In short. An EPOS system is a till that records what was sold, how it was paid and what is left on the shelf. You pay for the software, the equipment and a fee on every card payment.
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A cash register adds up a sale and holds the money. An EPOS system also knows what was sold. It takes the item off the stock count, files the sale with how it was paid, and adds it to the day’s takings.
HMRC’s own guidance notes that EPOS systems were developed primarily to aid stock control
(VAT Retail Schemes manual, VRS11100).
What an EPOS system does
- Rings up a sale: you find the item by name or scan its barcode, then take the payment.
- Keeps the stock count. Each sale comes off it and each delivery goes on.
- Records how each sale was paid, so the drawer can be checked against the till at closing.
- Records refunds against the sale they belong to.
- Reports on takings, refunds and best sellers.
- In most modern systems, shares its products and stock with an online shop.
EPOS or POS?
POS, point of sale, is the moment and the place a customer pays. A POS system is whatever takes that payment, from a card machine to a full till. EPOS is the electronic system that records the sale, along with the stock and takings behind it. In the UK the two words are used for the same thing, and most POS systems
sold today are EPOS systems.
What an EPOS system is made of
- The software: the till screen, and a back office for products, stock and reports. Most now run online, on a monthly plan.
- Something to run it on: a tablet, a computer or a countertop till.
- A barcode scanner, if your products carry barcodes.
- A card machine, either one that works with the software or a separate one whose payments you record at the till.
- If you want them, a cash drawer and a receipt printer.
What EPOS costs
The bill has three parts. The software is monthly: some systems have a free plan and earn from card fees, and the paid plans in our comparison of eight EPOS systems ran from £19 a month (Shopify’s Basic plan, billed yearly) to £229 (Lightspeed Retail’s top plan, billed monthly), per shop or location. The equipment is mostly bought once: Square’s card reader is £19, its Terminal £149 and its Register £699, each plus VAT. Card fees are charged on every card payment.
| Provider | In person | Online |
|---|---|---|
| Epos Now | 1.70% (Visa and Mastercard) | 1.4% + 15p (Epos Now Online, domestic cards) |
| PayPal POS (Zettle) | 1.75% | 2.5% by invoice or payment link (links paused for new sellers) |
| Shopify Payments, Basic plan | 1.7% | 2% + 25p |
| Square | 1.75% | 1.4% + 25p |
| SumUp, pay as you go | 1.69% | 2.5% |
On £4,000 a month of card sales at the counter, 1.75% is £70 a month, or £840 a year, so ask about card fees as well as the monthly price.
Equipment can come with a fixed term. Epos Now’s discounted hardware bundle, for example, requires a 12-month payments, care and support subscription starting at £54 per month
. Ask for the total over a year before you compare.
The advantages of EPOS, and the drawbacks
The advantages are practical:
- You know what is on the shelf without counting it, and can see when an item runs low.
- Cashing up means checking the drawer against a figure the till has already worked out, split by how each sale was paid.
- Every sale, refund and price change is recorded, so you can see what happened and when.
- If you also sell online, the till and the website can sell from one stock count, so the last item is not sold twice.
The drawbacks are worth knowing too:
- A monthly fee, and a fee on every card sale.
- Online systems need an internet connection to keep the stock and the takings up to date. Some keep selling for a while without one and catch up later; others stop. Check what happens when yours drops.
- Moving your products in takes time, so check the system can import a spreadsheet.
- Equipment supplied on a 12-month term ties you to that supplier for the year.
Does a small shop need one?
If you sell from stock and want to know what you have without counting it, yes. It matters most when you also sell online, because the same item can be sold twice unless the till and the website keep one count.
A shop with few products, or one that sells services rather than stock, can manage with a card machine and a spreadsheet for longer.
How to choose one
- Price it over a year: software, equipment and card fees together.
- Check it does what your shop does: second-hand buying, batches and dates, repairs, an online shop.
- Check whether you can leave, and take your records with you.
- Try it with your own products before you move.
Our list of the best EPOS systems for UK shops compares eight, with prices from their own pages.
Where Talstok fits
Talstok, which we make, is one EPOS option. Its till runs in a web browser and sells from the same stock count as the shop’s website. It takes cash, records payments taken on your own card machine, by bank transfer or by cheque, emails receipts, and shows the day’s takings by how they were paid. It does not connect to card readers, print receipts or work offline. A bundle, or a product that needs a batch number, sells online but not at the till. See the till.
How we checked. Written by the team that makes Talstok, retail software for UK shops. Prices and card rates were read from each company’s own UK page on 5 October 2026.