Choosing a POS system

A point of sale (POS) system is the software you bill with. A good one also keeps your stock, your customers' credit and your accounts in order, so you can see what the business is really earning. Every vendor's brochure looks much the same, so this checklist focuses on the things that matter for shops in Sri Lanka and are easy to miss in a demo.

1. Billing speed at the counter

Billing is where your customers wait. Ask to bill a real basket of your own items during the demo and time it.

• Can cashiers scan barcodes, search by name and tap items on a touch screen?
• Can you print barcode labels for items that arrive without one?
• Does it print on a thermal receipt printer as well as full A4 or A5 invoices?
• Can you run more than one counter at the same time?

2. The way Sri Lankans pay

Most shops take cash, cards, credit and cheques, often all in one day. Software built elsewhere often treats credit and cheques as an afterthought.

• Credit customers: can you see each customer's balance, allocate payments against bills and send reminders?
• Cheques: are post-dated cheques you receive and issue tracked by due date? Does the system know that a cheque due on a Poya day or a weekend is really due on the next bank day?
• Statements: can customers see their statement without you printing and posting it?

3. Getting the bill to the customer

Customers increasingly expect a bill on their phone. Check whether bills can be sent by WhatsApp or SMS, and whether SMS uses a local provider your customers will actually receive messages from.

4. Stock you can trust

• Does every sale and goods received note (GRN) update stock automatically?
• If you have branches, can you see stock in each one and transfer goods between them?
• Is there a low-stock list, so you reorder before shelves go empty?
• If you sell goods with expiry dates (groceries, medicine, cosmetics), can stock be kept by batch with expiry dates, and does the system warn you before an expired batch is sold?
• Can you buy in cases or boxes and sell in pieces, with stock correct either way?

5. Prices that match how you sell

Many Sri Lankan businesses sell the same item at different prices to walk-in customers, trade customers and wholesale buyers. Check how many price levels the system supports, whether you can name them, and whether you can stop staff billing below a minimum price.

6. Your real profit, not just your sales

Sales figures alone don't tell you whether you made money. Look for daily profit reports, expense recording, a day-end cash count, and proper accounts: profit and loss, balance sheet, trial balance and ledgers. If your accountant needs to post adjustments, journal vouchers help.

7. Cloud or installed software?

Both approaches work. Choose based on how you run the business.

• Cloud POS runs in a web browser. You can check sales from home or another branch, branches share one set of data, and the vendor looks after servers and backups. It needs a working internet connection at the counter.
• Installed POS runs on a PC in the shop. It doesn't depend on the internet for billing, but data usually lives on that PC, so backups, upgrades and access from elsewhere are your responsibility.

Ask any vendor what happens when the internet or the PC fails, and how your data is backed up.

8. Staff controls

Each staff member should see and do only what their job needs. Check for user roles, permission to give discounts or bill below minimum prices, and a clear record of who billed what.

9. Language, hardware and support

• Can item names be kept in Sinhala and Tamil as well as English?
• Which receipt printers, label printers and barcode scanners does it work with? Ask about the ones you already own.
• Who do you call when something goes wrong, and are they in Sri Lanka? Can you talk to the people who build the software?
• Is setup guided, and will someone help you load your products?

Questions to ask in every POS demo

1. Can I bill a basket of my own items now, and print the receipt?
2. How do credit customers and post-dated cheques work?
3. Show me stock for one item across all branches.
4. Show me yesterday's profit, not just sales.
5. What does it cost each month or year, what is included, and what costs extra (SMS, extra branches, extra users)?
6. What happens to my data if I stop using the system?

Where CubiclePOS fits

We built CubiclePOS in Sri Lanka around this checklist. It is cloud based and runs in a web browser. It handles barcode and touch-screen billing, WhatsApp and SMS e-bills, multi-branch stock with batches and expiry dates, up to five price levels, customer credit and the Cheque Calendar (with Poya days handled), and full accounts. Pages for supermarkets, hardware stores, pharmacies, wholesalers and other businesses show how it fits each one. Restaurants have Cubicle Eatz and jewellers have Cubicle Jewelz.

Whichever system you choose, use the checklist above in the demo. If you'd like to see CubiclePOS, book a free demo or message us on WhatsApp at 077 388 1617.