Point of sale (POS) or checkout is the location where a transaction occurs. A "checkout" refers to a POS terminal or more generally to the hardware and software used for checkouts, the equivalent of an electronic cash register.
A POS terminal manages the selling process by a salesperson accessible interface. The same system allows the creation and printing of the receipt.
Checkout system
A checkout system generally involves the following components:
General computer hardware
General computer software
Checkout hardware
Checkout software
Miscellaneous store hardware
Because of the expense involved with a POS system, the eBay guide recommends that if annual revenue exceeds the threshold of $700,000 per annum, investment in a POS system will be advantageous.
POS systems are manufactured and serviced by such firms as Fujitsu, IBM, MICROS Systems, Panasonic, Radiant Systems, Sharp, Squirrel Systems, and Vectron POS among others.
Point of sales systems in restaurant environments operate on DOS, Windows or Unix environments. They can use a variety of physical layer protocols, though Ethernet is currently the preferred system.
Checkout hardware
Specific to the POS industry, generally including:
USB Credit card reader
USB Receipt printer
Cash drawer
USB Barcode scanner
USB PIN pad with Integrated Card Swipe
Stands on which the payment devices are held/mounted/posted
Checkout software
Top software, based on U.S. Install Base:
Radiant/Aloha: 24%
Internally Developed: 15%
MICROS: 14%
Accounting forensics
Tax fraud
POS systems record sales for business and tax purposes. Illegal software dubbed "zappers" is increasingly used on them to falsify these records with a view to evading the payment of taxes.