Find the best Retail Accounting Software

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Epos Now

Epos Now POS system is an effective business management, sales, and payment system for single-site, multi-site and online businesses. The system offers an extensive range of management and sales tools, with the option to expand t...Read more about Epos Now

3.3 (371 reviews)

50 recommendations

AmberPOS

Pacific Amber’s AmberPOS offers a point of sale software solutions to a variety of retail specialties, ranging from small to midsized, in the United States and Canada. In addition to point of sale functionality, AmberPOS incl...Read more about AmberPOS

4.1 (53 reviews)

35 recommendations

NetSuite

With an integrated system that includes ERP, financials, commerce, inventory management, HR, PSA, supply chain management, CRM and more – NetSuite enables fast-growing businesses across all industries to work more effectively by a...Read more about NetSuite

4.1 (1454 reviews)

27 recommendations

DaySmart Salon

DaySmart Salon (formerly Salon Iris) offers packages designed to fit the needs of beauty businesses of all sizes. Simple subscription plans enable savvy salon managers to optimize their day-to-day operations and expand their br...Read more about DaySmart Salon

4.3 (349 reviews)

15 recommendations

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Windward System Five

Windward Software's Windward System Five helps small to midsize businesses manage their operations by providing an integrated point of sale and accounting solution with real-time inventory management. Windward System Five is ...Read more about Windward System Five

3.8 (188 reviews)

15 recommendations

Agiliron

Agiliron cloud-based point-of-sale (POS) solution is designed to serve both in-store and mobile businesses as well as online sales channels. The system offers a host of features that work in tandem with the point-of-sale solution,...Read more about Agiliron

4.5 (41 reviews)

15 recommendations

Bravo Store Systems

Bravo Store Systems empowers small businesses innovative point of sale solutions. Bravo is the leading provider of an all in one Point of Sale (POS) solutions tailored for a diverse range of industries. With a deep understanding...Read more about Bravo Store Systems

4.7 (40 reviews)

15 recommendations

Phorest

Phorest is a salon management software solution designed for small and midsize businesses that features appointment bookings, point-of-sale, inventory management and reporting. The software offers cloud-based deployment and a salo...Read more about Phorest

4.8 (362 reviews)

12 recommendations

Meevo

Meevo is the award-winning salon and spa software powered by Millennium built specifically for the beauty industry to simplify client management, improve business operations, and enhance your marketing strategies. Crush your goa...Read more about Meevo

4.3 (226 reviews)

10 recommendations

Liberty Consignment

With the Liberty Consignment Software, your success is our mission. Resaleworld.com has been instrumental in the Resale industry for over 30 years, and continues to design and develop a comprehensive software product that has help...Read more about Liberty Consignment

4.6 (146 reviews)

10 recommendations

MyPOS Connect

Designed for independent and enterprise retailers, MyPOS Connect is a SOC2 compliant, cloud-hybrid POS solution that allows businesses to create a POS experience for any retail business function and optimize customer engagement, s...Read more about MyPOS Connect

4.5 (41 reviews)

9 recommendations

Acme Point of Sale

Acme Point of Sale by Total BusinessWare is an on-premise POS solution that helps businesses across various industries including grocery stores and supermarkets, sporting goods shops and pet supply stores to manage POS, transactio...Read more about Acme Point of Sale

5.0 (3 reviews)

8 recommendations

AIM

AIM is a secure end-to-end point of sale (POS) business solution that can be used in any retail environment. This retail management solution features customizable menus and screens, inventory management, complete POS activity and ...Read more about AIM

4.1 (200 reviews)

7 recommendations

JewelMate Enterprise Retail

JewelMate JM20 Software redefines jewelry business management by putting comprehensive control at your fingertips. Designed to cater to the unique needs of the jewelry industry, this robust platform offers an array of customizable...Read more about JewelMate Enterprise Retail

4.6 (20 reviews)

4 recommendations

Rapid Garden POS

Rapid Garden POS is a point of sale (POS) solution designed to assist users with managing their greenhouse, garden centers, nurseries, and landscaping businesses. Key features include multiple pricing and promotion schemes, plant ...Read more about Rapid Garden POS

4.4 (8 reviews)

4 recommendations

STORIS

STORIS is the leading provider of modern technology solutions for home furnishings, bedding, and appliance retailers. From your showrooms and eCommerce website to your distribution centers, STORIS will enhance the customer experie...Read more about STORIS

4.3 (48 reviews)

3 recommendations

Epicor for Automotive

Epicor for Automotive provides powerful on-premises or cloud-based business management solutions, including Epicor Eagle for the Aftermarket software, built specific to the needs of independent automotive aftermarket and commercia...Read more about Epicor for Automotive

2.0 (1 reviews)

3 recommendations

CellSmart POS

CellSmart POS is an all-in-one point-of-sale solution for cell phone and electronic store owners. We provide a full POS solution for business owners so that they can manage everything from new/used inventory coming in, to tracking...Read more about CellSmart POS

4.5 (17 reviews)

2 recommendations

Rapid Bev POS

Rapid Bev POS is a point-of-sale solution that can be deployed on premise or accessed through the cloud. It's designed to meet the needs of liquor stores, wineries and breweries, with features to track product attributes, ratings ...Read more about Rapid Bev POS

5.0 (1 reviews)

2 recommendations

Boulevard

Boulevard is transforming business management for appointment-based self-care businesses with the industry's first and only Client Experience Platform. From initial booking to final payment, get everything you need to optimize you...Read more about Boulevard

4.6 (277 reviews)

1 recommendations

Buyers Guide

Last Updated: March 16, 2023

The accounting market for retail is surprisingly complex for such a straightforward application. The primary reason for the complexity is due to vendor saturation among both vertically oriented software vendors and horizontally oriented accounting vendors.

