Ten questions to ask before choosing a dispensary POS
A buyer's checklist is useful only if it makes vendors show the same workflow. This guide is published by DubLedger, a beta POS vendor. We have an interest in your decision, so test our answers as hard as everyone else's. Bring the person who closes the register, the person responsible for traceability and the person who pays the bills. Record what each vendor demonstrates rather than relying on a slide deck. Public vendor pages mentioned below were reviewed September 28, 2026; check current terms before deciding.
Use a consistent rating beside every question: demonstrated with your data; shown in a sandbox; promised but not delivered; unavailable; or unknown. Write the test date and the name of the person who ran it. Ask the vendor to disclose whether the environment is a simulation, a sandbox or production. Keep screenshots without exposing real customer information. A quick demonstration with invented products can reveal the screen layout, but not prove that your license, regulator credentials, processor or local taxes are ready.
1. Can a new cashier complete a real sale?
Ask the vendor to demo a sale on the same tablet and scanner your staff would use. Include a discount, tax, printed receipt, return and a cashier change. Measure the steps, then have one of your own budtenders repeat the task. A polished marketing screenshot cannot tell you whether a product with several package tags can be selected correctly at your counter. Ask for a test environment and a written list of unsupported steps.
2. How are ID and purchase limits checked?
Set up a sample adult-use and, if applicable, medical customer. Test an expired ID, a missing birth date, an over-limit basket and a manager override. Confirm which ID fields are entered by staff and whether any scanner truly reads and validates documents. A configurable limit is not proof that the vendor maintains current state law for you. Ask who updates thresholds, how changes are approved and what the receipt records. Verify requirements with the regulator.
3. What happens when internet or traceability fails?
Ask the vendor to disconnect a test register. Can staff read inventory, add a sale or close checkout? When connectivity returns, where do you see errors and duplicates? Ask a separate question about the state traceability API being unavailable while the internet remains up. DubLedger requires an internet connection today; offline mode is planned. METRC failures can be stored and surfaced, but automatic retry and outage sales should not be assumed. Document your manual fallback and reconciliation owner before go-live.
4. Which state integration actually sends data?
Request a state-specific demonstration with your authorized credentials and a response from the provider rather than a green “connected” indicator. Check a package import, a completed sale, its external receipt and a deliberate failure. Metrc explains the distinction between a POS and state traceability in its API guide. A generic integration endpoint or a sandbox demo does not prove licensed production access. DubLedger has METRC package-sync and manager-initiated sales-reporting paths in beta. BioTrack and Leaf Data are planned; no live provider connection is represented here.
5. Which payment methods settle money?
Separate a tender recorded in a sales ledger from a payment that a processor actually authorizes and settles. Ask for the processor agreement, terminal ownership, refund procedure, chargeback handling and all transaction fees. Test a partial payment and a declined transaction. DubLedger supports cash and recording a payment taken on an external card terminal today. Live integrated debit and ACH, including CanPay and Aeropay, are planned pending processor go-live. Stripe subscription billing is for DubLedger software, not retail checkout.
6. How do inventory balances reconcile?
Pick five active packages, including one low-stock product and one recent return. Compare physical count, POS quantity and state-system quantity before and after a test sale. Ask who can adjust stock, whether reasons are recorded, how transfers are handled and what happens if two registers sell the last unit. Do not accept “real time” as a substitute for showing a concurrency test. Agree on who fixes discrepancies, what evidence must be retained and how long they can remain unresolved.
7. Can we get our data out?
Ask for sample exports of products, customers, loyalty balances, sales, returns, taxes, packages and employee actions. Confirm file types, field dictionary, timestamps, IDs and whether historical receipts remain readable after cancellation. Do not move customer data without reviewing consent and retention rules. Request an export while still in the trial, not after you have switched. Plan a read-only archive if essential records cannot be imported into the new system.
8. What will staff and owners actually see?
Have a manager close a shift and review taxes, cash expected, failed state reports and a refund. Ask an owner to compare two locations and export a date range. Have a dispatcher assign a driver and inspect the delivery record if you offer delivery. Score each workflow as demonstrated, requires configuration, planned or unavailable. A feature list often describes components independently; your operation needs the whole sequence to work with its real permissions.
9. What equipment and support are required?
List every tablet, stand, scanner, receipt printer, drawer, router and payment terminal by model. Ask which are certified, replaceable and supported, and whether a vendor-installed device can be retained if you leave. Document internet redundancy and where staff report an outage. Request the support channels, staffed hours and any contractual remedy in writing. Never infer a response-time guarantee from a founder introduction or a sales conversation.
10. What is the complete first-year commitment?
Request a signed quote stating location and register allowance, the number of paid months, onboarding, hardware, processing, ecommerce, loyalty, integration, export and cancellation charges. Confirm whether the advertised rate requires a particular processor or annual commitment. Get month thirteen as well as month one. For context, Cova publishes Boutique at $349 monthly with Cova Pay or $389 without for up to two workstations on its US pricing page, reviewed September 28, 2026. Flowhub and Dutchie did not publish comparable monthly numbers in that review; request written quotes instead of guessing.
Blank quote worksheet for two registers
Make a copy of these lines for each vendor; leave unknown values blank rather than putting zero. Store and license: ______. Two registers included: yes / no / unknown. Software per month: ______ × number of paid months ______ = ______. Extra location or workstation charge: ______. Setup and import: ______. Tablets, scanners, printers and cash drawers: ______. External terminals and network equipment: ______. Processor fees at your expected volume: ______ per month × ______ = ______. Ecommerce, loyalty and reporting add-ons: ______. Staff training and dual-running payroll: ______. Taxes and shipping: ______. First twelve-month total: ______. Month thirteen rate: ______. Contract end and export terms: ______. Mark every number as published, signed quote or your own estimate, and identify which person confirmed it.
DubLedger's published beta offer is $99 per location per month, up to 3 registers, a 30-day free trial, no setup fee, month-to-month and a 12-month price lock for beta operators. Processing and hardware are not included: bring your own iPad or tablet, scanner, printer and cash drawer. Do not treat this as a promise of a working state connection or integrated payment processing. Use the same quote worksheet for us. Compare software costs only after your team has tested checkout, internet failover procedures and traceability reporting.
For vendor evidence, consult Cova's US pricing card, Flowhub's pricing page and Dutchie's POS page. For integration scope, read Metrc's explanation of POS/ERP integration. These public links were reviewed September 28, 2026 and are not contracts. Ask the provider to attach written limits, fees and exclusions to its quote. Then compare the tested workflow and the signed terms, not a checklist score alone.
Set a cutover gate in advance: verified closing report, physical-stock count, matching external traceability receipt where required, trained register leads and a rollback owner. Keep your current reporting workflow until those gates are met. That makes the evaluation an operational decision, not a beauty contest. If the vendor cannot show a required step, write “not demonstrated” in your worksheet and ask how the staff will complete it without risking a sale or a state reporting gap.
See the twelve-month cost example