A point-of-sale (POS) system is where most of a shop’s day happens: every sale, every payment, and — if it is connected properly — every change to your stock. The right one shortens queues and makes the day-end count simple. The wrong one adds a screen that nobody trusts.
Feature lists all look similar, so this checklist focuses on the questions that separate a POS you will keep using from one you will abandon.
Start With How You Actually Sell
Before comparing products, write down a few facts about your counter:
- Roughly how many bills you make on a busy day, and how many items per bill.
- Whether most customers are walk-ins, or regular account customers who buy on credit.
- How many counters and how many staff will bill at the same time.
- Whether you sell from one location or several, and whether stock moves between them.
- Which devices you already own — a desktop, a laptop, a tablet, or just phones.
These answers tell you which items on the checklist below matter most to you.
The Checklist
1. Speed at the Counter
Time how long it takes to bill five items. Look for barcode scanning (a USB scanner that types like a keyboard is the simplest), quick product search, and a tap-friendly product grid for items without barcodes. Scanning the same item twice should increase the quantity, not add a second line.
2. Stock That Updates Itself
A POS that doesn’t reduce stock as you sell is only a calculator. Check that every sale updates inventory immediately, that you can see stock per location, and that returns put items back. This is what makes setting reorder points possible at all.
3. Proper GST Invoices
If you are GST-registered, each counter bill should be a valid tax invoice with consecutive numbering and the correct tax split — not a separate “estimate” you re-enter later. See what a GST tax invoice must include .
4. The Payment Methods Your Customers Use
Cash, UPI, and cards cover most Indian counters. The POS should record which method was used for each bill, and work out change due for cash, so that the day-end total for each method can be checked against the cash drawer and your bank or UPI statement.
5. Holding Bills and Handling Returns
Customers step away to fetch one more item. Being able to hold a bill and serve the next person keeps the queue moving. For returns, prefer a system that issues a credit note against the original invoice, rather than one that lets staff edit or delete past bills.
6. Staff Access and Accountability
Give each person their own login, and check that you can limit what a cashier can do — billing and taking payment, without access to reports, prices, or settings they don’t need.
7. Receipts and Printing
Find out exactly how receipts print. Some systems need a specific printer and driver; others print through the device’s normal print dialog to any compatible printer. Check that the receipt layout suits the paper you use — common thermal roll widths are 58mm and 80mm.
8. Internet and Devices
Browser-based POS software runs on devices you already have and needs no installation, but it needs a working internet connection to bill. Ask every vendor what happens when the connection drops, and keep a backup such as a mobile hotspot. Installed software has the opposite trade-off: it may keep working without internet, but is tied to one machine and needs updates and backups.
9. Reports You Will Actually Read
At minimum: sales by day, by product, and by payment method, plus low-stock items. If the POS shares data with your invoicing and purchases, you get one set of numbers instead of three.
10. The Real Total Cost
Add up the subscription or licence, any hardware (scanner, printer), payment fees, and the time to set up products and train staff. A cheaper POS that needs double entry into a separate accounting tool often costs more in the end.
Test It With a Real Day of Sales
Use the free trial properly. Load your 50 best-selling products, bill a real busy hour, hold and resume a bill, process a return, and do a day-end count. You will learn more in that hour than from any demo.
Key Takeaways
- Pick for speed at the counter first — barcode scanning, quick search, and a tap-friendly grid.
- The POS must update stock and issue proper GST invoices, not just total a bill.
- Record the payment method on every bill so the day-end count is easy.
- Ask how the system behaves without internet, how it prints, and what it costs in total.
How BizPro Helps
BizPro POS runs in the browser on a computer, tablet, or phone. It supports USB barcode scanners, camera scanning in browsers that support it, a category-filtered product grid, hold and resume, and cash, card, UPI, bank transfer, and wallet payments with change due worked out for you. Each checkout creates a regular invoice and payment and reduces stock, returns are handled with credit notes, and the built-in Cashier role has just the billing permissions. Like any browser-based system it needs an internet connection, and receipts print through the browser’s print dialog. See POS billing software and inventory management .