Your Aurora will-call counter rings up on Square, then someone walks to the floor to see if the part actually exists
Custom POS makes sense in Aurora when the counter isn't retail, it's a distribution will-call or contractor counter that needs live plant stock, account billing, and B2B pricing. Expect $45,000 to $110,000 and 3 to 6 months. For a straightforward retail or restaurant counter, Square, Toast, or Clover is the right and cheaper tool.
Square, Toast, and Clover are superb at retail and restaurants: a fixed menu, a card tap, a receipt. An Aurora distribution or manufacturing counter is a different animal. A contractor walks up to will-call, needs to order against live warehouse and plant stock, expects his account's contract pricing, wants it billed to terms not swiped, and may need a partial pick because half the order is still on a machine. None of that is a Square transaction.
So the counter runs on Square for the card and a person walking to the floor to check if the part exists, with pricing looked up in a binder and the order re-keyed into the ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) later. The POS handles the payment and ignores everything that makes a B2B counter hard.
- Your counter needs live plant or warehouse stock to ring up an order
- Account pricing and terms billing don't fit a retail POS
- Counter orders are re-keyed into the ERP after the fact
- It's a retail or restaurant counter with a fixed catalog
- Card payment and a receipt are the whole job
- No account pricing, terms billing, or live stock is required
- Live warehouse and plant stock at the counter, so no one walks the floor to check
- Contract and account pricing applied automatically, not looked up in a binder
- Account-terms billing alongside card payment for B2B customers
- Orders written straight into the ERP with no re-keying
- Partial picks handled when part of an order is still on a machine
- Payment processing and PCI are cheaper to ride on a provider than to build
- Retail-grade hardware and ecosystem come free with Square; custom means sourcing your own
- For a simple retail or cafe counter, custom POS is pure overkill
- You own uptime; a counter that can't ring up a sale is a worse failure than a slow one
POS pricing in Aurora: the real numbers
| Project scope | Typical cost | Timeline |
|---|---|---|
| B2B counter POS core | $45k to $70k | 3 to 4 months |
| POS + ERP/inventory integration | $75k to $110k | 4 to 6 months |
| Multi-counter platform | $120k+ | 6 to 9 months |
The features that matter for Aurora
What we build under POS in Aurora
Digital Heroes builds the full POS stack for Aurora teams. Typical engagements cover custom POS system, point of sale software, retail POS, restaurant POS, Square alternative and Toast alternative.
Exactly what you get
A point of sale built for a B2B counter, not a register: live warehouse and plant stock on screen, automatic contract pricing, account-terms billing alongside card payment, and order write-through straight into your ERP so nothing gets re-keyed. Payment processing rides a provider for PCI, while the integration to your ERP software and inventory management software makes the counter, the floor, and the books agree in real time.
How to choose a developer in Aurora
Hire a team that has built B2B or will-call POS, not just retail registers, and make them demo ringing up an order against live stock with account pricing. Ask how the order writes through to your ERP without re-keying. The best POS work integrates tightly with your ERP software, inventory management software, and accounting software so a counter sale lands everywhere it needs to without a human carrying it.
From kickoff to launch: the schedule
- !They demo a retail flow; ask how the counter sees live plant stock
- !No ERP write-through; ask how an order avoids being re-keyed
- !They ignore account pricing; ask how a contract customer is priced
- !They want to build payments; ask why PCI can't ride a provider
If pos is on the roadmap, supply chain, business intelligence dashboards, booking & scheduling usually follow within the year. Budget them as one conversation.
Rohan advises mid-market and enterprise teams on ERP, CRM and custom software, and has led delivery on dozens of business-software builds.
Writes for Digital Heroes, shipping business software for 2,000+ brands across 55+ countries since 2017.
Frequently asked questions
Why doesn't Square work for our will-call counter?
Square is built for retail and restaurants. A distribution counter needs live plant and warehouse stock, contract pricing, and account-terms billing, none of which are native Square flows, so staff end up walking the floor and re-keying orders.
Can the POS show live stock from the floor?
Yes. A custom POS reads warehouse and shop-floor stock so counter staff see what's actually available, including partial picks when part of an order is still on a machine.
Do we still use a payment processor?
Yes. The card-payment piece rides a PCI-compliant provider while the custom POS handles the B2B logic, stock, pricing, terms billing, and ERP write-through.
What does a custom POS cost in Aurora?
A B2B counter POS core runs $45,000 to $70,000. Adding ERP and inventory integration runs $75,000 to $110,000.
How long does it take?
Three to four months for the counter core, four to six with full ERP and inventory integration.