Who this is for
Any Heartland retail POSpcAmerica Cash Register Express, Heartland Retail (Springboard), Heartland Register, and older Heartland retail systems.
Connection guide · Heartland retail POS
Heartland POS connection validation blueprints
Status: no Heartland connector is live today. pcAmerica needs an on-prem adapter. Heartland Retail and Register need cloud API adapters. This guide maps those planned paths.
"Heartland POS" is a family of products, and the intended connection depends on the one you run. pcAmerica and older systems need a vendor-specific on-prem adapter. Heartland Retail and Register need cloud API adapters. None is live yet; this page helps identify the path that still needs to be built and proven.
Do not run a connection from this page today. It helps identify a possible future adapter path. Every Heartland variant still needs its own production implementation and real-store proof.
What it answers
Which Heartland you runAnd which future validation route its architecture may allow.
Where it goes next
The right connection guideOn-premise SQL for pcAmerica and legacy systems; a cloud sign-in for Heartland Retail and Register.
Running example throughout: a fictional two-store chain, Aurora Beauty Supply (Riverside and Eastgate). Every number and store shown is made up for the example. Your screen shows your real stores.
First, sort out which one you have
Which Heartland POS do you actually run?
Heartland is a payments company that also sells point-of-sale software, some built in house and some acquired. In 2015 it bought pcAmerica, whose Cash Register Express is a long-running retail POS installed on a computer in the store. Separately, Heartland sells Heartland Retail, the cloud system it renamed from Springboard Retail, and Heartland Register, a cloud countertop POS. They share a brand, but they store sales in different places, which would determine the design of any future StoreRounds adapter.
On-premise / server-based
Most Heartland retail chains. The on-prem SQL guide connects it.
- pcAmerica Cash Register Express (CRE) and its restaurant sibling Restaurant Pro Express, plus older Heartland and pre-Heartland retail systems.
- Sales sit in a local Microsoft SQL Server database on a back-office PC, in a SQL instance named pcamerica.
- You sign in to the software on that machine, and registers reach it over your local network.
- It keeps ringing sales when the internet is down.
Cloud-based
A different future path. A validated cloud adapter would use an authorization sign-in, not a database user.
- Heartland Retail (formerly Springboard Retail) and Heartland Register.
- Your data lives on Heartland's servers, reached through a web browser or app from any device.
- Heartland Retail exposes an open API, so approved tools can read it once you allow them.
- The registers depend on that connection, so an internet outage can interrupt sales, unlike an on-premise system.
A ten-second test
Not sure which side you are on? Two checks settle it. If your sales reports only open on one particular computer in the store, and the POS keeps working when the internet drops, you are on pcAmerica or another on-premise Heartland system. If you run reports by signing in to a website or app from your phone, and the registers stall or go offline when the internet drops, you are on Heartland Retail or Heartland Register.
Here is the same split as a table, with the guide that reads each one.
| Heartland retail product | Where the sales data lives | Status | Connects with |
|---|---|---|---|
| pcAmerica Cash Register Express (CRE) | Local Microsoft SQL Server† | Active under Heartland. Widely installed in small retail. | On-prem SQL guide |
| pcAmerica Restaurant Pro Express (RPE) | Local Microsoft SQL Server | Active. CRE's restaurant sibling, same engine. | On-prem SQL guide |
| Older Heartland / pre-Heartland retail systems | Local SQL Server or MySQL | Varies. Several still run stores well. | Usually the SQL guide |
| Heartland Retail (formerly Springboard Retail) | Heartland's cloud (open API)‡ | Active cloud POS for multi-store retail. | Cloud sign-in |
| Heartland Register | Heartland's cloud | Active cloud countertop POS. | Cloud sign-in |
† pcAmerica Cash Register Express can use a local Microsoft SQL Server instance named pcamerica, often with a database named cresql. That architecture may fit the future on-premise pilot blueprint, but no pcAmerica driver is supported. ‡ Heartland Retail is cloud-hosted and exposes APIs, which may permit a separate future cloud route. Apply with the exact product and version for manual review.
Fair to Heartland
None of this is a knock on Heartland. It is a capable payments processor, pcAmerica ran reliable retail for two decades, and Heartland Retail exposes APIs that third-party tools can use. Where the data sits determines the possible adapter route. The StoreRounds overlay remains a proposed pilot design, not a working Heartland integration.
Sources for the product facts above: Heartland's acquisition of pcAmerica and Dinerware, February 2015, Heartland / SEC filing; pcAmerica Cash Register Express as a Heartland retail product, Heartland; CRE's local SQL Server database (localhost, instance pcamerica, database cresql), POSGuys setup FAQ and the CRE getting-started manual; Heartland Retail as the renamed Springboard Retail with an open API, Heartland Retail; Heartland Register as a cloud countertop POS, Heartland. Vendor names and marks belong to their owners and are used here to describe the systems, not to imply endorsement.
The on-premise case, drawn
Why can't a cloud tool read my pcAmerica or on-premise Heartland POS?
Cash Register Express can keep sales in a SQL Server database inside the store network, with no public address. The proposed StoreRounds route would use a pcAmerica-specific edge agent on an approved local host, make named read-only queries, minimize the data, and send outward only. That agent has not been built or proven for a real pcAmerica customer.
