How to choose POS software in Pakistan — 12 questions to ask before you buy

Search for "best POS software in Pakistan" and you will find lists written by the companies that sell POS software, each with themselves at the top. This one is written by a POS company too — so instead of a ranking, here are the questions that separate a good system from a bad one. Ask them of every supplier, including us.

Before the questions: do a real test

Never decide from a brochure or a slide. Ask each shortlisted supplier to:

1. put your own products (or ten of your menu items) into the system;
2. ring a real sale in front of you, with a discount and a split cash/card payment;
3. print the receipt on a real printer;
4. show you the day close and one report you would actually read.

Twenty minutes of that tells you more than any feature list.

The 12 questions

Tax

1. Does it file invoices with my tax authority — and is that live with real customers? FBR for Tier-1 retail and Islamabad services, PRA in Punjab, SRB in Sindh. "We support it" and "we have customers filing through it today" are different answers. Ask to see a real receipt with the authority's number and QR code. (Our guides: FBR, PRA, SRB.)

2. Can each branch have its own authority, registration and rates? A chain in Lahore and Karachi files with two authorities. If tax is set once for the whole company, it will be wrong somewhere.

3. Does the payment method pick the tax rate? Cash and card are often taxed at different rates. A split bill should blend them, and the tax report should show tax collected per method.

Reliability

4. What happens when the internet goes down? Not "is there an offline mode" — what exactly happens to pricing, receipts, the kitchen and sign-in. See why your POS has to work offline.

5. What does it run on, and can I use what I already have? Windows PC, Android tablet, Sunmi terminal, browser. Which printers and barcode scanners work? Avoid anything that needs a special box only the supplier sells.

Money

6. Does it handle Easypaisa, JazzCash, card and bank — separately? Your Z report should say how much went to each, so it can be checked against each statement.

7. Does it keep a proper khata? Sales on credit, payments against the oldest bills, limits, statements and an aging report. See digital khata.

8. Can a cashier give a discount, and who approves it? There should be a limit on what a cashier can give away, with a manager's PIN past it — and every discount should record who gave it and why.

Restaurants

9. Does it do recipes and food cost per dish? Not just a "cost price" field. Every sale should take its ingredients off the shelf, so ideal and actual usage can be compared. See food cost percentage.

10. How does the kitchen get its orders? Tickets by station (grill, bar, cold) on paper or a screen, and only the new items when a table adds a round.

The business

11. Can I get my data out? Every report should export to Excel and PDF, and your catalog should export to a spreadsheet. If you cannot leave, you are not a customer, you are a hostage.

12. Who do I call at 9pm on a Friday? Ask how support works — WhatsApp, phone, hours — and ask another customer how fast it really is.

Red flags

• A demo that only shows slides, never a real sale.
• "Tax integration is coming soon" when your business needs it now.
• A price that only covers one till, with every extra branch, user or report sold separately and not mentioned until later.
• No way to export your own data.
• Hardware that only works with their software.

Where Sellify fits

We would rather you ask us these twelve questions than take our word for anything. Sellify sets tax per branch with cash and card rates, files with SRB live today (FBR and PRA are built and switched on per branch), keeps selling offline on Android and Windows, keeps a proper khata, separates every wallet and bank, costs every dish, and exports every report to Excel and PDF.

See POS software in Pakistan, or book a demo — bring your menu or ten of your products.