QuickBooks Point-of-Sale (Desktop) 19

In a lot of ways QuickBooks Point-of-Sale (Desktop) has been one of the best point-of-sale systems around, especially for small stores even with multiple-registers.  It even worked in multi-store arrangements once you worked out the kinks of 'store exchange'.  It certainly had the best integration with QuickBooks Desktop (financial) software in terms of keeping the finances on-track and the underlying inventory valuation correct (assuming you never did any inventory work inside QuickBooks and only used QB-POS for inventory activities).

It also supported a far larger inventory, had fewer database issues, and had greater pricing flexibility than QuickBooks Desktop financial. The big problem was that it was 'costly' in comparison to many other systems and had bulky hardware that was 'not generic' and certainly not modern in terms of appearance. QuickBooks Point-of-sale has always been behind the times when it comes to looking the part for the modern retail establishment.

But with QuickBooks Point-of-Sale Desktop 19 things are changing. Not only are there some new and improved features, but there is a hardware refresh that gives users the opportunity to modernize QB-POS to be consistent with the way that most POS systems look today. The new hardware options give merchants a sleeker, more modern look and smaller footprint, and new color options are also available to fit the look and feel of differing retail stores.

No longer are merchants tied to bulky computers and monitors, they can now use a variety of tablets with several different stands available. Guaranteed tablet compatibility includes Acer® Switch, Microsoft® Surface Pro, Microsoft® Surface Go, Samsung® Galaxy Tab Pro.  And further reduce clutter with a 'wireless' barcode scanner that you can take anywhere in the store for greater inventory control.

Tablets not only let you streamline the check-out counter, but they also let you work with your customers to take orders, check stock, or process sales anywhere in the store.

Contactless and mobile payments are now available along with the Ingenico Lane 5000 PIN Pad allowing your customers to pay in a variety of ways including Apple Pay, Samsung Pay, and Google Pay. On-the-go QuickBooks-POS users can take payments with the free QuickBooks GoPayment App that automatically syncs to keep inventory and financial data in tact.

You don't even need to print those receipts any longer from QB-POS, you can save and email them directly. This new feature allows both you and your customer to have an electronic copy of the sale for record-keeping and in case of returns.  After the email is sent,  the captured customer data is stored and the transaction is saved in QuickBooks Point-of-Sale.

Intuit says that QuickBooks Point-of-Sale 19 has "new eCommerce integration that gives you one place to manage multiple channels—both online and in-store." This is a feature that requires an integration with Webgility®. I'm not really certain how they can claim that this is new because Webgility® has always had an integration that worked with QuickBooks Point-of-sale, and since I haven't had the opportunity to check-it- out because I can't get my ProAdvisor account to connect, I'm not exactly certain if this includes expanded capabilities or not, but they advertise it let's you:

  • Automatically sync inventory across all channels in real-time to prevent out-of-stocks.
  • Add products quickly and easily to multiply your sales.
  • Save time with automatic listing and pricing updates.
  • Speed up order fulfillment by printing shipping labels, packing slips and pick lists from one place.
  • Get financial insights on overall business performance and make channel-specific decisions.

From looking at the set-up it, at least at the Webgility® end of the equation, it seems as though it's pretty much the same as it has always been.

One thing I mentioned earlier that was a historically negative factor about QuickBooks Desktop Point-of-Sale was the relative 'high cost', and while I tend to stay away for quoting prices and talking about specific amounts in my articles, I must take this opportunity to say that this will be one time that I 'spill the beans' and at least tell you about some price deals.

Now is a great time to think about upgrading if you are on an older version of QuickBooks Desktop Point-of-Sale, especially a version that will become unsupported very soon (such as Version 12). While there are some significant incentives for up-graders, there are also some price promotions for those just starting out or those who purchased version 18 right before 19 was released (you might even qualify for a free upgrade). 

With a little searching around, many of the major QuickBooks Solutions Providers are currently offering up to 40% off the Standard Retail Pricing of QuickBooks Point-of-Sale 19, and may actually be 'giving away' hardware packages and those new PIN Pads when users are adding Intuit Payment Accounts. So you might not want to let these opportunities to pass you by.

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