Joe, I couldn't agree with your more. Computers are great for managing your business, but do you really want to allow your computer to make your financial decisions for you?
One of the benefits of manually entering your totals into your accounting software is that you are always conscious of the financial trends in your business. William Parker wrote an excellent article in Decor, July 2002 which reinforces why it is so important to keep your finger on the financial pulse of your business. You will tend not do this if your computer sends the data for you. There are some things that are important enough that you should do them yourself. This is one of them.
Use your POS software reports and manually enter the daily sales figures... watch them carefully.
The other reason you should not want all of the invoices copied from your POS is that you will now have two sets of invoices to monitor. If you modify an invoice in your QB, will you immediately go back to your POS and modify it there as well? If you don't, the two will not balance and at the end of the month (or, heaven forbid, year) when you catch the discrepancies it is an overwhelming task to find out where the differences are and which one is correct.
POS and accounting software offer two different and necessary functions for your business. Let your POS software manage your business and keep your sales coming in through your accounts receivable. Let your accounting software tell you how you are doing financially overall and provide you with your bottom line.
Just some thoughts,
Smile with Style
Carol Graham,
SoftTouch Solutions