Counter Sales by Insight Works is a point-of-sale (POS) solution built into Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central. It’s designed to boost sales at retail counters, sales floors, and parts warehouses. Basically, the app adds retail functions to the Business Central ERP system, so you can quickly serve customers who come straight to the warehouse or shop for purchases. This is a great example of how Apps Dynamics 365 can help you work with customers on the sales floor. It was originally created for B2B (trade desk) business scenarios and small retail outlets, but it can be used in other areas too.
Counter Sales is a solid choice for a sales app review. It’s stable and well-architected. It’s fully integrated with ERP, making it a comprehensive Dynamics sales app for everyday business use. It’s got all the latest features for handling customers, payments, and merchandise, so it’s basically a sales app review module that’s great at closing field tasks and supporting flexible service formats. It’s a solid D365 sales mobile app, whether you’re on your phone or at your desk, and it’s got all the customization you could want.
Key features
The Counter Sales solution has a bunch of features to make sales operations easier and faster. Below are the main features of this powerful Microsoft Dynamics 365 sales apps:
- Easy checkout screen: There’s also a special Simple Order Entry interface that’s optimized for searching for products and adding them to an order quickly. It’s got an integrated Take Order Wizard that makes it super easy to register a ‘cash sales’ customer. In just a few steps, you can specify the details of a one-time customer (like their name and phone number) to make a sale without having to create a full customer card. This functionality is one of the highlights of this counter sales app review, showing how efficiency and simplicity go hand in hand.
- It’s compatible with barcode scanning: The app makes things faster by letting you scan items right into the system with your scanner. This cuts down on the time you spend searching for items manually and reduces the chance of errors when picking products. If you’re looking for something without a barcode, you can do a quick search by keyword or code.
- Searching and selecting products at the advanced level: The Advanced Item Lookup feature lets you find an item quickly by part of its name, description, article, attributes, or cross-references. You can also use the Related Items functionality. For example, if the requested item is out of stock, the system can suggest related items or substitutes.
- Support for multiple types of payment: It’s possible to combine different payment methods in one order. For example, a customer can pay for part of the amount with cash and the rest with a card. The system can easily split one sale into two transactions. It supports custom payment types like cash, various credit cards, coupons, gift certificates, and more.
- Maintaining a customer and sales base: Instead of selling “to an unknown customer,” Counter Sales makes it easy to tie sales to specific customers. You can easily select an existing customer or create a new one right when you’re ordering. If a customer only buys something once, you can make a temporary contact without a full customer account to record their purchase without clogging up the directory. This way, you’ll still have a history of their transactions in case they buy something else.
- Cheque printing and equipment integration: The app supports connection of POS equipment, like cash drawers and cheque printers. With a cash drawer, you can keep track of cash, like when you open or close a shift or hand over cash to the cash desk. Cheque (thermal) printers let you print simple receipts or full-fledged invoices/invoices from Business Central right on the counter. The system has custom report scenarios, which let you set up different types of documents for different situations.
- Managing the cash shift and closing the day: Counter Sales makes it a breeze to sort out the cash register at the end of the day. The solution includes a Cash Register Reconciliation Worksheet that automatically collects all data on payments for the day and lets you close the shift in a few steps. When you close the register, it shows the cash balance at the start and end of the day, how many notes and coins there are, how much cash was put in during the day, and other deposits. The system does the math and keeps track of any extra or missing balances. All the changes get posted automatically to the general ledger (G/L) of Business Central, which keeps things easy to follow and makes sure there’s no need for any extra calculations. This is a standout feature in any thorough Counter Sales Dynamics app review, showing how well it supports back-office accuracy.
Installation steps
Here’s what to know to set it up and get it running: The cloud version of Business Central is a one-click install from AppSource, where the trial version is available. The system requirements are standard, and the BC version is all that’s needed. There’s no need for any other external services, unless, of course, it’s for setting up payment gateways so customers can pay with cards. Also covered by scanners and printers, but they’re not required. Can still get the job done without them, but it’ll take a bit longer. If the cash drawer is hooked up, it usually works with a check printer via a driver. So, make sure the POS printer is compatible with Windows and set it up in the system.
Insight Works provides two localized versions of this sales app Dynamics 365 tool: There are two types of sales: Counter Sales (Worldwide) and Counter Sales (NA). The first is for most countries (EU, Asia, Australia, Latin America, etc.), and the second is a separate variant for the North American market. The North American version includes the USA, Canada, and Mexico, but it’s got its differences in local specifics, tax settings by state or province, and currencies. They work pretty similarly, it’s just that they have different localization objects. When installing from AppSource, just pick the version for your country.
Pros and Cons of Counter Sales by Insight Works
Insight Works’ Counter Sales app has been a game-changer for Dynamics 365 Business Central users, offering a seamless and powerful POS solution. Here are the main strengths and weaknesses of the solution, at least from a technical point of view.
Benefits of the App
Counter Sales has some great features that are built right into Dynamics 365, which makes it a top pick for a lot of businesses.
- Sales: When making a sale through Counter Sales, a standard Sales Order is actually created in Business Central, which is simply filled in using a special interface. You can process and execute counter sales orders from standard sales order or return order pages. The developers have made the document execution mechanism as unified as possible. So, a counter sales order is basically the same sales order, but with some extra info (like “Quick Sale” mode, mixed payment options, etc.). Once it’s all set, we’ll process the order using standard tools, update the stock, and create accounting entries.
- Payment Journal: There are extra journals in Counter Sales to keep track of payments. For example, there’s the Counter Sales Payment Journal. It’s a journal of payments from clients to the account, which makes it easier to pay the client. They also mentioned the Reclassification Journal, which is a special journal for correcting payments that have already been made. These journals are built into the system, so the accounting department can easily work with the receipts from sales at the counter. Updates to the app also make it easier to communicate with regular BC journals.
