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POS demo checklist: what to prepare, test and record
A useful POS software demo ends with evidence you can review. Bring a small set of items, run the same tasks with each supplier and record the outcome beside the receipt, stock movement or report that proves it.
Use this checklist for an initial demonstration, then carry unresolved tasks into a pilot. The suggested session agenda is a planning aid, not a promised SaleCue demo duration.
Before the demo: prepare a small, realistic sample
- Catalog: five to ten fictional items with item codes, selling prices, opening quantities and selling units. Add a variant if your shop uses sizes or colors.
- Transactions: a normal sale, a discount request, a return and a partial stock delivery.
- People: one cashier role and one manager role, with a written list of actions each should be allowed to perform.
- Documents: your required receipt fields and a blank daily closing sheet. Use sample customer and supplier details.
- Devices: the printer, scanner, browser and computer models you intend to use, if device suitability is part of the decision.
- Constraints: outlet count, selling units, customer credit policy, connectivity needs and three essential pass conditions.
Send the supplier your essential tasks ahead of the session so the right configuration and devices can be prepared. Keep real customer personal information out of a general demo account. Use invented names and balances for the test.
Agree a focused agenda
For an illustrative sixty-minute session, allow five minutes to confirm the scope, twenty for checkout and returns, fifteen for stock and customer records, ten for permissions and reports, and ten for terms and next steps. Adjust the time to your priorities. Move complex hardware, offline or specialist tests into a dedicated session if needed.
Run the core tasks
Download the demo checklist worksheet. Record the demonstrated product version or configuration, date, test account and device setup. Use “pass,” “fail” or “not tested.” A verbal answer stays “not tested” until the agreed evidence is available.
Swipe across the table to see every column. Keyboard users: focus the table and use the arrow keys.
| Task | Ask to see | Acceptance evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Find and sell an item | Search or scan, select quantity and complete the sale | Correct item, quantity and totals on receipt; matching stock decrease |
| Apply a controlled discount | Cashier requests the agreed discount; manager authorizes if required | Correct revised total and an identifiable authorization record |
| Correct a checkout mistake | Change a mistaken quantity before payment; explain correction after completion | Agreed correction method and preserved transaction history |
| Return one item | Find the original sale and return the resalable unit | Correct refund record, stock increase and original-sale reference |
| Receive a partial delivery | Receive eight units against an order for ten | Eight added to stock; remaining quantity handled explicitly |
| Count stock | Record a count one unit below expected balance | Difference, reason and approval are traceable |
| Check customer credit, if needed | Record a credit sale and collect part of the amount due | Statement matches opening balance plus charge minus payment |
| Close and review | Review sales, returns and recorded payments from the sample | Report totals reconcile with the source records |
Use simple numbers to catch discrepancies
For a fictional tax-free arithmetic exercise, sell two units at 100 each and apply a discount of 10 to the whole sale. The expected total is 190. If the agreed policy allocates that discount evenly, a subsequent one-unit return is 95. Ask how the demonstrated configuration allocates discounts and handles rounding; record the policy before deciding whether the return is correct.
This example does not specify a real tax treatment. Test your required tax and receipt scenarios separately with the supplier and an appropriate adviser. Generic tax settings do not establish local compliance.
For a separate fictional customer account, an opening balance of 500 plus a credit sale of 190 minus a payment of 100 leaves 590 due. Check the statement entries, not just the final number. A correct closing balance can still hide a duplicated or missing entry.
Test the access rules with the restricted account
Ask the cashier to attempt the actions you have reserved for a manager, such as editing a selling price, approving a refund or changing stock. Record whether access is blocked, an approval is requested or the action is allowed. Agree which result is acceptable for each action before testing.
Use the manager account to review the resulting history. Ask how actions are attributed when staff share devices. Do not accept a restricted-menu screenshot as proof of every permission you need.
Give hardware and connectivity their own tests
If printing or scanning is essential, test the intended model and connection method. Scan your sample codes and inspect a printed receipt for legibility and required fields. Record the operating system, browser, driver or connection details needed to reproduce the result.
If disconnected operation is essential, agree an isolated test with the supplier: start from a known state, disconnect, attempt the required task, reconnect and check the records for missing or duplicate transactions. Ask which functions and payment methods remain available and which do not. Do not run disruption tests against live shop transactions.
Request written answers to commercial questions
- What does the quote include for this outlet and user count?
- Who prepares the catalog, opening quantities and customer balances?
- What training and support are included, and how are issues escalated?
- Which devices and workflows have been tested in the proposed setup?
- Who handles backups and recovery, and what evidence can you review?
- What are the renewal, cancellation and export terms?
- Which required local invoicing or payment workflows still need separate verification?
Keep provider payment processing separate from recording a payment method. A receipt marked “card” does not prove that a connected provider authorized the payment.
Leave with a decision record
For each unresolved task, write the owner, required evidence and agreed follow-up date. An issue such as “returns unclear” is hard to act on. “One-unit return from receipt D-004 restored two stock units; expected one; supplier to correct and rerun the test” defines a retest.
Use the POS selection scorecard to weigh the complete result. If stock quantities are uncertain, run the inventory reconciliation exercise. Approve a pilot only after the essential demo questions have acceptable answers or a clearly agreed pilot test.
For a SaleCue session, begin with billing, customer accounts and retail workflows. Ask to see the current implementation perform your tasks.