What is a POS system? A plain answer.

Point of sale, in one sentence

A POS system is whatever records a sale at the moment it happens: what was sold, for how much, how it was paid, and by whom. A cash register is one. So is a notebook, in a way. Today it usually means an app on a phone or tablet.

Two things people in Ghana call “POS”

Ask around and “POS” means two different things:

• The card or agent terminal. A small machine for card payments, or the kind agents use for cash withdrawals and transfers. That’s a payment device. It takes money; it doesn’t keep your sales records.
• The till. Software that rings up what you sold, takes the money however it comes, and keeps the day’s record. That’s what this guide is about, and it’s what a food business needs to know how business is going.

You can have one without the other. Plenty of businesses have a card terminal and no records at all.

What a POS system does

At its simplest, it replaces the notebook and the calculator:

• Rings up the sale. Tap what they’re having; the total adds itself up. No prices to remember.
• Takes the money. Cash with the change worked out, MoMo, card.
• Keeps the record. Every sale, with the time and who served it, added up into the day.

A good one for a food business also:

• keeps tabs open while people eat, and sends orders to the kitchen;
• keeps cash and MoMo apart, so each can be checked in its own place;
• keeps a book of who owes you;
• counts stock: bottles, packs, kilos of rice;
• tells you what the day made, from anywhere.

Machine or app?

A generation ago a POS meant a big machine with a drawer and a printer. Now the software runs on the phone or tablet you already have. For most food businesses in Ghana the app is enough: the receipt can be a picture sent on WhatsApp, and MoMo doesn’t need a card terminal at all.

Hardware still has its place. A card terminal if lots of your customers pay by card; a tablet on a stand so the counter has a bigger screen. But start with what you need, not with a bundle.

What it costs in Ghana

Prices run from free apps to hardware bundles costing thousands of cedis, with monthly subscriptions in between. When comparing, ask:

• Is there a monthly fee, and what’s in the free version?
• What does each MoMo payment cost, and who carries it?
• Do I need to buy hardware, or does it run on my phone?
• Can I take my records with me if I leave?

For the record: Tabworthy has a Free plan for one person on one till, and it isn’t a trial. Staff PINs, shifts, stock and older reports are on Pro, at ₵90 a month; pricing has the rest. A MoMo payment carries a 2.95% charge, which your customer carries by default; who pays the MoMo charge explains it.

What to look for, for a food business in Ghana

1. MoMo done properly. A prompt on the customer’s phone that closes the sale when the money arrives, not a screenshot. Mobile money.
2. It works offline. Sales saved on the phone first, so dumsor doesn’t stop the till. Selling offline.
3. Cedis and Ghana’s taxes, with VAT, NHIL, GETFund and the Tourism Levy handled properly.
4. Names on sales, if more than one person takes money.
5. Your data is yours. Everything exportable, any time.

If you’d like to see all of it in one place, point of sale in Ghana is our page about Tabworthy as a POS, with a till you can try.