OFFICE: Square

What is the Square gateway?

Square lets your Clients pay your Invoices and Subscriptions straight into the Square account your business already uses. You connect your own Square account with one button, and there are no keys to copy and paste. Every payment, payout and record stays in your Square account, and the platform takes no cut of your payments.

Square offers these payment methods here:

• Card: your Clients pay by card once, or save the card so it can be charged automatically later. Card is the method to use for anything that charges again.
• Google Pay: your Clients pay with a card saved to their Google account, in Google's own window.
• Gift Card: your Clients pay the whole amount due with a Square gift card.
• Cash App Pay: your Clients in the US pay in US dollars from Cash App, by scanning a code on a computer or in the app on a phone.
• Bank Account (ACH): your Clients pay a one-time Invoice in US dollars directly from a US bank account. It is pay-now only, and it is not instant: a bank payment takes 4-6 business days to clear.
• Afterpay / Clearpay: your Clients split the amount into four interest-free payments with Afterpay (called Clearpay in the UK). The Invoice is paid in full at once.

Square can be used for both one-time Invoice payments and Subscription Payments. Subscriptions and anything else that charges again use Card.

CLICK HERE to learn about Payment Gateways

What do I need before I connect?

• A Square account that can take payments.
• The settings open on a secure page, at an address that starts with https://. If the page is not secure, the Square window says so and offers Open Secure Page instead of the connect button.
• For Bank Account (ACH) and Cash App Pay: a Square account based in the US and paid in US dollars.
• For Afterpay / Clearpay: a Square account based in the US, Canada, Australia or the UK.
• For Google Pay: a Square account based in a country where Square offers Google Pay (the US, Canada, the UK, Australia, Ireland, France, Spain or Japan).
• For Cash App Pay and Afterpay / Clearpay: Square's approval of your business for that method. Square decides this, not the platform.

How do I connect Square?

Navigate to Office > Gateways and click the Configure button on the Square card.

In the Square window, click Connect with Square.

Square opens in a pop-up window and asks you to sign in. It always asks which Square account to use, even if you are already signed in, so a browser that remembers another account cannot connect the wrong one by mistake. Sign in and approve the connection.

While the pop-up is open, the window shows a waiting panel. Click Show Square Window if the pop-up went behind your browser, or Cancel to stop.

Once you approve, the window shows your Square Account: the Business Name, the Merchant ID and the Location your payments go to. Check the Location, or pick one, then click Save.

If something stops the connection, nothing is saved and the window tells you why:

• You cancel the sign-in or do not approve it: the window says Square did not connect, and nothing was saved.
• Your browser blocks the pop-up: allow pop-ups for this site, then press Connect with Square again.
• You close the pop-up before you finish: the window says the sign-in was closed before it finished, and nothing was changed.

You do not need to connect again to use the newer methods. A Square account that is already connected can switch them on straight away.

How do I choose the Location?

The Location is the Square location that receives these payments. Pick the one you want them to show under in your Square reports, for example a different shop or site.

• If your Square account has one active location, it is shown as text and there is nothing to choose.
• If it has two or more, you pick one from a list. The list opens on the location you chose before, if it is still active, otherwise on your Square account's main location.

IMPORTANT: If the location your payments were going to stops being active inside Square, your Clients cannot pay through Square until you choose another one. The Square window tells you, and you fix it by picking a location and clicking Save. This is not a broken connection, so there is nothing to reconnect.

Which payment methods can I offer?

Once Square is connected, the Square window has a Payment Methods panel. Card is on from the start. Every other method is off until you switch it on, so nothing changes for your Clients until you choose it.

Further down the list are Bank Account (ACH) and Afterpay / Clearpay.

• The switch on the right turns the method on or off for this gateway.
• The star marks a method as a default, and the row then shows a Default badge. New Invoices start with every starred method switched on. You can star more than one, and you can only star a method that is switched on.

When you switch on a method that only works for some countries, the platform asks Square where your account is based. If the method is not offered there, the switch is refused and the message says why. Nothing is saved in that case, so switch that method back off to save your other changes. If Square cannot be reached, the switch is refused the same way and nothing is saved, so try again in a few minutes.

