Cash Register Express

Review of Cash Register Express Software: system overview, features, price and cost information. Get free demos and compare to similar programs.

Overview

About Cash Register Express

Cash Register Express (CRE) by pcAmerica is an adept point of sale (POS) solution tailored to meet the needs of diverse retail stores and small businesses, including niches such as liquor stores, convenience stores, grocery stores, and various specialty retailers. Unique in its design and functionality, Cash Register Express leverages a comprehensive array of features that synergistically improves the profitability of businesses. These features encompass inventory management, customer loyalty programs, time cards, editable permission levels, advanced reporting capabilities, and credit card processing integration. At the crux of its offering, Cash Register Express intensely focuses on enhancing the retail experience through rapid customer checkout, robust strategies to reduce or eliminate shrinkage, precise management of employee labor, and targeted marketing initiatives based on customer purchasing trends. Notably, the software aids brick-and-mortar entities in crafting a meticulous and effective approach to managing their operations. Much more than a mere payment facilitation tool, CRE allows businesses to foster deeper connections with their customers and, importantly, to steer...

Cash Register Express Screenshots

Cash Register Express Features

Features of Cash Register Express
Accounting Integration
Barcode/Ticket Scanning
Customer Accounts
Discount Management
eCommerce Management
Electronic Payments
Electronic Signature
Gift Card Management
Inventory Management
Multi-Location

Customer Reviews

See why people love Cash Register Express

5 Star
30%
4 Star
10%
3 Star
20%
2 Star
10%
1 Star
30%

Milan C.

Verified User

Food & Beverages · 2-10 employees

Used daily for more than 2 years
Dec 22, 2025

Heartland CRE point of sale.

Overall positive. You will need a tech support plan unless you’re a sql pro. Even then you still need tech support to reset license keys and other stuff that only they can do.

What they liked
  • Very versatile and feature packed
  • Integrates with Websell e-commerce
  • Locally hosted database
  • No cloud nonsense
  • No monthly recurring fees other than tech support
Room for improvement
  • Lacks modern user interface
  • Outdated feel, but works well
  • Lack of updates with feature requests
  • Even paid custom development requests are not accommodated
Why they chose it

"No recurring fees. We own the license keys and the database is locally hosted on our own server."

Kyle M.

Verified User

Retail · 11-50 employees

Used daily for more than 2 years
Dec 22, 2025

Cash Register Express from a 20 Year Reseller

We've been selling this software (and many others) to cater to our retail clients and it is by far my favorite. If you have a retail business, and you don't want to ever question the capabilities of your POS software while also having the peace of mind that you're not over paying, pcAmerica's Cash Register Express (CRE) is everything you need. We offer a free buyers guide that will compare this software against many others, feel free to visit our website at any time so we can give you a tour!

What they liked
  • -Easy to Use -Feature for Everything -Best Value (Other companies charge more for same features) -Supports Multiple Stores -Supports MANY Payment Processors -Supports Excel Import -Supports Hardware from all Industries (Under the counter scanner scales (as seen in grocery stores), Coin Dispensers, Caller ID, etc
  • )
Room for improvement
  • -Not Supported on Android / iOS / Mac OS -Requires Intermediate windows knowledge for setup
  • -Does not have the best cloud integration

Michael H.

Verified User

Retail · 2-10 employees

Used other for less than 12 months
Dec 22, 2025

Complete wast of time & money.

I am the manager of Marshalls Creek Plumbing Supplies in Pa and we 1st purchased Cash Register Express from a PC America sales back in 2012. With this purchase were spec that inventory would be able to support scanners. Pc America sold use a Honeywell scanner and then after several months they (PC America) could not get it to work with their program. Several other problem came up and then we got a lawyer only to find out the salesman was and (ISO agent) not and employee of PC America. PC America told us that we were not the original owner as the product was sold trough a contractor (ISO agent). We abandoned the product & mothballed the equipment. It gets better! FASTFORWARD TO 2016 A Heartland salesman came for our credit processing business and through the conversation he told us that they now own PC America. After going over some of the above he said that if we want to get it up and running he would make it happen. Well we figured that we have the stuff we might as well try it. So we got it running and have a large part of the inventory installed ( no scanner though) and the owner went on vacation for a few months. I got the notice that the yearly service/tech support payment was due, we were not using the system for sales. I contacted the owner and he said that as long as we can keep installing the inventory keep going and he will make the payment when he gets back. We got the 2nd notice that payment was due and (guess what) the system will not boot up now. No error code it just will not start. I called PC America and they said it was just a coincidence (it happens he said) we don’t turn off your system because of nonpayment for support. However if you pay us the fee you will be up and running today. I contacted a IT guy we use and he said that he knows that PC America uses a time bomb in their program and if no contact with home base by a set date it shuts down. So much for ownership. Don’t deal with this company!

What they liked
  • It seem to be easy to load in our inventory through Excel
  • The stations communicate with the main station very well
Room for improvement
  • No support, repeat no support
  • We were just loading in our inventory no sales yet
  • Support payment came due while owner on vacation & upon the email for the 2nd notice they system will not boot up
  • No error code it just will not start
  • PC America told us to By the support & we will be back up today
  • We purchase the software complete but they can still shut it down to blackmail you into paying more money

Melissa J.

