Hot off the press, DacEasy Point
of Sale Version 13 offers more than
30 new and enhanced features that
provide greater ease-of-use and
more efficient business management.
Although this product has been around
for a number of years, it continues
to offer classic simplicity and
a well-rounded core feature set
for the small retailer.
EASE OF USE – 4 Stars
The Business Center provides a single
entry point for all DacEasy programs
(point-of-sale as well as accounting,
if installed) and includes a number
of features designed to increase
productivity. A standard drop-down
Windows menu gives quick access
to all installed modules. A new
customizable toolbar lets you create
and customize as many toolbars as
necessary, pulling tasks from DacEasy
or any application you want to access
from the Business Center. The remainder
of the screen includes a built-in
Internet Explorer window that allows
you to view HTML pages. This is
also the Business Center Workspace
where you can view many different
pages with options for Resources,
Activities, Instant Advisor, Instant
Reports and Workflow Guides. The
workspace window can be hidden,
which just leaves the menu and toolbar
on the Windows desktop.
The sales register screen is clean
and efficient, with all functions
accessible from the keyboard; it
does not require use of the mouse.
The top section of the sales register
window contains customer information,
transaction type, phone, tax code,
salesperson and customer purchase
order number. The center section
has a grid where individual items
are rung up. The bottom section
has summary information, such as
subtotal, sales tax, discount percentage,
amount received and change due.
A vertical toolbar on the right
side provides various editing tools
and field lookup functions. Each
button on the toolbar is tied to
a keyboard function key. The program
supports the use of a barcode scanner
for quick item entry. However, one
limitation of this package is that
it does not have touch-screen support.
With its ‘all-inclusive’
sales register design, all of the
most common sales transactions can
be handled from this single window.
In addition to ringing up sales,
the salesperson can enter quotes,
layaways, layaway payments and AR
payments all from the same screen.
This is accomplished by selecting
from a drop-down list of transaction
types. The screen input changes
instantly to reflect the necessary
information for that transaction
type. The sales register entry process
can be customized to meet specific
needs and expedite transaction entry.
If sales are not tracked by customer,
you can bypass the customer fields.
Other preference options allow you
to automatically print receipts
when sales are entered as well as
automatically generate layaway numbers.
MODULES/SCALABILITY – 4.5 Stars
DacEasy Point of Sale can be installed
as a stand-alone package or as an
integrated part of the DacEasy accounting
suite from Best Software. The DacEasy
Accounting suite includes GL, AR,
AP, Billing, Inventory, Purchasing,
Custom Report Writer, Cash, Recurring
(Invoices, Payments and GL), Fixed
Assets, Payroll and Order Entry.
The program uses the Pervasive 2000
database manager for SQL-optimized
client/ server file access, which
provides excellent scalability and
stability. The installation process
gives you the option of installing
as a ‘Gateway’ or ‘Workstation.’
The Gateway is the computer where
the data files reside, while a Workstation
is any other computer that will
access the data files. In a single-PC
setup, you select the Gateway installation
since this machine will act as both
file server and workstation. More
typically, however, the file server
components will be installed on
the back-office machine, with only
a Workstation install at the register.
One limitation of this package is
the lack of support for multiple
store locations with ability to
update to a central data store.
FEATURES/FUNCTIONALITY – 4 Stars
Version 13 introduces several new
features that make this product
even more attractive, although most
of them are general in nature and
affect all modules. A new Date Selector
button allows you to enter a date
using the keyboard, or view a calendar
to locate and select a date. A new
Schedule Task Wizard allows you
to schedule backups and Business
Alerts. Enhanced backup and restore
functions let you back up customized
Crystal Reports, profile information,
passports, business alert rules
and results, and scheduled tasks
and user settings. In addition,
a new rollback feature increases
data integrity in case of a data
restore. If you’re interfacing
Point of Sale with other DacEasy
Accounting modules, a new Update
General Ledger Online feature allows
you to create and maintain unposted
GL transactions that are generated
form the point-of-sale module. This
provides you with an up-to-the-minute
view of your books at any time.
The program uses a price break table
to let you define discounts based
on quantity sold, percentage discount,
dollar discount or flat (specified
discount price). If the customer
is assigned to the appropriate price
group, the discount will be automatically
applied. Promotional price transactions
can also be entered that let you
designate special sales prices that
are valid for a certain range of
dates.
INTEGRATION – 5 Stars
A primary strength of this product
is the complete integration of all
modules, including all the ‘back
end’ accounting modules. With
the wide variety of modules available,
there’s little need to export
data to, or import data from, third-party
software packages. However, DacEasy
does offer the ability to export
information to Excel, HTML, delimited
ASCII or text files, or by copying
data directly from the Report Viewer,
then pasting it into other Windows-based
applications. The program also offers
strong integration with the Microsoft
Office suite, with the ability to
produce Word documents that can
be e-mailed or printed, and Excel
documents with visual aids such
as graphs and pie charts.
TRACKING/REPORTING – 4 Stars
DacEasy Point of Sale includes numerous
reports. For daily reporting, a
Register Reconciliation Detail Report
shows each sale with relevant totals
for amount, tax, received and charged.
A Daily Sales Report shows details
of products and services sold, with
total quantity and average price
for each item. Several other management
reports are also available, such
as Sales Analysis Reports by Product,
Customer or Salesperson. The Product
Listing, Product History and Product
Activity Detail reports give detailed
information to help manage inventory
sales and adjustments. DacEasy also
includes a custom reporting feature
called DacAccess that allows very
flexible query-style reporting from
multiple files. An add-on module
integrates Crystal Reports with
data from DacEasy, allowing you
to create, view and print a virtually
unlimited array of customized reports.
RELATIVE VALUE – 5 Stars
This package is practical, economical
(starts at $399 for a single user)
and easy to use. DacEasy Point of
Sale supports standard hardware
peripherals and has the added advantage
of interfacing with a solid GL accounting
program. The company has a long
history of providing software support,
and can even offer on-site consultants
and trainers to help you make the
most of your software investment.
2004 OVERALL RATING: 4.5 Stars
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