Microsoft Office Accounting and Microsoft Dynamics - Point of Sale Offer a Complete Solution for Retailers

By David H. Ringstrom, CPA

Although Office Accounting is a robust solution in its own right, you can help your retail clients transform their front and back office operations by integrating Microsoft Dynamics – Point of Sale (POS). This easy to use software is designed for single-store locations, and integrates tightly with both Office Accounting and other Office applications such as Microsoft Office Word and Microsoft Office Excel. Further, your clients can upgrade to Microsoft Dynamics Retail Management System when they add additional locations.

Product comparison: Pricing and feature comparisons between Dynamics – Point of Sale and Dynamics Retail Management System are available in an online guide.

Explore Dynamics - Point of Sale

Dynamics – Point of Sale offers far more than just cash register capabilities:

• Wizards walk users through complex tasks, such as installation, store setup, data importing, purchase orders, inventory management and pricing updates.
• Support for a wide range of hardware devices and peripherals.
• Easy customization, so that your clients can control the look and feel of their point of sale system, and incorporate their logo and include custom graphics.
• As shown in Figure 1, the familiar Office interface extends to Dynamics – Point of Sale, so users get up to speed fast.

Figure 1: Office Accounting users will immediately feel comfortable with Dynamics - Point of Sale.

• Online training and practice mode capabilities simplify training for new employees without putting live data at risk.
• The touch-screen-based interface, shown in Figure 2, means a keyboard and mouse become optional peripherals.

Figure 2: The touch-screen interface Dynamics - Point of Sale simplifies transaction input.

• The My Store screen, shown in Figure 3, gives you up to the minute statistics on today’s sales, not only by product, but by employee, as well as identifying your most profitable items.

Figure 3: The My Store screen provides at a glance updates on today’s sales.

More information about Dynamics – Point of Sale is available at www.microsoft.com/pos.

Supported Hardware

Dynamics – Point of Sale works with a variety of devices, and may be compatible with your clients existing point of sale hardware:

• Card Readers
• Cash Drawers
• Check Readers
• Line Displays
• PIN Pads
• Printers
• Barcode Scanners
• Signature Captures

Of course, hardware bundles are also available for new users, or those seeking to upgrade their existing hardware. Installation and support is available through Best Buy and Geek Squad, as well as Microsoft Certified Partners.

Accounting Integration

As you’re well aware, any point of sale system worth its salt has to integrate with an accounting package. Dynamics – Point of Sale particularly shines in this capacity. As shown in Figure 4, the Accounting Integration Wizard walks users through the process of linking Dynamics – Point of Sale with Office Accounting Professional.

Figure 4: The Accounting Integration Wizard streamlines the initial connection between Dynamics - Point of Sale and Office Accounting.

QuickBooks support: Dynamics - Point of Sale also integrates with QuickBooks, but Office Accounting provides a higher level of integration and functionality. Summary level data can be posted to QuickBooks from Dynamics - Point of Sale, and you can perform a one-time import of customers and items from QuickBooks. Item receipts can be posted to QuickBooks to enable bill payments.

Dynamics – Point of Sale and Office Accounting can either reside on the same computer, or two separate computers. As shown in Figure 4, Office Accounting users can instantly view Point of Sale transactions. In fact, changes to customer records and transactions in Office Accounting are in turn reflected in Dynamics - Point of Sale. As you’re probably aware, Office Accounting ships with a retail chart of accounts, which simplifies the process of setting up a new retail location with Office Accounting.

Figure 5: Transactions initiated within Dynamics – Point of Sale can be viewed within Office Accounting.

Training and Support

Microsoft-sponsored training is available for Dynamics – Point of Sale:

• Classroom based learning
• Online training, including a one-hour overview course for $99.

In addition, you can pursue certification as a Microsoft Dynamics Point of Sale Solutions Specialist. Dynamics – Point of Sale offers three levels of support:

• Monthly support - Pay as you go and can opt out at any time. This includes unlimited support incidents, and access to the CustomerSource web site, which serves as a resource for Microsoft Dynamics customers.
• Dynamics - Point of Sale Upgrade – This simply provides one-time major version upgrade pricing, but no ongoing support.
• Dynamics - Point of Sale Complete Plan – This annual plan offers the most support possible, including unlimited incidents, free upgrades, access to the CustomerSource web site, managed news groups, service packs and hot fixes, and unlimited online training.

Support pricing is available by contacting Microsoft at (888) 477-7877 or (701) 281-0555. You can also send e-mail to mgpinfo@microsoft.com.

The views and opinions expressed in this column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Microsoft.