Verified User

Retail · 11-50 employees

Used daily for less than 2 years
Dec 22, 2025

Perfect for Liquor Stores

Retail

What they liked
  • Cash register express has over 75 different reports that are available to view or print
  • This software is compatible with a large variety of credit card processors and equipment options to ensure compliant and secure processing
  • Great added feature such as card swipes for employee login, handheld scanner for efficient inventory management, scheduling features for your staff and plenty other funtions that will help reduce labor hours spent on payroll, consolidation and employee hours
Room for improvement
  • Cash register express has amazing functionality, but that can come at a high price
  • This is a PC based software solution, so depending on the size of your business or the number of pos stations needed, the initial cost may be significant
  • Some features such as 24/7 customer support and customized reports come at an extra charge as well
  • Since this software is so detailed, some functions such as inventory can become cumbersome and involve significant time to setup

Deborah S.

Verified User

Retail · 2-10 employees

Used daily for less than 2 years
Dec 22, 2025

Program and billing

I have learned to work with the little hiccups that I have come across using the program.

What they liked
  • It is very easy to set up a customer in the system
  • It is also very easy to find them
  • I also like that when I pull up a customer I can see what they owe us with out having to search
Room for improvement
  • I do no like the fact that when I apply a payment to a customers account, I am unable to print a second receipt
  • This has caused some problems
  • Would love to be able to cancel the payment, which you can't do
  • You must refund it, which can cause problems with the accounting end

Peter N.

Verified User

Supermarkets · 2-10 employees

Used unspecified for more than 2 years
May 28, 2026

Upgrades and

After conducting a lot of research, we decided to go with PC America Cash Register Express (CRE) when we opened our small grocery store in 2013. Set-up was easy the tech-support folks from POS Nation. We ran with a server, 2 touch screens, card swipe and pin pads, one scale, thermal printers, USB and Bluetooth scanners, and a customer display pole. Everything was fine for the first 2 years until we started getting software upgrades. We were advised to upgrade our pin-pad to the new standards. Waited until the end of the tourist season to upgrade, and then things went to hell in a hand-basket. Credit cards would not work... EBT cards failed... and our Loyalty Program has been dead for nearly 6 months with no fix in sight. I'm not sure what happened with PCA after they were acquired by Heartland, but it has been one disaster after another. Our Purchase Order screen was jacked-up for months on end. Eaches and Cases did not compute correctly. They supposedly fixed that with the last upgrade, but now our margins are screwed-up. I have no way of accurately knowing what our margin is now because our "cost averaging" is incorrect. Of course, this affects profit reports, tax reports, and the list goes on and on. This is typical PC software. It functions with many bugs and is NOT very intuitive. There is no rhyme or reason to the menus, and burrowing down just leads to dead-ends.

What they liked

The software is stable in the sense that it has only crashed 2 - 3 times over the course of 4 years

Room for improvement
  • See above
  • Menus are NOT user-friendly
  • Upgrades are obviously NOT tested
  • Incompatible with many peripherals, and they try to force you into their hardware, which in turn forces you to their payment processor
  • Tech support is lacking since I purchased from a hardware provider, and PCA forces me to go through the middle-man

John C.

Verified User

Supermarkets · 11-50 employees

Used other for less than 2 years
May 28, 2026

Worst POS on the Market

If you decide to purchase this software, you are in for long hours on hold with customer support and so many issues that you will wish you had never heard of PCAmerica.

What they liked
  • GUI is nice and seems easy to use
  • Large buttons make it easy for employees to see and navigate the software
Room for improvement
  • Where to start
  • Quickbooks integration is a joke
  • You have to be in itemized transactions for the POS to adjust inventory
  • That means that EVERY single sale is entered into QB individually instead of entered as one line item for the day and inventory adjusted in bulk
  • I know they could do it because the end of day report has the inventory grouped together
  • If you use the handheld device for purchase orders, you will have to run the QB export multiple times in order to make the PO go over to QB
  • We use the vendor payout function, but when it pushes to QB, it enters the paid out as a check and not cash that was selected at the time of the payout
  • These are but a few, trust me, there are TONS more issues with the software
  • Support doesn't seem to know how the software works and tells you that that is how it works and there is nothing they can do about it

John D.

Verified User

Retail · 2-10 employees

Used daily for less than 2 years
May 28, 2026

PC America - Great for 1 location and if you're on a budget

We moved on to Retail pro V9 after we opened our second store. Although we considered Counterpoint and Retail Edge as well.

What they liked
  • Cheap Software and easy to use for someone not super techy
  • Good for a 1 location store that doesn't plan on expansion
  • Integrated well with Nitrosell
  • Nitrosell's back end made this lame software a bit more robust
Room for improvement

Software Database is basic, there is very low functionality with the software (you'll understand if you spend a couple months researching POS Software), and software is not expandable past 1 location even though they sell it like it is

Holly W.

Verified User

Health, Wellness and Fitness · 2-10 employees

Used daily for less than 12 months
May 28, 2026

Would not recommend!

We have had this program for 7 months. I do not even know where to start. Call support and they can't help you with the program you PAID for, you will be referred to a field tech to come out and charge you more for help. Endless excuse for money pit. Basically you will never be without a form of cost. You get a quick crash course and might as well spend your time training yourself online. If I wanted to be a support tech I would go to school for it! 1 week left and this program will be gone from my business!

What they liked

The only part of this soft ware I like is the back end reporting portion allowing for quick break downs

Room for improvement

From a crash course in training, inaccurate inventory, making returns, correct size labels printing, the list goes on

Sam P.

Verified User

Wholesale · 51-200 employees

Used daily for more than 2 years
May 28, 2026

POS software review

Wholesale

What they liked
  • Fairly easy and intuitive for our front line staff to use and understand
  • We have had the CRE for a few years now and meets most of our needs
Room for improvement
  • With the Pro version, we were not able to have both of our locations communicate with each other
  • We are hopeful an upgrade to Enterprise will make a difference

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