Inventory cost (not sale price) data for Register?

[Michael80]

We have a Square Register. I know we can input stock quantities to track inventory levels. But is there a way to also enter our item cost every time we receive stock? (It would be nice to also track the supplier, as we sometimes have to use multiple suppliers for particular items). This would be very useful for managing inventory and tracking profits.

[Candlestore]

@Michael80 ;

 I was just looking on my App and I can not add Item cost but I can from my dashboard.

https://squareup.com/dashboard/items/library 

If you open an Item and scroll down you can have this screen if you pay for Square for Retail Plus....

compare-square-for-retail-and-square-point-of-sale 

 I use the unit Cost in Quick books which is why mine is empty or $0.00 right now.

[Candlestore]

@Michael80 ;

Looked into this on my Ipad at the store and like you, I can add items but not input the Cost of the Item.  I can only do this in the back office (ie Square Dashboard)  as described in my other post to you.  With having staff at the register, I like the idea they can not see how much an item costs, especially when they are new.  What I do is I enter the Cost when I order new items, and then just receive them when they arrive.  I do all this in my QuickBooks but you should be able to update these costs when you place a new order from your vendors from any computer (Windows, Mac, Chromebook...etc) on your Square Dashboard as long as you have Square for Retail Plus.

[Michael80]

Thanks for the info. I'm not sure what Square for Retail Plus is. I am running whatever came with my Square Register, which I guess is Square for Retail Minus. 🙄 I have no form field for Unit Cost in my Dashboard.

I suppose I should invest in Quickbooks.

[Doran]

Cost and cost of sale tracking are only offered on the Retail Plus.  It is a (paid) upgrade from the basic (free) Retail and allows you to track more.  Like POs, costs, restocks, vendor metrics and more.  

[Michael80]

So which is a better investment and which offers greater functionality: Retail Plus or Quickbooks? I really don't understand why these basic functions are not included with the software that comes with Register. Square is already making money on the hardware and the credit card transactions. 😒 I can understand charging a subscription fee for things like website hosting which requires greater infrastructure (servers, data bandwidth, etc.). But how does it substantially cost Square to store a few additional item data fields?

[Candlestore · Accepted solution]

@Michael80 ;

The better value is what YOU need to run your business.  I was using Square for Retail Free, not Square POS. Both of these are free versions for running Square.  I bought QuickBooks to do Accounting software as recommended by my accountant.  I am also set up as a C-Corporation not a S-Corp or LLC etc.   I went with QuickBooks Desktop figuring I could buy it once and be done, but now it is a yearly subscription and the online versions are monthly fees.  But just like Square, QuickBooks has different versions.  For inventory access in QuickBooks online its $40 a month I think. I believe Square integrates with QuickBooks online, but I do not know what all transfers between the two.  For me the desktop works better for cost, and has features for manufacturing and retail sales.  I was told I may want QuickBooks Enterprise to keep track of my Build Assemblies and to automatically compute a sales price by a Markup or Margin... at $1340 for annual subscription I think not!  I use the Premier Plus at $550 a year or just over $45 a month.  So you need to look at what Square for Retail offers vs what you would get with an accounting package like QuickBooks.  There are other accounting software packages out there that may do what you require for less.  Some are online with monthly fees or you can purchase once and pay for updates etc.  

Square is a Credit Card processing company that integrated a POS system, it works great for this and is not an accounting package which is where you need the accounting software for taxes.  Square does keep adding features on but to develop these new features it costs them time and money.  Their pricing for Square for Retail Plus is not expensive for working with their product fully.

My advise would be compare the Square for Retail features and see if they would work for YOU.  Then look at accounting software and compare the pricing and TIME required to import your data from sales in to the accounting software. You may even be able to try Square Plus for Free, I did a few months ago.  I know Square has an integration with QuickBooks online and Desktop, but in these forums I see complaints and finger pointing goes both ways between Square and QuickBooks when customers numbers are not matching.  I might be wrong but Squares Integration with QuickBooks Online is free, and with desktop it is an additional charge per month.

I use an outside system for integration with Square and QuickBooks Desktop, and have had issues getting everything correct for my imports from Square to QuickBooks and then sitting up for hours looking for the errors.  Usually these were rounding errors and have a few transactions off by a penny. 

Anyway here are some links for you to look over to compare some of the different things I discussed above.

Good luck with what ever you decide and you may want to ask your accountant what they recommend for you.

If you need anything else just ask.

Square for Retail information  :    compare-square-for-retail-and-square-point-of-sale 

QuickBooks Online information :  QuickBooks Online Information 

QuickBooks Pro Desktop  :  desktop pro 

QuickBooks Premier Desktop :   desktop premier 

Or Google Accounting Software  :google search results for accounting software 

[Michael80]

Thank you, Keith, for your detailed answer. Very helpful. I'll probably start with Quickbooks and see how things develop.

I'm cautious about spending more money on Square at this time, considering I've found that even simple (yet critical) feature requests have been ignored by the company for six years. Instead of giving us a Register testing/training mode, wireless barcode scanners, or decent website editing features, they're focusing on... fluff like TikTok integration. 😒 Talk about screwed-up priorities!

[Michael80]

Wow, I just looked at the pricing for Plus: $60/month. And it doesn't even include the Loyalty program which is an additional $45/mo minimum!

Perhaps this pricing would make sense for mid-to-large sized shops that's selling more expensive merchandise in high volume. But for a small shop that's selling low-priced items, this pricing is not justifiable.