Technology has upended retail, even in staple industries like grocery stores and supermarkets. Many small and independent grocery stores rely on a patchwork of different technologies to keep up with changing customer preferences.
Unfortunately, this can make accounting and understanding your store’s financial performance harder. This is especially complicated when payments are handled on a separate system.
However, technology isn’t all bad. There are many excellent, industry-specific point of sale (POS) systems on the market to streamline how stores track inventory, sales, and employees.
More importantly, by managing payments directly on your POS system, you can simplify your accounting processes and gain unique insights to boost sales and customer satisfaction.
In this article, we’ll cover:
- The elements of POS accounting
- How using integrated payments simplifies accounting and cuts costs
- Benefits of using a grocery store POS system
Elements of Grocery Store POS Accounting
Many aspects of grocery store accounting are tracked on a POS system.
- Inventory: For grocery stores, the value of your inventory is the most important thing to keep track of. POS systems track inventory levels, value, and shrinkage so you can get an accurate view of expenses and cost of goods sold (COGS).
- Payments: A POS system processes and records customer payments and payment processing fees for credit cards and contactless payments.
- Payroll: Employee management systems track when employees clock in and out, along with metrics on employee performance.
You’ll also need to track other accounting expenses such as rent, maintenance fees, and more.
How In-House Payment Processing Simplifies Accounting Processes and Cuts Costs
You put a lot of extra work on your plate when you use separate systems for payments, inventory, and employee management.
However, managing and processing payments directly on your POS system creates a smoother customer experience, cuts costs, and simplifies your accounting.
1. Lower Payment Processing Fees
The average credit card processing fee is between 1.5 and 3.5%. With credit cards and contactless payments topping the most popular payment methods, those fees can add up over time.
Grocery store POS systems with in-house payment processing tend to have lower processing fees. This helps you pass those savings onto customers at a time when budgets are tighter than ever.
Related Read: Contactless Point of Sale: Benefits, Features, and Top Providers
An in-house payment provider also leads to predictable cash flow, since it’s easier to avoid processing errors, and you can receive deposits quickly. Not to mention that you'll have better access to technical support if something ever goes wrong with the system.
2. Real-Time Sales Numbers
Creating budgets and analyzing revenue requires an accurate view of your store's performance. This can be hard to do, especially when transactions must be reconciled at the end of each day.
A unified POS system with integrated payments solves this problem by tracking real-time sales data. This allows you to understand how your store is doing financially at any given moment, helping you make better decisions.
3. Accurate Inventory Tracking
One of the most significant advantages of using a grocery store POS with integrated payments is how it streamlines inventory. Instead of reconciling inventory and sales numbers, a connected system will automatically update your inventory every time you make a sale.
This allows you to set low stock alerts that tell you the second a specific item drops to a prespecified amount. For accounting and budgeting purposes, this makes it much easier to perform inventory audits, monitor inventory turnover, and identify sources of shrinkage.
Related Read: Grocery Store Inventory Management System: 5 Features [+ 5 Tips]
4. Useful Reports and Analytics
Every day, your POS system collects tons of valuable data — but it’s hard to act on that data without context.
A modern grocery POS system helps you make better financial decisions by adding context through pre-built reports. Here are just a few of the ways reports and analytics tools can help:
- Identify bestsellers
- Help understand profit margins
- See your store’s peak hours
- Understand average cart size
- Create daily sales reports
Use this information to make informed decisions about your staff and inventory. Integrated payments make these reports more useful since you’ll have a combined view of sales, inventory, vendors, and more.
Benefits of Using a Grocery Store POS for Accounting
A comprehensive grocery store POS system is useful for accounting in many ways. Here are some of the main benefits.
- Simplified taxes: Having all your sales and inventory data in one place simplifies tax preparation and reduces data entry errors.
- More visibility: With payments integrated directly into your POS system, you’ll always have a real-time view of sales data, which gives you crucial insights into store performance.
- Precise inventory control: With payments and inventory handled on the same system, you can track inventory levels in real time, allowing you to streamline reorders and avoid stockouts or overstocking.
- Better decision-making: Accurate reports and data help you make smarter, data-driven business decisions that keep customers happy and maximize profits.
With a precise view of your store performance, you can have a detailed understanding of COGS, which can help you optimize your inventory and profits.
POS Accounting: Ready to Simplify Your Grocery Store Finances?
Adopting a comprehensive grocery store POS system is a solid first step toward improving your business’ financial health.
IT Retail has decades of experience helping grocery stores be more efficient, maximize profits, and simplify their operations.
With a real-time picture of store performance and added-value features like customizable customer loyalty and seamless contactless payments, IT Retail gives small and independent grocers everything they need to succeed.
Schedule your demo of IT Retail today, or take our two-minute guided POS tour to learn more.
