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Orion Technology Point-Of-Sale and Softrak Adagio
Retailers looking for a Point-Of-Sale (POS) system that is fully integrated with an advanced accounting system need look no further than Orion Technology's POS System now fully integrated with Softrak Adagio.
Orion Technology Point-of-Sale has been developed from the ground up using .NET and IP technology, by a developer with 20 years of point-of-sale software development experience. “The depth of knowledge about user interface, hardware integration and processing requirements is apparent from the moment you approach the application” commented Softrak President Andrew Bates. “We had been looking for a point-of-sale solution for our customers for several years, and Orion’s solution stood out for several reasons.”
Orion’s system is based on a Windows PC platform, which allows the use of industry standard components and simplifies deployment issues. The point of sale software can be tightly or loosely coupled with the back office accounting through standard IP-based communication protocols used to communicate over the Internet. Synchronization of data can be done on a scheduled or ad-hoc basis. Since inventory and customer lists are available locally, the POS workstation is undisturbed if communication with the accounting system is temporarily unavailable. Processing and pricing continues normally until the communication lines are re-established, at which point inventory and customer transactions are transmitted when day end processing is completed.
“We feel that touch screen support is important, as it simplifies training and allows guided transactions for complicated sales. Orion completely supports touch screen displays, and its customizable panel makes high-speed data entry and checkout a breeze. Without any previous experience, I could check a client through a transaction with only 10 minutes of training! It’s that kind of attention to user interface that we consider crucial to a successful partnership” continued Andrew.
“We were also looking for a POS solution with several deployment options. Some of our clients have local area networks already installed in their premises. Others were looking for wide area support of multiple locations. Using IP protocols to connect with the accounting system offers the greatest flexibility in deployment. The accounting system can reside on a local area network, or can be contacted remotely using cost effective and common Internet connectivity.”
“We also wanted a POS solution that could be used in a wide variety of retail environments. One of the problems we see is that resellers have trouble differentiating different POS needs. Audio stores have different requirements than convenience stores, who have different requirements than sporting goods retailers who are different from furniture stores. All of these businesses require some form of POS functionality. Orion works well for them all. About the only environment where we wouldn’t recommend Orion would be a restaurant.”
Orion handles multiple transaction types, and multiple user-defined, payment types (credit card, debit card, on account) on a transaction. Sales, Returns, Paid In/Out and Layaways are all directly supported. All manner of retail peripherals can be used, including bar code scanners, credit card readers, cash drawers and pole displays.
Orion’s polling feature allows multi-location retailers to keep stock of inventory at several locations while centralizing their accounting in a single location. Combined with Softrak’s Adagio Inventory unlimited location management, it’s easy for a store to inquire on product availability at other locations, and for head office staff to stay on top of the accounting numbers. Branch transfers, centralized receiving and distribution are easily managed. While many POS solutions become exponentially complex as multiple locations are added, Orion POS and Adagio makes this kind of implementation easy and straightforward.
On Softrak’s Adagio for back office management:
The Partnership between Orion and Softrak provides unusual benefits to clients. Gerry Audell comments; “Integrating with Adagio allows us to concentrate on providing the best POS experience to our clients, knowing that their accounting needs will be met at a reasonable price. We can demonstrate complete financial statement design flexibility, user defined customer statements and checks with fax or e-mail integration without a steep implementation or learning curve. Adagio’s batch orientation makes our interface simple and straightforward, simplifies training and makes cut-offs a breeze.”
Adagio has been designed with a very specific range of customers in mind. Adagio users generally fit the following profile:
Over $1 Million in sales
Full time accounting department
Little or no internal IT support
Report driven
Supported by a POS specialist VAR with 1 to 12 employees
Commenting on this user profile, Andrew explained:
“We have large and small clients running Adagio, but maximum revenue numbers are rarely meaningful. We’ve designed Adagio to handle high transaction volumes, and gross sales are rarely a good indicator of client size. By assuming a full time accounting department, we expect a company to have at least one individual responsible for managing the accounting transactions on a full time basis. They may wear several “hats” throughout the week, or our larger clients may have different people responsible for payables, receivables, purchasing and inventory, with a controller producing the regular financial statements for management.”
“Adagio is designed for companies that want ‘set-and-forget’ accounting software. While our larger clients do have internal IT resources, most of our clients do not want to be worried about external database setup and other technical complexities in their accounting department. However, our clients regularly look to their accounting department to provide management information and reports. Financial statement presentation is important to them, and access to the data in a simple reporting tool makes a difference.”
“We want accounting departments to be able to adopt technology at their own pace. Adagio is completely self-contained, even including its own fax management, e-mail and form designer. For customized reporting, Crystal Reports for Adagio permits unlimited custom report creation, and Adagio GridView provide a simple data analysis tool for senior management that can be deployed without the accounting department having to worry about data security or disruptions to the accounting flow.”
Adagio is a mature suite of 19 modules, spanning the accounting functions from general ledger, accounts receivables and accounts payable to inventory, sales analysis and reporting. The general ledger includes an award winning financial statement designer, 6 character account and 6 character department organization, budgets and 12 or 13 fiscal period support. Adagio Payables also supports unlimited control accounts, multiple bank accounts, MICR printing on user defined check forms and cash requirement reporting.
Adagio Receivables uses a 6 character customer code. It automatically calculates early payment discounts, permits unlimited control account sets and can print, fax or e-mail customer designed statements using user-defined aging periods. Cash receipts are automatically paired with invoices so it is easy to determine which payments were applied to which invoices. Adagio Receivables also handles balance forward accounts. Changes to customer records are automatically downloaded by Orion into its customer file and address changes recorded at the POS station are automatically updated in the accounting customer record.
Adagio Inventory allows a company to design their part numbering scheme to meet their requirements. It allows a 16 character item number, in up to four user defined segments. Most reports can be generated by segment, as well as by item number. Item records also contain a category for allocating revenue and a control account set for allocating costs into the general ledger. Inventory supports 5 costing methods – moving average, LIFO, FIFO, Standard, and User defined. This allows accurate costing and profitability analysis on product sales.
On Playing to each other’s strengths:
Orion has over 20 years of POS design experience and Softrak has been providing small business accounting software for over 25 years. Armed with this extensive knowledge of their client base, Orion can provide an exceptional POS terminal solution coupled with Adagio’s stable and feature rich back office accounting platform. Together this unique partnership provides a feature rich solution which addresses the needs of any retail environment.
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