IMPORTANT: Cash App Pay and Afterpay / Clearpay only appear to your Clients once Square has approved your business for them. Until then, your Clients simply do not see them, and the other methods stay available. Keep Card on as well, so your Clients always have a way to pay.

TIP: The order the methods appear in is fixed and cannot be changed. The star is how you decide what new Invoices offer.

How do I offer Square on an Invoice?

In the Invoice editor, scroll to Payment Settings. Add Square in Available Gateway(s), then switch on the Square methods this Invoice should offer.

• Only Card charges again. If an Invoice has a recurring item, it cannot be saved while Bank Account (ACH), Google Pay, Gift Card, Cash App Pay or Afterpay / Clearpay is switched on. These are approved once at checkout and nothing is kept to charge again, so use Card for anything recurring.
• If every method switched on for the Invoice depends on Square's approval (Cash App Pay and Afterpay / Clearpay), the Invoice is still saved, and you are warned that your Client may have no way to pay. Switch on another method, such as Card.
• If the Invoice's currency is one your Square account cannot take, you are told when you save the Invoice.

Some methods also depend on how much is paid and how:

• Afterpay / Clearpay is offered for an amount due from $1 to $2,000 (US, Canadian and Australian dollars) or from £1 to £1,000 (pounds). It is never offered on an Invoice set up for partial payments or installments.
• Gift Card pays the whole amount due or nothing, so it is not offered when your Client chooses how much to pay.
• Cash App Pay approves one fixed amount, so it is not offered when your Client chooses how much to pay. An installment has a fixed amount, so it still is.

CLICK HERE to learn about Invoices

What do my Clients see when they pay?

Your Client chooses how to pay from the methods the Invoice offers. On a computer the methods are tabs, and when there are more than four, the rest are under the last tab. On a phone they are a list, and the chosen one opens underneath.

Paying with a saved card. A Saved tab appears when your Client already has a saved Square card and the Invoice allows Card. The card is chosen for them, so paying takes one click.

Paying by card. Your Client picks Card, fills in the Cardholder Name and the Card Details, and pays. A box lets them save the card for future payments to your business. The card is always saved, with no box to untick, when the Invoice has recurring items or a zero total, because it will have to be charged later. If their bank asks them to confirm the payment, Square shows that check.

Paying by bank. On a one-time Invoice in US dollars, your Client picks Bank (ACH) and clicks Connect to Bank. Square opens its own bank step, where your Client chooses their bank, signs in to it and approves this one payment. If the platform does not already know their name, they are also asked for the Name on Account.

Paying with Google Pay. Your Client picks Google Pay and presses the Google Pay button. Google's own window opens, showing the amount, and your Client pays with a card saved to their Google account. If they close that window, nothing is charged. Google Pay only shows in browsers and on devices that support it, so some Clients will not see it.

Paying with Cash App Pay. Your Client picks Cash App Pay and presses the Cash App Pay button. On a computer, a code appears: they scan it with their phone and approve the payment in Cash App, and the Invoice page finishes the payment. On a phone, the button opens Cash App, and they come back to the Invoice once they approve.

The payment is only taken when the approval reaches the Invoice page. If your Client approves but never comes back to the page, nothing is charged and the Invoice stays open. If the approval has expired, your Client is told so and can start again.

Paying with Afterpay / Clearpay. Your Client picks Afterpay / Clearpay and presses its button. Afterpay's own window opens, where they sign in, or create an Afterpay account the first time, and see the amount split into four interest-free payments, every two weeks. When they confirm, the window closes and the Invoice is marked Paid for the full amount. If they close the window instead, nothing is charged.

Paying with a gift card. Your Client picks Gift Card, types the Gift Card Number and pays. The whole amount due is taken from the gift card. If its balance does not cover the amount, the payment is refused and nothing is taken or held. After several tries in a short time, gift card payments for that Invoice pause for a while, and your Client is asked to try later or choose another way to pay.

