Choosing POS software for your shop in Pakistan: a 12-point checklist
The questions to ask before you pay for billing software - from Urdu bills to what happens when the internet goes down.
Most POS software looks the same in a five-minute demo: a sale screen, a bill, a stock report. The differences show up three months later - when the internet drops on a busy evening, when you want a second counter, or when the person who installed it stops answering the phone. This checklist is the set of questions we would ask if we were the buyer.
Does it keep billing when the internet is down?
Power and internet cuts are a normal part of running a shop here. Software that stores everything on the counter PC keeps billing through an outage; purely online software stops. If you like the idea of checking sales from home, ask whether it can do both: bill locally and sync when the connection comes back.
Is it made for your trade?
A garments shop needs sizes and colours. A grocery store needs loose items sold by weight. A pharmacy needs batches and expiry dates. An iron and steel dealer needs cheques and party ledgers. General "one size fits all" software can usually be bent to fit, but you pay for that bending every day in extra clicks.
The checklist
- Works offline, with a backup you can see and copy
- Bill layout can carry your shop name, address and Urdu item names
- Barcode scanning and barcode label printing
- Purchase, sale, return and stock adjustment - not just sales
- Customer credit (udhaar) and supplier ledgers
- Separate user logins, so you know who billed what
- Discount and rate-change controls, so staff cannot give away margin
- Daily closing report you can read on WhatsApp
- Adds a second counter or branch without starting again
- If you are a Tier-1 retailer, ask how FBR POS integration is handled
- Training for your staff, in person or by video call
- A named person who answers when something stops working
Ask for a demo with your own items
Give the seller ten of your real products - one sold by weight, one with a size, one with a barcode - and watch them bill it. Ten minutes of that tells you more than any feature list.
Common questions
Should I buy once or pay monthly?
Both work. A one-time licence is cheaper over several years; a monthly plan is lighter at the start. What matters more is what support costs after the first year - ask that in writing.
Can I move my old data into new software?
Usually yes. Item lists, customer balances and supplier balances can be imported from Excel. Old bills are normally kept in the old system for reference.
Do I need a new computer?
Often not. Most counter billing software runs well on an ordinary Core i3 PC with an SSD. The SSD makes more difference than the processor.
Written by iPOS.NET Wazirabad · updated 2026-09-21