The hardware is the easy half of a switch. Export POS item file work is the rest: SKU, UPC, price, cost, department, tax, age flag, SNAP flag, and pack size, in a file you can actually open. If the old register will not give you that file, we rebuild from invoices and a shelf walk. Do not wait until the new terminal is on the counter to find out which one you have.
Why the item file is the real switching job
A new register with an empty catalog is a cash drawer. Every UPC, every age prompt, every SNAP-eligible grocery line has to exist before the first busy shift, or cashiers key prices and skip flags. That is how you sell beer without an ID prompt, or ring energy drinks on EBT.
Switching POS systems is boarding, item data, and a quiet cutover day. The cutover is short when the file is complete. The cutover is a rebuild when it is not. The walk-through of doing that without closing is in switching POS systems without closing.
Ask for the export in writing before you sign anything new. “We can import your items” is not the same sentence as “here is the spreadsheet from the current system.”
What a usable export has to contain
A file you can move is a row per sellable unit, with at least:
SKU or internal ID, UPC or barcode, name, price, cost if you have it, department or category, tax flag, age-restricted flag, SNAP-eligible flag if you take EBT, pack size or case quantity, and on-hand if you trust it.
On-hand is the least trustworthy column. Treat it as a hint. Recount the movers after cutover.
Clover’s own spreadsheet help (retrieved 2026-09-16 from clover.com/en-US/help/work-with-item-details-in-a-spreadsheet) says you export the inventory spreadsheet, then work in tabs for items, modifier groups, categories, and tax rates, and that changing column titles produces an import error. Square’s import article (retrieved 2026-09-16 from squareup.com/help/us/en/article/5153-import-items-online) says Dashboard Items, Actions, Export Library, all items or the current filters, Excel or CSV, and that a CSV cannot create a unit type. Those are their published export paths that day. Your old vendor may have nothing like that.
What most registers will not give you
Age flags, SNAP flags, and pack size are the usual holes. The export has names and prices. It does not know which beer needs an ID, which grocery line is SNAP-eligible, or that a soda case is twelve cans. Those live in the cashier’s head until someone puts them on the item.
Some older tills will not export at all. The vendor wants a login you no longer have. The file is a proprietary dump. The terminal is offline and the only copy is on that box. Square’s article also warns that the export includes only the items you are currently viewing, so a leftover filter silently truncates the library. Check the row count against a known department before you celebrate.
Clover’s import article (retrieved 2026-09-16 from clover.com/en-GB/help/import-an-inventory-spreadsheet) puts Export on the same Options menu as Import. If your current vendor’s dashboard has no such control, believe that. Do not assume a phone call will produce a file the software cannot make.
Types of POS systems for retail is useful here: a locked on-premises box and a cloud dashboard are different export jobs.
How a catalog gets rebuilt when the file is incomplete
We start from what exists. A clean spreadsheet maps. A partial one maps the columns it has, then we fill holes from supplier invoices, shelf tags, and a walk of the store. Age and SNAP flags get set from the actual items, not from a guess in a spreadsheet column named “notes.”
Cost is often missing. You can still board without it. You cannot run a margin report until cost is in. That can wait a week. Age and SNAP cannot wait the first Saturday.
How-it-works on this brand is the same sequence: item data and pricing rules before hardware arrives. See how it works. We do not quote a standard number of items per hour, because a 2,000-SKU c-store with dirty barcodes is not a 400-SKU liquor shop with a clean vendor file.
What to ask your current vendor in writing
Ask for a full item export as Excel or CSV, unfiltered, with column names listed in the email. Ask whether age, SNAP, tax, cost, and pack size are in that file. Ask whether the file includes modifiers, deposits, and open departments. Ask how long they keep a login after you leave.
If they cannot export, ask whether a technician can dump the database. If they will not, plan the rebuild. That is not a reason to stay forever. It is a reason to start the file work before the new terminal ships.
Keep the old register until the new file has survived one busy shift. An export is a starting point. The first Saturday is the test.
Frequently asked questions
Can every POS export a usable file? No. Cloud dashboards often can. Older locked terminals often cannot. Ask for the file before you buy the next one.
Should I trust on-hand in the export? Not as a count you go live on. Use it to spot missing departments, then recount the movers.
What if I am mid-contract? This page is the file, not the exit fee. Get the export while you still have a login. The rest of the switch is on the switching pages linked above.