QuickBooks Point Of Sale: Learn the Features, Pricing Plans, Pros, Cons, and Comparisons in 2026

Running a retail store doesn't seem easy and involves a broad spectrum of sales tasks. Those tasks consume much of your precious time if you do things manually. This is not all. There are several other things you cannot even do manually. These include personalized savings and rewards, on-the-spot price checks, live single-point inventory tracking, receipt generation and printing, etc. QuickBooks Point of Sale makes handling a retail business smooth and easy. With POS cloud hosting, you can access the software from anywhere, anytime.

It is where retailers and shopkeepers need something that can help them ease these tasks and make their businesses more convenient and profitable. QuickBooks Point of Sale software is the solution to all such requirements.

What is QuickBooks Point of Sale?

Intuit QuickBooks Point of Sale (POS) is one of the most loved Point of Sale software programs developed by Intuit. It comes with a range of super-convenient features that help retailers and shopkeepers perform tasks such as updating and tracking inventory, maintaining cash registers, and preparing daily and monthly reports. Annual sales reports, receiving payments, generating receipts, storing customer information, and monitoring customers' buying behavior on the site so that they can determine their marketing strategies, etc. QuickBooks cloud hosting makes the process even easier and smoother.

Key Features of QuickBooks POS

Real-time Inventory Management

QuickBooks Point of Sale offers a special inventory management feature that lets you track inventory in real time. It gives you total freedom from the hassles of manually maintaining inventory, as it automatically updates with every transaction. This feature of the software also includes inventory forecasting, customer orders, backorders, and price tag customization. In the Multi-store version of the software, there is a master inventory management feature.

This feature ensures that the master inventory for all stores is updated in real time. The regularly updating master inventory, in turn, gives your customers the power and freedom to receive what they want to purchase quickly. QB POS provides highly insightful information that helps you determine whether the offer will be profitable or if you are simply giving away inventory items.

Interactive Dashboard

In recent versions of QB POS, you get an interactive, easy-to-use dashboard. On the dashboard, you can check the category-wise sales summary at any time. The benefit of this feature is that you can easily analyze which of your products have higher sales at any specific time, sales over time, and sales graphs.

Easy and Secure Payment Processing

QuickBooks POS can process cash, credit, and debit card payments smoothly. The software supports and accepts all major debit and credit cards, including Mastercard, RuPay, Visa, Discover, and American Express.

The entire card payment process is closely integrated with the monitor, allowing you to keep tabs on every transaction and avoid mistakes. It also supports EMV and almost all other payment methods, making credit and debit card transactions more secure for you and your customers. It seamlessly integrates with Intuit QuickBooks to reconcile transactions, report accurate sales, and update inventory.

Efficient Customer Management

While running your retail business with QB POS, you, as an owner, can track and analyze your sales by customer name, birthday, phone number, email address, business, hobbies, etc. The POS's tracking feature helps you formulate and launch targeted marketing campaigns or promotions. It provides you with real-time information on what customers are actually purchasing, when, and which types of customers or products are generating the most sales.

Based on these purchase habits, you can reap the maximum benefits by reaching your existing and potential customers through exciting announcements, new-product launch emails, successful marketing campaigns, etc.

Purchase Order Management Simplified

Purchasing inventory has now become so simple thanks to QuickBooks POS's cutting-edge integrated order functionality. You can just scan item barcodes and then print or email them to populate standard fields in purchase orders automatically.

Assuming the arriving order is complete and flawless, accepting purchase orders and adding them to the most recent stock takes only a few minutes. In case the received order is inaccurate, you can partially open the Purchase Order section for the orders that are still incomplete by just clicking the “select items received” button. QuickBooks POS Pro also automates the creation of purchase order emails and their delivery to the intended recipients. Aside from that, there is a feature for tracking the package status.

Loyalty, Rewards, and Refunds Program Management

With QuickBooks Point of Sale Pro, the customer center provides the tools you need to interact with customers and fully leverage customer data. This, in turn, helps you collect customer demographic information to create large-scale marketing campaigns, as well as track reward points to offer your loyal and frequent customers customized discounts, coupons, complimentary merchandise, limited-time offers, and so on.

