The use of technology at the point of sale (POS) has been in place for at least 100 years, yet recent advancements in technology and how it is implemented have accelerated the pace of development. In most industries that provide consumer products and solutions, the point of sale can occur at the storefront, over the phone, on a Web site, on a PDA (personal digital assistant), or at a kiosk. Today's technology, however, has changed where and how the actual point of sale transaction takes place—and that provides additional options to the consumer. The good news is that owners now have numerous technology options to enhance and secure the purchase.

POS (Point of Sale) software is used by a wide variety of industries and business owners to manage daily customer, employee, and inventory activity. Some examples of point of sale activities include: real-time tracking of customer purchases, returns/credits, employee activity, inventory, orders, and more.

The software is used at the physical location where goods are sold to customers. POS software takes the place of the cash drawer.

With Point of Sale software all sales transactions are made through the computer. The checker (probably using a scanner) tells the computer what is selling, the selling price, and the quantity sold. Then the computer program calculates the total, including tax, and tells the checker how much change is due the customer. It also records each sale and will track information regarding that sale.

Since the computer remembers every sale, it can automatically do a lot of tasks. For example, it will calculate sales for the day, sales tax totals, and the number of times a certain item sold within a given time period. This is an example of POS software in its simplest form, but there's a lot more to it.

In fact, POS software often serves as the complete business management system that automates several areas of business. The software might include:

• Point of Sale
• Accounts Payable
• Accounts Receivable
• Automatic price updates
• Automatic Creation of Purchase Orders
• Bar code scanning
• Customer Tracking and Follow Up
• EDI (Electronic Ordering)
• General Ledger
• Inventory Control
• Payroll
• Shop Management