Member Avatar for Saboor_1

Hello to all! I have an order of a simple desktop pos which i will develop in java. Actually i have to develop this pos for a person who is owner of a hardware shop(nuts,bolts,nails, hammers and screw drivers etc.). He needs features as follows:
1-Automate his sales transaction i-e he will enter item, quantity and sale price and all the bill will calculated automatically.

2- He also wants to manage his inventory.
After a sales transaction, stock of items should automatically calculated.

3- He want to analyze his transaction data . For example he wants to see his daily, monthly, weekly sales report and also want to see his profit based on items or time.

I have no idea about how much i should charge him? Actually i have met him for the first time and just briefly talked about requirements. He asked me about charges and i said him that i will tell you tomorrow about charges.
So please guide me how much should i charge him for above requirements.

One thing more that he does not want printing function at the moment. So please guide me how much i should charge him without printer function?
I shall be thanks full to u.

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  • Latest Post Latest Post by rproffitt

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Brief commentary tied to the existing replies: this is a very common small-shop POS request. As noted, off‑the‑shelf and open‑source packages are often the lowest-cost route; is right to flag installation/training as billable work; and 's open‑source route can reduce long‑term costs. If a custom Java desktop app is required, use a simple, repeatable quoting method rather than guessing a single number.

Estimate by deliverable (design + dev + QA ranges):

  • Requirements/spec & UI mockups: 6–10 hours
  • Data model + embedded DB setup (SQLite/H2) and backups: 6–12 hours
  • Sales entry UI (lookup, line items, taxes, totals): 12–24 hours
  • Inventory logic (stock decrement, adjustments, reorder): 8–16 hours
  • Reporting (daily/weekly/monthly, profit by item/time, CSV export): 12–24 hours
  • Packaging/installer for chosen OS: 6–12 hours
  • Testing, documentation, training & deployment: 10–20 hours
    Typical total: ~70–140 hours. Add a contingency buffer (20–30%) for scope creep.

A tiny, practical schema to anchor development:

CREATE TABLE items (id INTEGER PRIMARY KEY, sku TEXT UNIQUE, name TEXT,
  cost_price NUMERIC, sale_price NUMERIC, qty_on_hand INTEGER, reorder_level INTEGER);

CREATE TABLE sales (id INTEGER PRIMARY KEY, sale_date TIMESTAMP, total NUMERIC);

CREATE TABLE sale_lines (id INTEGER PRIMARY KEY, sale_id INTEGER, item_id INTEGER,
  qty INTEGER, unit_price NUMERIC, line_total NUMERIC,
  FOREIGN KEY(sale_id) REFERENCES sales(id), FOREIGN KEY(item_id) REFERENCES items(id));

Pricing & commercial approach: convert estimated hours to a price using an hourly rate appropriate to the locale, or offer two fixed quotes (MVP vs full). Clearly list included features, exclusions (e.g., printing), and change‑request billing. Charge separately for installation/training and offer an optional monthly support retainer. For a first meeting give the client (1) an MVP price, (2) a full price, and (3) an hourly rate for extras — that keeps expectations clear and avoids surprises.

Recommended Answers

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Member Avatar for JamesCherrill

That sounds like an absolutely standard little shop accounting system. It would be madness to pay for a custom application development and its ongoing support rather than simply deploy a standard supported off-the-shelf solution.

Here's the first example I found in a quick Google: https://www.manager.io
(Please note I know absolutely zero about that particular offering, it's just one example from a vast list of such offerings, and its free for a single user.) Are you going to compete with that?
Even if there is something genuinely unique about this particualr requirement I doubt that it would need to be developed in a high-end complex programming language. For data entry and some reports you just need a popular database.

If you really want to offer something in this case maybe you should offer to capture and document his requirements, and survey the market to produce a short list of 3 products that woud suit him. Without knowing where you are I can't comment on fees - daily rates vary beyond belief between different countries and even metropolitan/rural environments.

Edited by JamesCherrill
Member Avatar for Reverend Jim

And you could charge him a fee for the installation and configuration and possibly a bit of training. If he is happy with the service he will likely return when he needs more help.

Member Avatar for rproffitt

As others noted, you may have reasons to do this but my view is you should pick an opensource project and contribute to it's development.

Examples at

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