The recent versions of QB POS are compatible with phablets and tablets. This gives POS increased mobility and efficiency. This feature allows employees to approach the customer's table directly to collect payments, rather than keeping them waiting in the queue. QuickBooks Pro with hosting lets you access and use the tool from anywhere, anytime.

Physical Inventory Scanner

Intuit has now restored the functionality of the physical inventory scanner that was previously discontinued. With the comeback of the physical inventory scanner function to the QB POS version, CipherLab 8000 and CipherLab 8001 have been added back to the list of POS-compatible scanners. Due to its plug-and-play mechanism, users get improved accessibility and increased usability.

Effective Employee Management

QB POS Pro and Multi-store versions have eased payroll management. Both versions of QB POS allow managers to track their staff's working hours, performance, commissions, etc. They can also send such data to other linked software programs, such as QuickBooks accounting or Payroll software. Moreover, its advanced, secure employee management features enable managers to add or remove access for specific employees based on their roles and hierarchies.

Auto-syncing with QuickBooks Accounting Software

If you use QuickBooks POS along with any version of QuickBooks Accounting Software, your transactions will automatically sync with the accounting software. It helps you avoid erratic or duplicate entries caused by human error. You can also generate reports whenever you want without any hassles. Eventually, it will save you a lot of productive time.

Enhanced Customer Support

Intuit provides both its new and existing customers with excellent technical support by an expert tech team through all modern support channels, i.e., email, chat, and call. They also provide additional support through articles, video tutorials, and instruction manuals.

Increased Hardware Compatibility

QuickBooks Point of Sale is compatible with almost all hardware devices, including barcode scanners, tag printers, receipt printers, cash drawers, and Microsoft Surface Pro. The new version of QB POS software has an auto-sync feature with tablets and smartphones. This auto-sync feature lets you keep an eye on sales, current inventory, and purchase stock from anywhere, at any time.

It also provides you with the flexibility to walk around your store with the device to process sales. With this, you can keep your customers from standing in line for long, which ultimately gives them a more pleasant shopping experience.

QuickBooks POS Pricing Plans With Features

How to Install & Set Up QuickBooks Point of Sale (POS)

We are going to outline some steps to make the download and installation process an absolute breeze for you. Once you're done with the installation, you can set up your hardware later on.

NOTE : If you have already installed Point of Sale and need to change the installation type (e.g., from server to workstation), you'll need to uninstall and then reinstall the program.

Installing QuickBooks Desktop Point of Sale

Step 1 : Check the system requirements. Please note that to install Point of Sale successfully on your computer, you must ensure your computer meets the system requirements for the version of the software you want to use. This will save you from encountering any potential compatibility issues.

We always recommend installing the latest version of QB POS software (as long as your system hardware supports it) for smooth, optimal performance.

Step 2 : Download QuickBooks Point of Sale. Visit our Downloads & Updates page to download your version of QuickBooks Point of Sale. For more details, learn about downloading Point of Sale.

NOTE : If you have to install the POS software across multiple stores, there's QuickBooks Point of Sale Multi-store.

Step 3 : Install Point of Sale
Once the Point of Sale completes downloading, follow these steps:

• First, open the QuickBooks installation file on your computer desktop. In case you get a prompt to overwrite the existing extracted files, please select Yes to All.
• Then, select Next on the wizard to start the installation.
• Read the License Agreement there. If you agree (as you generally do), select I accept the terms in the license agreement. Then select Next.
• Then enter your license and product number, and select Next.
• Choose the type of installation:
• Only this computer: Choose this option if you have a single user.
• Two or more computers: need to choose this option if you have multiple users

• If you want to install POS on two or more computers, select the workstation type for this computer. Here are the two options:
• Server workstation: This workstation creates and holds the record of your company data.
• Client workstation: This workstation is usually the cash register used to help customers with daily sales and has access to the program.

• Now, select Install to begin the installation.
  Please note that QuickBooks Point of Sale can only be installed in this file path:
  C:\Program Files (x86)\Intuit\QuickBooks Desktop Point of Sale (version).
• After the installation finishes, just activate QuickBooks Point of Sale, and you're all set. Only one thing may be required here. You may need to restart your computer and reopen QuickBooks to get started.

Step 4 : Once you've installed the Point of Sale software, set up your hardware and start using it to process payments.

