I was both disappointed and relieved when, while at a Point-of-Sale Software (POS) experts panel discussion a few months ago, I went up to the microphone and said that I hadn’t found a single online POS system that functioned properly with regard to its integration with QuickBooks — and the answer I got was, “that’s because there isn’t one; not yet.”

The unanimous reaction among the experts was that QuickBooks POS for Desktop is really the only system that truly and fully integrates with QuickBooks accounting software (there are other POS packages out there that integrate functionally, though not as fully — but they are also all desktop systems that work with QuickBooks desktop software).  None of the zillions of online offerings (Square, Vend and the like) have functioning integrations (although they claim to), leaving QuickBooks Online as a less-attractive option for those who depend on POS data.  (This doesn’t mean it can’t be done — I have plenty of clients for whom I have written up a recurring periodic journal entry that they book manually, or we’ve hired a developer to write a script to do the job.  But these are time-consuming or expensive options by comparison.)

Armed with this knowledge, I must say I was thrilled to read the reviews when the newest version of QuickBooks POS for Desktop was released.  They’ve apparently increased stability and reintroduced formerly-removed features (that actually work this time around).  For those clients of mine who will have to make the shift away from QB 2012 this year (see my post on support ending in May 2015), I’m going to recommend they upgrade to the newest POS version as well.

Check out David Glantz’s review, here:  QuickBooks Point of Sale Desktop 12.0 – from “QuickBooks and Beyond“.