Not so long ago many pubs would rely on a mechanical till or basic Point of Sale (POS) system that involved an upfront payment and then nothing more.

Now it’s becoming more common to purchase an Electronic Point of Sale (EPOS) via a monthly or annual license fee. So why the change, and what do you get for this ongoing cost?

What’s changed?

The rate of change of technology is faster now than ever before.

Older pub EPOS systems and tills performed the basic functions of keying in orders and taking payments. The latest bar EPOS systems can email you on your business performance, monitor your staff hours, and post to your accounts.

The potential features are so far-reaching and rapidly expanding that EPOS companies need a team of developers constantly working to enhance their offering. Without this, their systems would soon become obsolete.

This constant development & improvement needs to be paid for and that is where license fees come in.

Ongoing fees should also cover the support your business will need. Providing support, particularly for pubs & bars that trade late into the night, has a cost. And with pub EPOS systems now responsible for so many elements of your business it's important to be able to get help when you need it.

So how do some companies not charge license fees?

There are still systems available for which you pay for the software up front (though there is still likely to be an annual maintenance fee to cover support). This is still effectively a license fee, you are just paying it in one go, meaning you own the software.

The advantage of this is you are free to use the software for as long as you like with no further cost to pay. The disadvantage is you are unlikely to get any significant upgrades or enhancements, at least not for free.

Inevitably as technology moves on, the software will become out of date & no longer take advantage of the latest technology, or meet the evolving needs of your business. At this point, you will need to upgrade the system and purchase new software and most likely new hardware to run it. It is important to factor in these upgrade costs, as well as any ongoing maintenance when comparing ongoing license fee vs. upfront EPOS options.

The below chart shows the cost over time of a typical cloud EPOS (using BarTab figures) vs. an upfront purchase system with a fairly typical maintenance fee and an upgrade every 5 years. The exact figures will vary, but the chart demonstrates how both types of system incur an ongoing investment.

With our Hospitality EPOS your license fee includes all software updates and enhancements as well as industry-leading support. To learn more, contact one of our team.