conclusion reiterates that QuickBooks POS, with its integration capabilities, offers a comprehensive solution for businesses of all sizes, from new stores to established enterprises, to efficiently manage their operations.