How Effective Can A Restaurant POS System Be For My Business?

Sept. 1, 2009 - PRLog -- A restaurant point of sale (POS) system doesn't need to be expensive in order to work with your business, or too cheap in order to save money. All you need is the right POS system and it will grow along with your business, increases your profits, enhances your security and provide a better reference for future plans.

   *  Point of Sale (POS).

A type of system built for the restaurant and retail industry. This computerized system allows business owners to track sales, the flow of cash, food inventory and helps simplify your bookkeeping enormously. Why it’s good for a restaurant: The high volume of cash and credit cards that pass through a restaurant each day make a POS system a necessary. A POS system doesn't only keep track of your sales but it can also run useful programs the the ones that can process debit cards. This makes swiping credit cards more secure for both the customer and the business. Servers are accountable for all their sales, and it is impossible to alter checks in the computer unless you have an access. This prevents employee theft.

   * Benefits of a restaurant POS system

One benefit of a POS system is that it simplifies communications between the kitchen and the waiter. Orders are taken then sent through the computer directly to the kitchen printer. Another benefit of a restaurant POS programs is that it can track everything from food usage, to the most popular menu items. Because POS system can act as a time clock, it can also help prepare payroll. Saves you a good amount of money in your bookkeeping department. Along with the daily operations of running a restaurant, a POS system can organize profit and loss statement as well as your sales tax.

   * Any reasons NOT to use a restaurant POS system?

Your POS systems is still a computer, subject to all technological problems. And if it crashed and you don't have a back up, then you risk losing all your business documents, not just sales, but profit and loss statements and payroll statements. Important stuff that the IRS may need to examine some day. So, it's very important to have a back up.

   * Do you need a warranty extension?

Remember all that money you saved on bookkeeping? Records of your financial transactions using a convenient POS system? You may end up spending it on your tech guy, to help set up the POS and perform any trouble shooting. A POS system don't have the same life span as good old fashioned cash register. You'll be needing to replace parts of your computers, make upgrades on software and eventually replace it entirely with a new model. New POS systems come with limited warranties and tech support, but just like every other piece of equipment, the problems always seem to starts after the warranty has run out. For these kinds of problems, you can always buy extra tech support for your POS systems.

   * Who are some of the most popular software providers?

There are many restaurant POS software providers.

• Aldelo
• Digital Dining
• POSitouch
• Radiant Systems
• Squirrel Systems

If you are planning a very small operation, such as bread or a sweets shop, you may not need a POS system at opening time, especially if you aren’t going to take credit cards (and there are plenty of places that still don’t accept credit cards). However, if you have dreams of expanding or franchising, then you may want to figure in the purchase of a POS into your opening costs.

-------------------------------

With over 20 years of restaurant point of sale experience and helping businesses in the food-service industry nationwide increase their efficiency and bottom-line profits, the author of this article is the VP of Customer Relations at POS-For-Restaurants.com.

You may visit http://www.pos-for-restaurants.com for further understanding of how our national network of restaurant point of sale professionals can help your business achieve greater success in these difficult economic times.

-------------------------------

# # #

Searching for the best Restaurant POS System Solution for your business?
We're a National network of POS System Solution Experts who offer better value and features than most "Major National Suppliers"!