PHP Point Of Sale is a browser-based retail point of sale, developed since 2010 and used in 2,500+ stores. It is fully hosted for you, priced per location with unlimited registers and employees.

PHP Point Of Sale is a retail point of sale system for independent stores and multi-location chains. It has been in continuous development since 2010 and has been used in more than 2,500 stores — everything from a single counter to chains that run every location from one account.

The whole system runs in your web browser, so it works on any device that can open a web page: a register PC, a Mac, a tablet, or a phone. There is also a mobile app for iOS and Android that connects to the same cloud store, can scan barcodes with the device camera, and supports selling with the Square card integration. If your internet connection drops, an optional offline mode keeps the register selling — see selling offline.

Hosted for you

PHP Point Of Sale is fully hosted: you sign up, get your own store URL in the style of yourstore.phppointofsale.com, and everything else — servers, updates, backups — is handled as part of the service. There is nothing to install or maintain:

• Updates are applied to your store automatically; the What's New page lists what each release changed. See updates and new versions.
• Backups run as part of the service, and you can export your own data at any time. See backups and your data.
• Your subscription is managed from inside the app; see billing and your subscription.

Every plan includes unlimited registers and unlimited employees; pricing is per location. See pricing for current plans.

What the modules cover

Everything in the app lives in the left menu as a module. A standard store includes:

• Sales — the register: ring up sales, returns, exchanges, layaways, and estimates.
• Items — your inventory: products and services, with categories, variations, barcodes, and stock levels per location.
• Item Kits — bundles of items sold together.
• Customers — customer profiles, loyalty, store accounts, and recurring subscriptions.
• Suppliers — the vendors you buy from, used by receivings and purchase orders.
• Employees — logins, permissions, commissions, and per-person settings.
• Receivings — receiving stock into inventory and creating purchase orders.
• Reports — sales, inventory, employee, and closeout reporting.
• Gift Cards — selling and redeeming gift cards.
• Expenses — recording business expenses by category.
• Work Orders — repair and service jobs with statuses and technician assignment.
• Deliveries — delivery and in-store pickup orders with statuses.
• Appointments — a booking calendar that links customers and employees.
• Invoices — invoices for customers and for suppliers.
• Price Rules — automatic promotions and discounts.
• Locations — your stores, each with its own address, taxes, stock, and registers.
• Messages — internal messages between employees, plus email and SMS to customers.
• Store Config — every store-wide setting, organized in sections on one page.

Two more modules depend on your plan: Label Designs (a drag-and-drop label designer — see the label designer) and POS Genie, an AI assistant that answers questions about your store's own data — see Genie.

An admin can rename modules or turn off the ones the store doesn't use in Store Config → Disable Modules and Store Config → Rename Left Menu, and permissions can hide modules per employee — so your menu may look a little leaner than this list. Customizing the menu and modules explains how.

Built for one store or many

Every account starts with one location and can add more at any time. Each location keeps its own address, tax setup, payment processor, hardware, stock quantities, and prices, and registers belong to a location — see locations and registers. Employees are assigned to the locations they may work in and switch between them with the location switcher in the top bar; stock moves between locations with transfers.

Selling beyond the counter

If you sell online, PHP Point Of Sale keeps your store and your website in sync with WooCommerce and Shopify, so stock sold in-store and online stays accurate in both places. How ecommerce sync works explains the details. Beyond ecommerce, the app integrates with QuickBooks Online for accounting (QuickBooks and accounting), Mailchimp and Twilio for marketing and messaging, and exposes a full REST API with webhooks for anything custom.

Payments and hardware

Card payments run through your choice of processor — including PHP POS Payments, the built-in option — with EMV terminals at the counter; see choosing a payment processor. Receipt printers, cash drawers, barcode scanners, scales, and customer displays are all supported; start with receipt printers, cash drawers and PrintNode.

In your language

The interface is available in 17 languages — English, Spanish, French, Italian, German, Dutch, Portuguese, Indonesian, Arabic, Khmer, Vietnamese, Chinese (Simplified and Traditional), Tamil, Sinhala, Korean, and Danish. Language is chosen per employee, so a bilingual team can each work in their own. Each employee can also turn on dark mode for themselves. See finding your way around.

How these docs are organized

The documentation follows the way you'll use the app:

• Getting started — this section: your trial, first-day setup, and importing your data.
• Making sales — the register: sales, returns, discounts, layaways, and receipts.
• Items & inventory and Suppliers & purchasing — items, barcodes, labels, counts, suppliers, and receiving stock.
• Customers & loyalty and Work orders, deliveries & invoices — profiles, loyalty, gift cards, work orders, deliveries, appointments, and invoices.
• Employees & permissions — accounts, permissions, commissions, and the time clock.
• Payments & hardware — processors, card payments, and hardware such as printers and cash drawers.
• Ecommerce & integrations, Reports & insights, Store settings, and Your account — integrations, reporting, store configuration, and billing.

Where to go first

Start with starting your free trial, then let your first day: store setup walk you through turning a fresh store into one that's ready to sell.

Common questions

Do I need to install anything? No. The whole system runs in the browser on your existing devices. The optional iOS/Android mobile app is the only thing you can install, and even that connects to the same cloud store.

Does it work on an iPad or Android tablet? Yes. Any device with a modern browser works, and the register screen is usable on tablets. Phones work too, though the dashboard hides its statistics tiles on small phone screens.

How many registers and employees can I have? Unlimited. Plans are priced per location only — adding registers or employee logins never changes your bill.

Can I keep selling if the internet goes down? Yes, if you turn on offline mode ahead of time: the browser caches the sales screen, items, and customers, and queued sales sync when the connection returns. See selling offline.

Does it take credit and debit cards? Yes — through PHP POS Payments or one of the other supported processors, with EMV terminals configured per location. See setting up credit card processing.

Can it run my online store too? It syncs inventory and orders with WooCommerce and Shopify, so your website and your counter share one stock count. See how ecommerce sync works.

Is my data backed up? Yes — backups are part of the hosted service, and you can export your own copies whenever you want. See backups and your data.