Two facts carry the whole security story, and the diagram shows both:
- A future pilot agent would have to read over the local network and send only the reviewed, minimized fields.
- The connection to StoreRounds is started from inside your store, going out. Your firewall needs no new inbound rule, and there is no port for an outsider to knock on.
Not a criticism of on-premise
Keeping the database in the store is a real strength: the registers keep ringing when the internet drops, and your sales history stays under your own roof. The narrow point here is about architecture, not quality. A service that only speaks to other cloud services has no path to a SQL Server sitting in your back office. That is the exact store the market skips when it ships another "connect your POS" button, and it is the first architecture StoreRounds intends to validate with an approved customer.
What reads it instead
How could a future StoreRounds pilot connect to an on-premise Heartland POS?
A future pcAmerica pilot would require a signed, version-specific edge agent on an approved local host. It would have to use a named read-only user, query only reviewed sales and store tables, minimize the approved totals, and send outward over TLS. No installer or pcAmerica schema map is available today.
Receipts from minute one
The detailed guide, most Heartland chains start here
Connect an on-premise SQL Server or MySQL POS to StoreRounds
A documentation-only validation blueprint for pcAmerica Cash Register Express and similar on-premise systems: proposed least-privilege grants, signed-build review, store mapping, and a matching read-back gate. Do not create credentials or install anything without an approved pilot.
Before any future pilot could rely on a morning brief, its adapter would have to read back one closed day's totals and the owner would have to confirm them against pcAmerica's end-of-day report. The connection could be marked Verified only after a match to the cent.
For your IT person
A technician or managed-services provider can review the proposed controls in the one-page connector security brief. It is a pre-production design brief, not evidence of a deployed pcAmerica connector.
The other path
What if I'm on Heartland Retail or Heartland Register instead?
Heartland Retail and Heartland Register keep sales in Heartland's cloud, so a future adapter could avoid a store-side installer. An approved pilot would still need to validate Heartland's current API, authorization model, exact scopes, revocation, and a real-store read-back before any daily totals could be used.
The cloud path Connect a cloud POS with a read-only sign-in For Heartland Retail (Springboard) and Heartland Register. Approve read-only access, confirm the read-back against your own closeout, and revoke any time. About ten minutes, all click-through, no database work.
A chain with both
Mixed Heartland fleets are common after an acquisition or slow rollout. The intended StoreRounds design would normalize a validated cloud adapter and a validated on-premise adapter into one chain view, but neither Heartland path is generally available today. Aurora Beauty Supply is fictional example data.
The honest question
Would a future pilot require leaving Heartland?
The intended answer is no, but no Heartland adapter is live. A validated adapter would sit above the existing POS rather than replace it. That promise must be proven separately for pcAmerica, Heartland Retail, and Heartland Register before StoreRounds can support any of them.
If aging hardware or an unsupported system is already hurting the stores, migrating to a modern POS may still be the better move. StoreRounds should not delay a migration that is right for the business.
Quick answers
Frequently asked questions
Status for every answer below: no Heartland adapter is live. The answers describe intended designs and must be proven per Heartland product.
Is Heartland POS cloud-based or on-premise?
It depends which Heartland product you run. pcAmerica Cash Register Express and Restaurant Pro Express keep their data in a local Microsoft SQL Server database on a computer in your store, so they are on-premise. Heartland Retail, which was renamed from Springboard Retail, and Heartland Register store data in Heartland's cloud. A future on-premise pilot would require a vendor-specific read-only edge adapter; a future cloud pilot would require a separately approved API adapter. Neither is available today.
Which guide connects my pcAmerica Cash Register Express?
Cash Register Express can store data in a local SQL Server instance, which makes the on-premise SQL validation blueprint relevant. That blueprint is not a generic working connector: a pcAmerica-specific schema mapping and real-store read-back would still be required.
Can StoreRounds change anything in my Heartland POS?
No Heartland adapter is live today. Before a pilot, each path would have to prove a least-privilege read boundary, no write capability, no full card numbers, and source-side revocation.
Do I have to open a firewall port for the on-premise connector?
A future pcAmerica pilot is designed to require no inbound firewall rule. Its acceptance criterion is one outbound HTTPS connection on port 443 after a vendor-specific agent reads only approved tables over the local network. No pcAmerica agent is available to install today.
What if some stores are on pcAmerica and some on Heartland Retail?
The intended design would combine separately validated Heartland Retail and pcAmerica adapters into one chain view. Neither adapter is generally available today, so a mixed-fleet pilot would require two founder-reviewed validation paths.
Do I have to leave Heartland to use StoreRounds?
No migration would be required by the intended overlay model, but StoreRounds does not support a production Heartland adapter today. A future pilot would have to validate the exact Heartland product and version before making any continuity or portability commitment.
Founding cohort application
Tell us which Heartland product you run
You can inspect these blueprints without an account. No Heartland production adapter is live, payments are closed, and applying does not promise a connection date. Suitable applicants will be contacted only if a founder-assisted validation opens.
A portal account does not unlock a Heartland adapter. Do not install software or enter credentials until StoreRounds confirms an approved pilot.
Apply for the founding cohort Read the step-by-step SQL guide