When it comes to choosing a POS system, you have a lot of options. But how do you know how much it will cost and how much it will save you?

So, how much should you budget for your point of sale solution? The short answer is it depends. POS machine cost  varies widely depending on your business size, sales volume, and needs.

But to give you a really high-level average, Merchant Maverick states that businesses with a single register can expect to shell out an initial investment of around $1,250, and then pay about $1,000 per year to use the POS.

That’s a fair assessment, but remember that those figures are not the end all be all of POS prices. To really figure out how much you’ll end up paying, you need to consider the following factors.

Sales volume

Many POS providers take a cut out of your sales as part of their fee structure. So in addition to your monthly subscription, your vendor may charge something like 2.5% + 30 cents per transaction. Fees will vary depending on your sales volume, plan, and agreement.

Features

When it comes to selecting a POS system, you’ll have a number of options. The first thing you should do is determine your business size and whether or not you want to use the software in-house or online.

If you’re looking for the basic point of sale features (e.g. sell screen, basic reporting, etc.) then you can probably go for a low-tiered plan. However, if you require more advanced features (e.g. gift cards, advanced reporting, ecommerce, etc.) then you’ll likely have to shell out more funds.

To help you figure out the best solution and plan for your business, make a list of all the features that you need. Determine which capabilities are “nice to have” and “MUST-have” and label them accordingly.