QB POS Hardware Components

What Makes QuickBooks POS a Good Software?

QuickBooks Point of Sale offers a wealth of essential features that make it a strong POS solution. The usability and agility it provides are vital to businesses across industries. And at the same time, it gives a functionally modern, technically robust, and secure business solution.

If you consider its seamless integration with your existing setup, smoother functionality, ease of use, data security, hardware durability, flexible pricing, the actionable insights it provides, and the quality of customer service, you will have made this POS software immensely popular among businesses.

Key Addons for QuickBooks POS

SmartSCan

It is a third-party application designed for QuickBooks users. It allows them to print barcode labels directly from the transactions or the item list. It eliminates the need to export product information to spreadsheets. SmartScan directly connects to QuickBooks POS and retrieves the bar code information from there. The best part is that it gives you the freedom to print labels in a single print run.

WooCommerce

It's one of the most customizable eCommerce platforms that particularly helps businesses get started with online sales. It allows you to sync all your sales channels with QB POS in real time. It's a completely open-source platform, so you are free from the limitations of users or products. It means there is no limit on the number of users allowed to work or on the products you can sell there.

When paired with QuickBooks POS, WooCommerce also offers a straightforward two-way syncing feature. Additionally, it supports all QuickBooks versions. They also provide dedicated 24*7 customer support via email, chat, and support tickets.

Shopify

Shopify is a tool developed by Connex for QuickBooks POS. It automates your accounting, inventory management, and order processing across all sales channels.

Once you integrate this software with QuickBooks POS, the need for double entries is eliminated. Plus, some common inventory problems, i.e., missing items, overselling, et,c are prevented. More importantly, it provides built-in tools to create and execute social media campaigns across platforms like Google and Facebook. It also offers a single dashboard to manage all your eCommerce channels.

HandiFox

It is the highest-rated inventory control and sales management software solution. Perfectly integrated with QuickBooks POS, it gives SMBs the power to automate sales, streamline supply chain management without errors, and improve time management. Its intuitive interface delivers a rich customer experience through an easy-to-use mobile application with a scanner.

When integrated with QuickBooks, it enables all the inventory transactions, such as sales orders, purchase orders, invoices, and transfers, to be sent directly to HandiFox software that is running on mobile devices every time it synchronizes.

Method: CRM

This is one of the best CRM software programs in the market, specially developed for QB and QB POS users. Users find it the most customizable CRM platform. With its seamless integration with QB POS, it can deliver exceptional solutions for almost all your business needs. Whether you need more accurate activity tracking and estimating, easier contact management, turning more leads into customers, or further help in keeping them coming back, or something else entirely, Method: CRM has a solution for every workflow you wish to streamline.

With this tool, your customers and leads are consolidated in a shared contact list. It significantly expedites your sales processes by enabling your sales team to obtain estimates without access to QuickBooks.

Agiliron

It's an omnichannel business suite for wholesale, retail, and e-commerce businesses that integrates the different shopping methods available to consumers (e.g., online, in a brick-and-mortar store, or by phone). It enables companies to sell their products across various online platforms, including Amazon, Flipkart, eBay, and other B2C websites. However, they can manage their sales and inventory from a single place.

When you integrate this software with QuickBooks, it starts syncing automatically with the QuickBooks accounting files, item lists, customer purchases, orders, sales receipts, sales returns, sales tax, invoices, credits, and other organizational information.

EasyCommission

EasyCommission, as the name suggests, is an add-on software to accounting and POS software that helps you quickly and accurately calculate sales commissions. As an online commission management tool, it provides your sales staff with direct access to related information over the Internet at any time, from anywhere. Additionally, it helps you efficiently manage commission plans for all users.

Its hassle-free integration with QB POS makes it so efficient and powerful that it pulls all sales data for a sales representative, applies commission calculations, and generates commission statements.

InvoiceTracker

It's an add-on software developed by eBility for your POS and accounting software. It helps you automate email reminders and follow-ups for unpaid invoices, eliminating the need to send them manually. As and when you integrate InvoiceTracker with QuickBooks POS, it directly links with your accounts in only a couple of clicks. As soon as a payment is received, the email reminders automatically cease as it syncs transactions every few moments.