Companies approaching the market from both angles have developed a large number of programs for every type and size of business, creating a complex and confusing market for buyers. This guide should help buyers understand how best to approach the retail accounting market and identify the right vendors for their needs.  

Here’s what we’ll cover:

What Is Retail Accounting Software?

Deployment Strategies

What Type of Buyer Are You?

Benefits, Potential Issues and Costs

Market Trends to Understand

The Vendor Landscape

What Is Retail Accounting Software?

“How much money is this business making?” is a difficult question to answer for a surprising number of retailers. This is especially true for the 64 percent of single-store retailers operating without a point of sale (POS) system in place.

If you’re operating or working in a retail business that’s not taking advantage of affordable, intuitive retail software, ask yourself why? Between QuickBooks and retail POS systems, there’s tons of easy-to-use software options to automate if not at least qualm the pains of retail accounting tasks.

On the most basic level, retail accounting software offers the following features:

  • Track payables and receivables—manage outgoing payments for vendors and other operating costs (i.e bills, rent) and incoming payments such as credited purchases.

  • Inventory management—monitor the current value of inventory on hand, accounting for immediate and long-term depreciation of assets.

  • Reporting and analytics—determine product margins and monitor sales performance at various levels, including product, employee, location, date and time.

The primary goal of this accounting software is to centralize all accounting-related data in one system and provide owners with accurate figures. On one hand, this is an absolute necessity from a legal/tax auditing standpoint. And on the other hand, it’s a baseline business practice to help even the score between your store(s) and the competition. By truly knowing key metrics, businesses can make data-driven decisions to improve inventory and customer retention and increase sales.

Deployment Strategies

Retailers will have two primary choices when implementing a retail accounting system for their store:

  • Standalone accounting program like QuickBooks to tie into your point of sale system.

  • Accounting capabilities, such as sales reporting and analytics, that are enabled by/included within a POS system.

The decision will be based primarily on the size of the business and the extensiveness of the company’s needs.

What Type of Buyer Are You?

You will want to focus on programs that are designed for the buyer category you fall into. We have found that almost all businesses belong in one of the following three categories:

Small buyers. Most retailers with fewer than five locations will fall into this category. However, if a retailer operates one or a handful of large stores, they may be in one of the other two categories. These small buyers have straightforward accounting needs. They typically require an affordable option that can integrate with their POS system.

Enterprise best-of-breed buyers. These larger retailers have already made substantial investments in point of sale and inventory control systems. They typically do not want to replace these existing systems and are looking for a standalone accounting program. Integration, flexibility and scalability are usually key requirements. These buyers typically have more than five locations or a smaller number of large stores. 

Enterprise integrated suite buyers. Contrary to the best-of-breed buyers, these buyers are looking for one system that offers fully integrated applications for point of sale, inventory control and accounting. They may also opt for modules for warehouse management, merchandise planning or multi-channel management. Many of these buying decisions will be dictated by POS and inventory control needs since accounting functionality typically does not vary much from system to system. 

Benefits, Potential Issues and Costs

The benefits of implementing a formal accounting system are fairly straightforward but surprisingly difficult to attain without a proper system. Most adopters should expect the following benefits: 

Organization and efficiency. If you have ever tried to prepare a tax return without a formal accounting system or process in place, you know how much more organized a program will make your business. Having all of your data managed in one place saves a surprising amount of time when trying to determine performance of the business.  

Automated reporting. Most accounting programs come with a number of standard reports, as well as the ability to build custom reports if necessary. Buyers should find it very beneficial to make key decisions quickly without having to spend a lot of time manually pulling together information. 

When selecting a system, buyers should ensure that the system will integrate with their existing POS or inventory control software. Many buyers will find that simply exporting sales data into a .CSV file and then uploading it to the accounting package is sufficient. Bigger buyers with more data will likely require true integration though. 

Buyers should note that there is a large price difference between smaller packages such as QuickBooks or Peachtree and larger tools like Microsoft Dynamics GP. As a result, most buyers will stick with a small program until the business has grown large or complex enough to justify the investment.

Market Trends to Understand

Various software trends are impacting the retail accounting software market. The primary trends include the following:

ERP vendors as retail vendors. Software companies such as SAP, Microsoft Dynamics and Epicor have traditionally offered horizontal accounting or enterprise resource planning (ERP) programs. Users of these packages for accounting would use a separate system for operations. Over time, these providers have developed extensive functionality to enable retailers to use them for point of sale, inventory control, warehouse management and accounting.  

Software as a Service (SaaS). Many accounting programs have transitioned to SaaS. We typically encourage buyers to consider this model with an open mind as SaaS accounting solutions can ease the IT burden and help them avoid large upfront costs.  

The Vendor Landscape

Buyers should find the retail accounting software market much more navigable when approaching it with their buyer category in mind.

This type of buyer...

Should evaluate these systems

Small buyers

Peachtree, QuickBooks

Enterprise best-of-breed buyers

Microsoft Dynamics, SAP, NetSuite, Sage MAS 90/200/500

Enterprise integrated suite buyers

Epicor, Cybex, Jesta Vision