Square for Retail for Artists Owned Gallery (not a cooperative)?

[Artgallery]

Hi there: I am a co-owner of a gallery that is owned and operated by 22 artists.  We are considering Square for retail (Have only used Square for our credit card processing).  We are still writing up tickets and doing data entry to import not Quickbooks. Here are a few questions:

One of the big questions is the ability to run a report of sales by category (which would be the artist in this case) and have all of the customer details (address, phone, email etc as entered) included in the exported csv file, not just the last name as it is with the current POS. Having all of the details about the customer (address, phone, email etc) is a bit of a dealbreaker. When we run a report for each artist’s sales at the end of the month, all of that information is needed to be able to import int QB as well as each artists wants to know this information.
2 Run a report of sales (with details) by a singular Artist/category? Or should I set the artists up as vendors?
3 Is the calendar/scheduling module included or is it an add on module for an extra cost?
4 Is there an ability to run an audit trail for error control?

[RHatch]

So currently you are just entering the amount into Square and processing the card correct?

If this is the case I would start out by actually using Square Point of sale.  I think it will do most of what you want.  Here is a link to a comparison of Point of Sale and Retail.

You can run a report by category.  If your category it the artist name then you will be able to easily see all the sales for that artist.

All the customer detail.  There isn't a report that will give you the sale and all the customer detail.  You can look up the customer (as long as you put in the customer info) and see all their sales history.

I don't transfer my info to quickbooks I just enter total sale for the day.  I don't think customer information transfers to quickbooks.

Square appointments is extra with both Point of sale and Retail.

What are you looking for when you say Audit Trail?

[Artgallery]

Audit trail - how to see what was done on everyone’s log in to follow for error control.

The biggest need for us is when we enter customer details for sales, then we need the details attached to the sale when we print out the monthly report for each artists.  For example, artist A sold 10 paintings in January, each over $1000. The artists likes to follow up with each purchaser with a thank you note or personal email.  If the information has been put into square, we want the information to export on the monthly sales report for that artists, not just the last name.  Also, when the data is exported to go into QB, we want this information exported as well to fit into the profile we have been using for the last 11 years.  If we have entered the address, phone, email etc, then we should be able to export it but as far as I can tell, only the name is exported.  

As for the regular point of sale, over half of the members have used Square POS as their own personal POS outside of the gallery.  For the others, there is no need to teach them one system if we are going to switch to another, especially if the retail version will not work for us.  we have been considering Artisan for some time but was hoping Square for retail would fit our needs.

[Helen]

Hello @Artgallery!

The Customer Directory features are pretty similar across Square for Retail and Square Point of Sale. The one difference is that with Retail, if an employee adds a note to a profile you can see which employee added the note and when. With Retail you can set up an unlimited number of employees at no extra cost, and you can see the exact time an employee logs in/logs out by exporting the timecard Activity from the Dashbaord.

Also as @RHatch mentioned, the only customer information included in reports is the customer name. Keep in mind, the customer name/information is not sent to Quickbooks. This is the case if you use Retail or Point of Sale. 

If you need to be able to download your customers' contact information you could add their address to a note during the sale, and then download the Item detail CSV report. That report also includes a column for notes, and one for categories, if you are tracking artists that way. 

I hope this helps. If you have any questions about using Retail vs Point of Sale let me know! 

[avenuegallery]

It would be nice if Square offered a theme or two for art galleries; specifically one with more than one artist. It seems Square is for retail stores with point-of-sale, like bakeries and clothing stores.