Making efficient business decisions is easier with improved cash flow and real-time tracking. Moreover, the software allows customizing email templates for client reminders to add a human touch and maintain customer relationships through authentic messages.

TimeTracker

This is also a simple yet efficient employee time tracking and attendance software developed by the same developer, eBility. It helps you accurately track employee time and efficiently manage productivity, billing, and payroll. The tool eliminates the need for data entry into spreadsheets, saving you time and money. It enables tracking all employees deployed across different locations, whether they are online or offline.

Its “Notifications and Alerts” feature helps you automate repetitive tasks. It eliminates the hassle of having to remind your employees to submit their time frequently. Once set up, it sends automated reminders to your employees to track their clock-in and clock-out times and submit their productive time for payroll purposes. With the help of your Time Tracker account, you can effortlessly manage your employees' time-off requests, both paid and unpaid. Its live and editable reports help you evaluate the efficiency of your employees, clients, processes, and projects.

Circulus (earlier known as XTBills)

It's a software solution for managing expenses and bill payments, allowing retailers to not only schedule bill processing dates but also choose to pay by check or ACH. The tool is based on a 'work from anywhere' model. That offers your developing business the tools and technologies it needs to streamline its accounts payable processes. It enhances your business performance through its Intelligent automation, Robust Cloud Platform, Smart Offshoring, and more. That ultimately gives you the freedom to focus on your core business.

Circulus integrates seamlessly with QuickBooks Point-of-Sale, ensuring accurate, streamlined data synchronization between the two accounts. It enables users to view payments due, payment history, and supplier balances. It helps you monitor cash inflows. Based on your business requirements, it offers a range of features, from basic entry and payment processing to sophisticated payment processing and approvals.

Pros & Cons of QuickBooks POS

Alternative to QuickBooks POS

Square for Retail

Square for Retail is a suite of web-based tools made just for retailers. It's the newest and most personalized POS system from the same developer, Block, Inc. (formerly Square, Inc.), who has developed Square POS, too. It provides you with a rich suite of intelligent tools for advanced inventory management, sales tracking, employee management, deeper customer engagement, detailed COGS and profit margin reporting, and robust analytics. Square for Retail easily integrates with both QuickBooks Online and QuickBooks Online Advanced.

If you talk about the features that Square for Retail offers, they include efficient online selling with TikTok Shopping and Google Product Listings, integrated yet simplified payment processing, a customizable item grid for hassle-free checkout, and an intuitive inventory management tool for streamlined workflows. Its additional features include customizable tiles, a scalable catalog, fast barcode scanning, detailed sales reports, advanced team management with unlimited employee passcodes and timecard reporting, etc.

Lightspeed Retail

It is an omnichannel retail POS system that gives retailers complete control over their physical and online business operations from anywhere. As the developer of the system claims, “You can just get ready for the next era of commerce. With an advanced eCom solution, omnichannel loyalty, and contactless payments, Lightspeed, the fully integrated retail POS, is the technology for the future.

It gives you the ability to access your in-depth sales reports in minutes, readily identify best-selling products, and use system-generated customer profiles to offer personalized services to every qualified customer. That helps you enhance customer loyalty and keep them coming for purchases. This unified system empowers your business for multichannel sales and better inventory management, facilitates global payments and financing, and enables expansion into new locations. Lightspeed provides seamless customer service that makes doing business easier and helps you grow.

Heartland Retail

Heartland Retail (formerly Springboard) is a leading retail POS software designed and built by retailers, for retailers, based on their first-hand struggles and experiences in the retail industry. It helps you future-proof your business with modern financial technologies. It is a top-rated retail management system on the market.

The software is designed and developed specifically for multi-store retail businesses, with features that enable merchants to serve every type of customer the same way, regardless of their purchase location; at your store, online, or on the road. No matter where and how they wish to shop. Retailers use this POS software mainly to capture valuable square footage and analyze customer buying behavior to inform marketing decisions.

Moreover, it offers all the features that retailers need most to stay competitive and agile in ever-changing market conditions. It gives merchants greater control over their sales and profitability. With its intuitive, user-friendly interface, APIs, easy integration, unparalleled custom reporting, inventory management, and portability across platforms and devices, Heartland Retail is a quick-to-start, easy-to-use tool that retailers worldwide love.