If a payment is declined, the reason shows above the pay button, and your Client is never told a payment went through when nothing was taken. If your Client closes the bank window early, they are told that nothing was charged. If the amount changes after their bank has approved the payment, nothing is charged and they are asked to approve the amount shown again.

IMPORTANT: Square payments only start on a secure page. If your Client opens the payment page from an address that does not start with https://, they see a notice asking them to open the secure page.

What happens while a bank payment clears?

A bank payment is not instant. It takes 4-6 business days to clear. Until then the Invoice reads Processing, with this notice: "A bank payment toward this invoice is being processed and may take 4-6 business days to clear."

• When Square confirms the payment for the full amount, the Invoice is marked Paid on its own. You do not have to reconcile it by hand.
• If the bank refuses the payment, the Invoice reopens and the usual failed-payment emails go out.
• If Square reports a different amount, or the payment is still clearing after 14 days, the Invoice is held for your team to review. It is never marked failed just because it took a long time.

Google Pay, Cash App Pay, Afterpay / Clearpay and gift card payments do not wait like this: the Invoice is marked Paid as soon as Square confirms the full amount. If the answer from Square is lost on the way, your Client is never charged a second time, and the Invoice is brought in line with what Square recorded.

Can Square charge my Clients on a schedule?

Yes, with a card. Saved Square cards are charged automatically for Subscriptions and for AutoPay on recurring Invoices. On a payment plan, AutoPay charges the first installment and your Client pays the rest themselves, as on every Gateway.

Bank Account (ACH), Google Pay, Cash App Pay, Afterpay / Clearpay and Gift Card are pay-now only. Each payment is approved once, at checkout, and nothing is kept to charge again, so anything that renews has to be payable by card.

Your Clients can also use a Square card in these places:

• My Billing and the emailed request for payment information, to save a Square card with nothing charged.
• Subscription checkout, Checkout Forms and Flow checkout steps. On these the card is always kept for later charges.

Charging a Client's card yourself. Your team can charge a Square card the Client has authorized. There is no card form and no bank form here. If the card needs the Client to confirm with their bank, the charge is refused with an explanation, and if the Client has no authorized Square card, you are told so.

CLICK HERE to learn about Subscription Plans

CLICK HERE to learn about Authorized Payment Methods

CLICK HERE to learn about My Billing

TIP: Before charging a renewal again, the platform looks in Square for a payment it may already have taken for that cycle, so a Client is not charged twice.

Do I need to reconnect Square?

No, not normally. The connection renews itself every week in the background.

If Square stops accepting the connection, for example because it was removed from inside your Square account:

• The Square card on the Gateways page shows a warning until you click Configure and connect with Square again.
• The account owner gets an email, at most once a day, while the problem keeps being reported.
• Your Clients are not offered Square while Square is refusing the connection.

When you connect again, your payment methods stay as they are, and so does your Location when it is the same Square account.

What happens when I disconnect Square?

Click Disconnect in the Square window. Before anything changes, Disconnect Square? tells you how many Clients have saved cards on this Square account and how many active renewals use them.

• After you disconnect, your Clients cannot pay through Square until you connect it again.
• Disconnecting only removes the connection here. It does not change anything inside your Square account.
• If you later connect a different Square account, cards saved on the old account stop working. At its next renewal, each Subscription that used one stops and asks the Client for a new card.

IMPORTANT: You cannot move to a different Square account while a payment on this connection is still clearing or being confirmed, or while a Subscription renews through it. The window says Square did not connect and nothing is saved. Try again once those payments have finished.

What does Square not offer here?

These are not available through Square in the platform today:

• Apple Pay.
• Saving a bank account, a Google Pay or Cash App wallet, an Afterpay account or a gift card, or charging any of them automatically.
• Google Pay, Cash App Pay, Afterpay / Clearpay or Gift Card on Subscriptions, Checkout Forms, Flows or recurring Invoices. These take Card.
• Bank payments on zero-total Invoices, or on Invoices in a currency other than US dollars.
• Refunds from the platform. Refund a Square payment inside your Square account, where the money is.
• Changing the order the payment methods appear in.