Specialized Business Solutions — Keystroke POS

From the November 2005 Review of Point-of-Sale
Software

Keystroke POS – Version 5.20 bills itself as “a comprehensive sales
management and inventory control system.” Designed for the retail sector,
Keystroke POS can also be used in the wholesale and service industries.

EASE OF USE — 5 Stars
The Keystroke POS main screen contains a drop-down menu with choices such as
Transaction, Customer, Special, Exit, Utilities and Help. A fully customizable
toolbar contains function icons such as a pop-up calculator, pop-up calendar,
database query, change clerk, time clock and a pop-up Help screen. Installed
modules are listed in a vertical bar to the right of the main screen under the
Main Menu heading. A click on Sales Manager will provide access to the POS module.

Clicking on the List icon at the top of the screen allows you to look up customers
or items. The customer can be chosen from the list or a new one can be entered
on the fly. Items can be scanned using barcodes or the lookup feature can be
utilized. Tendering sales is easy: Simply click on Complete in the transaction
menu, choose your payment type, enter check number and click OK. You can choose
to print a receipt or an invoice. Navigation is straightforward, and you can
find most of the functions you need within minutes of installation. Keystroke
can integrate with most hardware peripherals including receipt printers, programmable
keyboards, electronic cash drawers and barcode scanners. The company also offers
a data interface to popular accounting packages.

MODULES/SCALABILITY — 5 Stars
Keystroke POS modules include Sales Manager, Database Manager, Purchase Manager,
Report Manager, Label Manager, Accounts Receivable, Configuration Manager and
Custom. A variety of custom modules is also available, including the User Bundle,
which includes the GL-Link, Script Editor, Production Importer and Report Editor.
Also available is the Matrix Manager (for inventory tracking) and the MultiStore
module, which provides communication between remote locations. A Payment Processing
module is also available for credit, debit, EBT and check verification. Keystroke
is available at two levels in single- and three-user versions: POS and Classic.

FEATURES/FUNCTIONALITY — 5 Stars
The newest version of Keystroke POS began shipping in September with a new user
interface as well as updated packaging. Noteworthy features include enhanced
on-screen reporting, the ability to attach photos to inventory items, and the
ability to enter customized detail in the Sales, Purchasing and Variance modules.
The POS module easily handles regular sales transactions, as well as special
transactions such as layaways and quotes. Keystroke POS stores in-depth history
on all customers for easy reference. Labels can be easily printed and customer
data exported to a word processing program for direct mailings. Customer, vendor
and inventory can all be updated on-the-fly, and the cash drawer reconciliation
feature means that there are no more unaccounted overages. For security purposes,
a clerk or salesperson number is recorded on all register transactions. The
included time clock means you can easily track your clerk’s work time.

INTEGRATION — 5 Stars
Along with complete integration to all custom modules, Keystroke POS also integrates
with barcode scanners and other hardware peripherals, including weight scales,
pin pads, programmable keyboards and signature capture devices. The GL-Link
provides a data interface to many popular accounting programs including BusinessWorks,
QuickBooks, Peachtree, ACCPAC and others.

TRACKING/REPORTING — 5 Stars
Numerous reports are available and can be accessed by accessing the drop-down
menu in the Reporting Manager. Reports include Sales Transaction Report, Payments
Report, Customer Activity Report, Purchase Summary Reports, and a variety of
database reports including customer, contact, vendor, clerk, category and location
reports. Inventory reports include Analysis Reports, a History Report and Exception
Reports. Customer activity can be tracked and used later in seasonal mailings
using the Customer Activity Report. The Vendor Activity Report shows the number
of transactions by vendor for record keeping.

RELATIVE VALUE — 5 Stars
For small to midsize retailers, Keystroke POS is a reasonably priced, reliable
and easy-to-navigate POS solution. This product is excellent for single-store
operations or for smaller companies with multiple sites. List price of Keystroke
POS is currently $1,895 for a single-user edition, and is also available in
a three-user version, as well. The company’s web site provides a list
of authorized dealers.

2005 Overall Rating: 5 Stars