LS Retail

It's a highly scalable, flexible, and robust POS and ERP software program that includes all the features that a merchant needs to manage their retail business operations, effortlessly and efficiently. No matter whether you run only one or thousands of stores, it enables you to handle them most efficiently.

LS Retail is a distinguished expert in unified commerce software solutions across industries such as retail, hospitality, pharmacy, restaurants, and gas stations. Their POS terminals, head office, and back office all use the same tool, which in turn gives you complete control over sales across all your sales locations and operational channels. Plus, it will also eliminate all possible inconsistencies in business operations. In short, you never need to spend your valuable time aligning data from various sources.

This high-quality, easy-to-configurable, and cost-effective software solution helps businesses to offer their customers a rich purchase experience. It meets your needs, whatever your retail industry, location, size, target market, or sales channel.

Shopify POS

Shopify POS is one of the most versatile retail POS solutions for unifying your online and in-store sales. It is a modern POS built to facilitate retail business operations. It helps merchants streamline store management, expedite sales conversions wherever they want to sell, and build deeper, stronger customer relationships.

Its salient features include effective marketing, fully synced customer profiles, integrated loyalty programs, omnichannel selling, intelligent inventory management, effective staff management, seamless checkout, and advanced reporting and analytics.

You can drive more sales by offering your customers a smooth shopping experience with a modern POS system, giving them the freedom to shop online and check out. With the help of Shopify POS, your customers can now avail themselves of the facilities like browse in-store and buy online, buy online and pick up in-store, buy in-store and ship to the customer, and buy anywhere and return anywhere. These facilities help you turn your one-time customers into lifetime fans and keep them coming back.

Square Point of Sale

Square Point of Sale, one of the top alternatives to QuickBooks Point of Sale, is an app for Android and iOS devices that integrates well with QuickBooks Online, WooCommerce, Xero, Zapier, etc. It's also available as a web-based solution.

All types of businesses, including brick-and-mortar, on-the-go, multi-location, and occasional retailers, use Square POS. You can sell where you want—online, offline, over the phone, or even out on the road. It provides all small and medium businesses with the tools they need to run and grow.

The tool also comes with chip, magstripe, and contactless card readers, giving you the freedom to accept payments with credit and debit cards, Apple Pay, and Google Pay. Square Virtual Terminal also gives you the ability to collect payments with the help of a computer that allows you to enter card details manually. This feature offers you an alternative to a card reader. Square Point of Sale also enables merchants to track and manage their inventory from anywhere, at any time.

Is QuickBooks Point of Sale Cloud-based?

As of now, Intuit, the developer of the software, only offers the desktop version of QuickBooks Point of Sale, not a cloud-based one. However, if needed, you can host the desktop version on a third-party cloud platform, and it is then referred to as cloud-based QuickBooks POS software.

However, based on our long-term experience, a one-word answer may not be enough for most readers. Only a few people with a decent understanding of cloud things can figure out what we mean by 'NO'. We will dig a little deeper into the subject so that everyone can easily understand it. Many people confuse the terms “cloud-based” and “cloud-hosted,” or use them interchangeably. It is not only inaccurate but also confusing.

Cloud-based software, also known as cloud-native software, is designed and developed particularly for a cloud environment. Such software is hosted on a true cloud platform or infrastructure, for example, Amazon Web Services. And it is offered as a software-as-a-service (SaaS) by the software developer to the end users. And to use that type of software, end users need to pay a subscription fee (often recurring, monthly, or annual). This is because the software is made available to you and other users online via a server. That server is owned and managed by the same software developer.

In this, you don't need to install any additional hardware or software; you can access the system or software immediately. Contrary to this, cloud-hosted software is 'on-premise' software installed on the local computer that you host on a cloud hosting platform or a dedicated server managed by a third-party cloud hosting provider on your behalf. And all that comes at some additional cost. In this, you generally pay a one-time upfront cost to purchase the software.

To conclude, QuickBooks Point of Sale is a software program you need to install on your local computer. However, if you want to take advantage of the usability of cloud technologies, you can further host it on a third-party cloud platform. And then, you can call this a cloud-hosted software program.

We hope we have clearly explained the difference between cloud-based and cloud-hosted software. And you would be able to make an informed decision whenever needed without getting confused between the two.

