What you have
A perpetual licence, not a subscription. You bought the software; it is yours. There is no monthly fee, no seat count ticking over, and no renewal date after which it stops working. If you never contact us again, it keeps ringing sales.
Freehold POS runs entirely on your own machine. Your products, your customers and every sale you ring live in a file on that computer. Nothing is uploaded. The one moment it needs the internet is activation — after that you can unplug the network permanently and it will not notice.
[email protected], and looks like FHP-1A2B3C4D-5E6F7A8B-9C0D1E2F-3A4B5C6D. Lost it? Use the Lost your key form and we will re-send it.
Before you install
| Operating system | Windows 10 or 11 (64-bit), or macOS 12 and later |
|---|---|
| Memory | 4 GB minimum, 8 GB comfortable |
| Disk space | 500 MB, plus room for your sales history — a busy shop uses well under a gigabyte a year |
| Screen | 1280 × 800 or larger. The register is a dense screen; a cramped display fights you. |
| Internet | Needed once, to activate. Never again. |
| Hardware | Entirely optional. A receipt printer (Star TSP100 series) and any USB barcode scanner work, and can be plugged in whenever you get to it. |
Installing
Download
Use the button in your key email, or the download page. You can confirm the file is exactly what we published on the verification page.
Run the installer, and expect a warning
Windows shows a blue "Windows protected your PC" screen. This is expected and it is not a virus alert — here is what it means and which buttons to press. macOS has its own version, covered on the same page.
Enter your licence key
On first launch the app asks for the key from your email. Paste it in and click Activate. This is the one step that needs the internet.
Sample data, or your own store
After activation Freehold POS asks which way you want to start. There is no wrong answer and you are not locked in.
Load sample data
A complete pretend shoe shop: 47 products, real-looking customers, and three weeks of sales already in the books. Everything works — ring a sale, print a receipt, close the drawer, run the reports on data that actually exists. Start here if you want to see what the software does before deciding anything.
It is clearly marked. An amber bar sits across the top of every screen saying this is sample data, with a button to wipe it and start your real store. You cannot accidentally trade on top of it.
Set up my store
Straight into setup — your shop's name and address, your tax rate, and your first employee account with a PIN you choose. You start with an empty catalogue and add your own products. Nothing from the sample store is imported.
Try these five things
The fastest way to know whether this fits your shop. Fifteen minutes on the sample store.
- Ring a sale. On the register, press 1–9 for the quick keys, or F2 to search the catalogue by name, SKU or barcode. Then F5 to tender.
- Apply a discount. F4 on a sale. Try one larger than the store policy allows and watch it ask for a manager PIN — that is the override trail working.
- Print a receipt. With no printer attached it renders on screen exactly as it would on paper, including your header and return policy.
- Close the drawer and read the Z-Report. Drawer → Reconciliation. Count the cash, enter what you actually have, and the report shows you the variance. This is the end-of-day routine.
- Pull the sales tax report. Reports → Sales Tax Collected. Pick This Quarter. It shows tax collected broken out by jurisdiction — the number you need when you file.
Updates
Freehold POS does not update itself. Automatic update checks exist under Settings → Updates and are switched off when you install it. Leave them off and the app never touches the internet again after activation — which is the right setting for a till on a closed network.
To update by hand, download the current installer and run it over your existing installation. Your products, sales history, employees and settings are all kept.
If something goes wrong
- Lost your key — the Lost your key form re-sends it to the address you signed up with.
- The Windows warning — the SmartScreen page.
- Checking your download — the verification page.
- Anything else — reply to your licence key email, or write to [email protected]. Tell us what the screen says. If it is easier, we will set the first one up with you over a screen-share.