Point of Sale Licensing

How Do I?

When you purchased Point of Sale, you purchased one or more user licenses. One user license allows one computer to access the Point of Sale company file at a time. Multiple user licenses allow multiple networked computers to access the company file at the same time.

One License, Multiple Workstations

You can install Point of Sale on more than one networked computer with a single user license. However, only one of those computers will be able to use Point of Sale at any one time. Likewise, if you purchase two user licenses, you can install Point of Sale on more than two computers, but only two computers can work in the company file at one time, and so on.

Example: How many licenses do I need to use Point of Sale on three workstations?

Answer: It depends on how you want to use the workstations.

- To use all three workstations at the same time requires three user licenses, one for each workstation.

- To use only one or two workstations at the same time, requires either one or two user licenses, respectively. You need as many user licenses as you have workstations simultaneously running Point of Sale.

- The Server Workstation acts as the license manager, checking in and out available user licenses to all networked workstations. The Server Workstation must always be turned on, but not necessarily running Point of Sale, for other workstations to access a license and your Point of Sale data.

Note: All installations on a network must be the same version and level (Free, Basic, or Pro) of Point of Sale.

Network Licensing Flexibility

This licensing structure provides a great deal of flexibility. You may have different computers in your store that you use for different tasks, but not necessarily at the same time.

For example, you want to use a point-of-sale workstation in the front of the store during business hours, but want to use a networked back-office workstation in the evenings to create purchase orders and exchange data with your QuickBooks Desktop financial software. In this example, only a single copy (with one user license) of Point of Sale is required. It would be installed on the back-office computer as the Server Workstation and the front computer as a Client Workstation, using the same license number. Either workstation can access Point of Sale, but only one at any given time.

This licensing structure allows you to:

- Use multiple workstations for sale lanes or specialized roles (purchasing, receiving, etc.)

- Use a single user license that is accessible via multiple workstations, but only one at a time, or

- Use multiple workstations at the same time provided multiple user licenses have been purchased

Server Workstation Manages User Licenses

When you install your Server Workstation, you are required to register that software license with Intuit. This license becomes the "master" license for the store and reflects the number of user licenses you have purchased.

If you install Client Workstations using the same license number, any of the workstations can run Point of Sale, but simultaneous access is limited to the number of user licenses you have purchased.

The Server Workstation functions as the licensing "manager" and must be running (though Point of Sale does not have to be open) for Client Workstations to access the company data. When any starts Point of Sale, it connects to the company file on the Server Workstation, an available user license is allocated to it until it exits Point of Sale, at which time that user license becomes available to another workstation.

As your business grows and you need more workstations using Point of Sale at the same time, you can purchase additional user licenses, up to a total of ten per store: one Server Workstation and nine Client Workstations. No matter how many user licenses you purchase, they all share one "master license" (the license registered from the Server Workstation).

Merge License Numbers

If you purchase and install additional copies of Point of Sale with different license numbers, you must merge them with the Server Workstations license. After merging, the new workstation shares the same license as the Server Workstation and its original license number is deactivated.

The Server Workstation, in turn, is prompted to synchronize its license info with Intuits licensing servers to reflect the fact that an additional user license has been added. The new user license is not available for use until synchronization is completed.