Difference Between QuickBooks POS vs QuickBooks Online POS vs QuickBooks POS Hosting

We already learned well what QuickBooks POS is at the beginning of this post. We have already learnt that the QuickBooks POS online version is not yet available. And when it comes to QuickBooks POS Hosting, it has also been discussed well in the previous section - “Is QuickBooks Point Of Sale Cloud-Based?”.

However, there are many QuickBooks Point of Sale Hosting options available on the market. If you want to reap the benefits of maximized usability of the cloud technologies, like data security, no additional expense on additional hardware, software, or infrastructure, seamless integrations with add-on applications, and anytime, anywhere access to the QuickBooks POS functionalities, you can host it on a third-party cloud platform of your choice.

More Payment Options

Every customer prefers fast and secure cashless payment processing. With the updated QuickBooks Point of Sale, you can receive payments via the latest payment options, including mobile and contactless. With the help of the mobile payment feature, you can operate your retail business even on the road. For contactless payment methods, Google Pay, Samsung Pay, Apple Pay, tap-to-pay, EMV debit and credit cards, and contactless credit cards are available. This means you can accept all payment types with a single system.

Now you can securely accept payments through Visa, Discover, Mastercard, and American Express. All payments are automatically reconciled in QuickBooks (if you use it), increasing accuracy and saving time. Intuit also offers flexible payment plans with competitive rates for this without charging any contract, setup, or termination fees.

Easy eCommerce Integration

With the easy QuickBooks Point of Sale eCommerce integration, your entire sales operation, inventory, and customer data sync up automatically. You can check both your offline and online sales data on a single dashboard. That functionality prevents overselling.

The latest version of the software is compatible with all top-grade online marketplaces and popular shopping carts. Whether you need to expand your sales channels or add a new web store to benefit from the online sales opportunities, you can do it from one place. You can keep track of where and what your customers shop at any point in time. This allows you to expand and maximize online sales opportunities. Your business growth has never been this easy.

QuickBooks POS Support Options?

Intuit has created several modern and dynamic support channels. Apart from live call, chat support, and contact form, they have also developed many other help forums and channels.

Link for live support: https://www.intuit.com/company/contact/

For your convenience, their customer support phone number is 1-800-4INTUIT (1-800-446-8848).

Other support channels are:

Video Tutorials - Whenever you need to learn about a specific feature, exploring their online library of how-to videos can help you become an expert. The library is regularly updated with videos on the latest issues, technologies, updates, troubleshooting, etc.

Webinars - For start-up and growing business owners, there are a plethora of tools, advice, news, and entertaining articles that are very useful.

Resources - For people who love to dig deeper into various subjects, there are numerous comprehensive articles on recent changes, improvements, and fixes that can make them QuickBooks experts.

Community - They have a community of users for users. Whenever you get a question and you want someone to answer, you can interact with your fellow QuickBooks users just by posting a question and getting started.

Become a QuickBooks Pro - It's a fun and easy way to learn QuickBooks. You can join the virtual classroom and learn at your own pace and convenience.

QuickBooks Blog - If you love to explore things by reading, blogs would be your faithful companion.

Concluding Lines

QuickBooks Point of Sale is one of the best tools for easy payments, designed for retail and small businesses. In this short blog, we have outlined the features of QuickBooks Point of Sale, including the different types, hardware requirements, features, pricing plans, and more. If you are looking to take advantage of QB POS, you should use QuickBooks hosting providers.

If you want more on a similar topic, you can explore the Sagenext blog page.

FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions)

Is QuickBooks POS being discontinued?

Yes, QuickBooks point of sale has been discontinued as of October 3, 2023.

Does QuickBooks offer a POS system?

Yes, QuickBooks does offer a desktop POS system.

What POS works best with QuickBooks?

There are different types of POS, like Square, QuickBooks POS, Shopify POS, and more.

How do POS work in QuickBooks?

QuickBooks POS works seamlessly on its system. You can scan, process payment through different methods, get real-time sales data, and so much more.

How much is QuickBooks POS?

QuickBooks POS generally charges based on transaction type: 2.5% for swiped in-person, 2.99% for online payments, 3.5% for keyed-in cards, and ACH rates.