2020 Review of Keystroke Advanced POS

From the 2020 reviews of point of sale systems.

Keystroke Advanced from Specialized Business Solutions is one of three point of sale applications offered with Keystroke Express best suited for smaller retailers, Keystroke Point of Sale is best suited for growing retail business, and Keystroke Advanced is best suited for larger retail businesses that manage multiple locations that are also looking for e-commerce integration. All Keystroke applications can be downloaded directly from Specialized Business Solutions and installed on a local computer or workstation. Only Keystroke Advanced is reviewed here. 

Sales management screen.

Keystroke Advanced offers an easily navigated interface where all system modules can be accessed. Along with the point of sale module, Keystroke Advanced also includes receivables, purchasing, and reporting modules. Users can easily customize the point of sale interface to suit their needs, including the ability to add buttons if desired. In addition, users can edit existing toolbars to display the information they need.

Keystroke Advanced supports multiple tender types including cash, debit cards, credit cards, gift cards, with the option to set up custom tender types. eWallet transactions including Apple Pay and Android Pay are supported as well.

Users can process a variety of transaction types including cash sales, customer-specific sales, special orders, layaways and payments on account, along with credits, and voids.

Users can easily access both customer and product data during the sales process, with the ability to enter new customers and products on the fly. A sales script option is also available that can be used to upsell products, or add additional products. An I.D. feature is also available that prompts cashiers to ask for I.D. when an age restricted item is sold. 

Keystroke Advanced can be used on standard monitors as well as touch-screen monitors, with users able to customize on-screen toolbars to expedite the sales process. Keystroke Advanced supports multiple locations, and users are able to pull data from other locations into the main location. The add-on Multi-Store option is needed in order to pull data from multiple locations. 

Keystroke Advanced offers good customer management capability, with the ability to track customer information such as payment history and buying history, and notes can be added to a customer file if desired.  Inventory management is also solid in Keystroke Advanced, which offers multiple pricing levels, timed promotions, matrix item tracking and serial number tracking capability. Similar products can be grouped into a category, and all inventory is tracked in real time, with users able to track inventory at multiple warehouses. 

Keystroke Advanced includes good reporting capability, with receivable, purchases, inventory, and sales reports included. Reports available in Keystroke Advanced include a Customer History, Inventory Analysis, Item History, and detailed transaction history reports which include analysis by date, item, day of week, and even time of day. A Report Editor option is included in Keystroke Advanced that allows users to easily modify an existing report or create a report from scratch. In addition, all reports can be exported to Microsoft Excel for customization if desired. 

Keystroke Advanced offers the Accounting Link, which can be used to integrate with third party accounting applications including QuickBooks. The Data Import Utility features easy importing of inventory, customer and transaction data from other application, and integration with the Digital Sign Controller allows stores to advertise specials as well as display an image of any item being purchased.

Keystroke Advanced also integrates with all standard hardware peripherals including barcode scanners, label printers, signature capture devices, PIN pads, receipt printers and cash drawers.

Keystroke Advanced includes solid help functionality, with users able to access help resources from any screen in the application. In addition, a variety of resources are available from the Keystroke website, including FAQs, a How-To section, helpful hints, and a link to the Keystroke YouTube channel, where a variety of videos are available, although many are out of date, so beware. Keystroke Advanced also offers numerous training options, and a variety of software support service plans are available to purchase separately with Silver, Gold, and Gold MultiStore support options available. Toll-free technical support is available during regular business hours, with email support available as well.

Keystroke Point of Sale is a scalable point of sale solution best suited for small to mid-sized retail businesses. Keystroke currently offers three plans: Keystroke Express, for smaller businesses; Keystroke POS, which is well suited for mid-sized retailers; and Keystroke Advanced; designed for larger retailers with multiple locations. All Keystroke systems are sold through authorized dealers throughout the U.S. Those interested in Keystroke can also download a demo to try out prior to purchasing. 

2020 Rating – 4.25 Stars

Product Strengths:

• Offers three plans
• Highly customizable
• Suitable for high-volume retailers
• Calculates sales tax in multiple jurisdictions

Potential Limitations:

• Not available on the cloud
• Support only available during weekday business hours