How to Choose POS Software: A 20-Point Checklist

Choosing POS software is a decision you live with every day. Your cashiers will use it hundreds of times a shift, the owner will check its reports every morning, and your stock and cash records will sit inside it for years. A good demo can hide weak spots. This checklist helps you test the things that matter in a real shop, whether you run a kiryana store, a pharmacy, a clothing shop or a small supermarket.

Use it as a scorecard. Mark each point yes, no, or "only with extra cost". Do not accept a vague answer like "we can do that." Ask the vendor to show it on their own software, with your product list if you can.

Start with how your shop sells

Before you compare software, write down how a normal day works:

• How many counters do you need today, and in twelve months?
• How many staff will log in, and which of them should see profit, purchases or cash?
• Do you sell by barcode, by weight, by piece, or from a touch screen of product tiles?
• Do you give credit (khata, udhaar, ajil) to regular customers?
• Do you run more than one branch or warehouse?
• What happens when the internet drops for an hour at peak time?

Your answers become the test script for every vendor on your shortlist.

The 20-point checklist

Hardware and offline selling

1. Runs on hardware you already own or can buy locally. Check the operating system and minimum specs. Ask whether one PC acts as the main database and whether other counters connect to it.
2. Keeps selling without internet. Billing, stock and cash should not stop when the connection drops. Ask the vendor to unplug the internet during the demo.
3. Works with your scanner and printer. Test a USB barcode scanner, your receipt printer (58 mm or 80 mm) and your cash drawer. Ask for the exact model list.
4. Supports several counters on one shop database. Every counter should see the same stock and the same customer balances.
5. Offers both keyboard and touch layouts. Fast cashiers like F-keys and quantity shortcuts. New staff may prefer product tiles.

Selling and checkout

6. Takes every payment type you use. Cash, card, mobile wallets such as JazzCash or Easypaisa, bank transfer, customer credit and loyalty points, with split payments on one bill.
7. Recalls held bills and handles returns. Check returns with and without a receipt, and confirm the original price is used.
8. Requires a reason and approval for voids. Voids are where cash often goes missing, so this is not optional.
9. Handles discounts and promotions. Look for percentage and fixed-amount discounts, multi-buy deals, and offers by product, category, brand, date range and weekday.
10. Lets you design the receipt. You need your logo, header and footer, tax lines and, if your customers read another script, a second-language product name.

Inventory and buying

11. Holds the product data you need. Barcode, unit, category, brand, cost, sale price, wholesale price and MRP. Missing fields make reports useless later.
12. Imports from spreadsheets. Ask for an Excel or CSV import and a bulk price change tool. Moving 2,000 products by hand is not a plan.
13. Records supplier purchases and returns. A purchase should update stock and supplier payables in one step.
14. Shows low stock, expiry and counts. Look for a reorder list, expiry tracking on received batches, and stock counts that post adjustments with a value change.

Money, customers and reports

15. Manages customer credit properly. Credit limits, payments received, statements and balance reminders. Credit sales should be easy to find and reconcile.
16. Gives you reports you will actually read. Sales, profit, margins, stock valuation, dead stock, customer dues and supplier dues are the core set. Check that you can export them to CSV and print them.
17. Controls the cash drawer. Shift open and close, opening float, cash in and out, and a count that compares expected cash with counted cash.

Team, security and support

18. Has roles and per-user permissions. A cashier should not change prices or see profit. Quick PIN login keeps the counter moving without shared accounts.
19. Backs up your data automatically. Look for scheduled backups, a check that each backup is intact, a second copy on a USB drive or network folder, and a password-protected restore.
20. Offers real support and migration help. Ask who answers when something breaks, in which hours, in which language, and whether they will move your old data for you.

Ask about the total cost

The monthly fee is only part of the cost. Ask:

• What counts as a counter, a branch and a user on each plan?
• Are updates, backups, support and data migration included?
• Is tax e-invoicing included, or is it set up on request?
• Is the free trial the full product, or only a limited demo?
• What do you pay if you add a second branch in six months?

Get the answers in writing. A short pricing sheet is worth more than a verbal promise.

Test with a real day, not a demo

The best test is a day of your own work. Load 200 to 300 of your real products, add a few customers with credit, and then:

• Sell 50 items with a scanner, then do 10 more sales with the internet off.
• Process one return without a receipt and one void with a reason.
• Split one bill between cash and a mobile wallet.
• Run a stock count and check the value change.
• Close the shift and compare counted cash with expected cash.
• Pull the sales and profit reports and check them against your notebook.

If you can do all six in an afternoon, you have a fair picture of the software. Two counters, one owner and one cashier are enough for this test.

Mistakes to avoid

• Buying for the best-looking screen. Layout matters less than how quickly your cashiers finish a bill.
• Ignoring offline behaviour. A shop that stops at every power or internet dip loses sales.
• Skipping the data migration plan. Ask how your products, customers and balances will move across.
• Forgetting the people. Train two cashiers and one manager before go-live, and write down the daily closing routine.

Where AIFFICIENTO fits

AIFFICIENTO is a Windows POS for retail shops, and it is built around the points above. One PC runs as the server with a bundled database, other PCs connect as counters, and selling continues during internet outages. You get barcode billing, split payments, customer credit, purchases, stock counts, more than 44 reports, roles with per-user permissions and automatic backups. The optional Geto assistant uses the internet and an AI allowance.

See the offline POS feature for how selling works without a connection, and the reports and analytics feature for the full report set.

Keep your checklist and your test results. When a vendor changes its plans or features, you can re-check in an hour instead of starting again.

Try AIFFICIENTO free for 30 days. You get full access to everything, and no credit card is needed. Plans start from $10/month — local pricing on /pricing.