- Cashier functionality: The app supports the work with cash registers (cash, shifts, drawer) by introducing the concept of a cash register (cash register/box) and related entities. The interface includes a Cash Register Reconciliation Worksheet, which is a separate page/document that stores info about a particular cashier’s shift and its counts. It has fields for cash code, status, date, amounts by denomination. So, each shift is recorded as a document, and at closing, corrective accounting entries are generated in the general ledger (realisation through internal G/L records, as noted in the transcript).
- Card Management: The Cards Framework has been added to the architecture to support gift and loyalty cards. The developers mention a new structure that allows the functionality to be extended to suit their own types of rewards cards. This shows that new objects are available (like tables for card accounting, card movements, gift card balances, etc.). Partners or Insight Works itself can use these objects to develop loyalty features further.
- Tracking Lost Sales: It’s likely that lost sales are tracked in a separate table. When you click “Create Lost Sale” (it’s a button on the Quick Scan interface), the system registers an entry with the product, quantity, and reason (like ‘out of stock’ or other). Then, we put all that data together into a report about lost sales. The solution description mentions “alerts, linked and paired items,” so maybe if N requests are missing for item A, the system can suggest increasing its stock or offering an alternative. Also, if item A is out of stock and a customer has taken item B instead, B may be tagged as a paired item to A for later demand analysis. All this info is kept in its own extension objects.
Downsides of the App
Despite its many benefits, Counter Sales has a number of limitations that need to be considered when implementing it.
- No offline mode. Counter Sales runs entirely within Dynamics 365 Business Central and requires a constant connection to the system. If the connection to the server is interrupted, the app won’t be able to perform transactions. Basically, this means you’ll have downtime at the point of sale during network outages, which’ll lead to lost sales.
- Equipment Compatibility. Counter Sales works with your current POS setup. For example, it can connect to your cash drawer and cheque printer. There’s no detailed list of supported devices, though.
- Limited scalability. Counter Sales is designed to help small trade counters and small retail shops (B2B counters). It doesn’t mention supporting a lot of cash registers or networks in its descriptions and reviews.
Licensing and Price
Counter Sales is licensed directly through Insight Works (or their partner network). You can get a free trial version on AppSource, so you can try out the app for a limited time (usually 30 days) or with limited functionality. After that, you’ll need to buy a license from the developer if you want to keep using it. The exact price isn’t public information because it changes based on location and Insight Works’ policies. You can usually get a price if you ask.
The license is purchased on a per outlet (store/warehouse) or per POS basis, rather than per user basis. This approach is great for companies with multiple salespeople working in shifts at a single counter because you can have as many operators as you want at one place without it costing any extra money. Microsoft licensing can also help you save money. Instead of getting full Named User licenses, a Device License for a Counter Sales terminal often does the trick. This makes the cost of POS deployment much lower. Instead of needing several expensive user licenses, you only need one license for each POS workstation.
Alternatives to the Counter Sales by Insight Works App
The market for D365 sales mobile apps and POS solutions in the Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central environment is growing fast. Here are three sales app reviews that integrate with Business Central and offer advanced functionality for managing counter or retail sales.
- LS Central by LS Retail – LS Central is a unified commerce solution built on Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central. It provides powerful POS capabilities for retail, hospitality, and pharmacy sectors.
- Tinx E-commerce & POS Connector by Tinx-IT – Tinx offers a flexible dynamics sales app connector for integrating Dynamics 365 Business Central with popular e-commerce platforms (Shopify, Magento, WooCommerce) and POS systems.
- Touch POS by IM Projects – It’s a mobile POS solution that’s built into Dynamics 365 Business Central and is perfect for small and medium-sized retailers because it’s touch-enabled. It’s perfect for quick sales on tablets and terminals with a handy cash register that’s personalized just for you.
Conclusion: Should You Use Counter Sales by Insight Works?
Counter Sales by Insight Works is a mature, industrial-grade solution designed specifically for Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central users who need built-in POS functionality without the need to implement a separate POS system. It’s perfect for trade desk operations, parts warehouses, B2B point of sale, and small retail units where speed of service, ease of accounting, and full synchronicity with the ERP system are crucial.
The app is technically integrated into D365 BC, so it’s a central source of truth and handles sales, payments, checkout, and analytics seamlessly. Counter Sales solves the problem of needing to sync external systems, reducing the risk of data inconsistencies and making business processes more visible.It’s also really convenient because it has an adaptive and flexible user interface, support for a wide range of scenarios, and the ability to fine-tune reporting and cash shifts.
But potential users should keep in mind that it’s got some limitations. For example, there’s no offline mode, the loyalty functionality is pretty basic, and there’s a need for technical improvements for non-standard scenarios.
If your company is already using Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central and is looking for a Dynamics mobile sales app, Dynamics 365 Sales app, or just a Dynamics sales mobile app for on-site sales, Counter Sales is a solid choice. It’s affordable, easy to use, and can be scaled up or down as needed. To sum it up: Counter Sales isn’t just another sales app or D365 sales app – it’s a full extension of the ERP environment. It can actually replace standalone POS systems in most cases. It’s like the ‘first line’ of sales, especially in areas where speed, flexibility, and accuracy are key.
Oleksandr is a passionate technical professional with extensive expertise in Microsoft Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement (D365 CE) customization, Canvas App development, and Power Automate solutions. His skill set includes Azure Function and Azure Durable Function development, Logic Apps, and seamless integration of PCF components into Canvas Apps. With a deep understanding of Azure technologies and a strong background in developing tailored solutions for D365, Oleksandr brings a comprehensive and forward-thinking approach to enterprise application development. He enjoys exploring new Microsoft solutions and shares his insights with the readers.
