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Get Started with Service Charges

Create a service charge to help offset certain operational or overhead costs. Service charges can be percentage-based or a fixed amount that won’t change based on the purchase cost. When you add a service charge during checkout, both you and your customer will see the charge as a line item on the transaction.

You can create service charges from your online Square Dashboard and then instantly add a service charge to any purchase during checkout from:

  • Square Point of Sale

  • Square Invoices app

  • Square for Restaurants

  • Square Retail POS app on compatible iOS devices, Square Terminal, and Square Register

  • Square Online and Square Online Checkout

  • Virtual Terminal

Important to note

  • Service charges are not yet available for Square Appointments or Afterpay transactions.

  • You will need to update the Square Point of Sale app to the latest version of the app to use the service charge features. Follow our simple guide to get started with Square Point of Sale.

Set Up Service Charges

To create and edit service charges:

  1. Go to Account & Settings on your online Square Dashboard

  2. Click Business information > Service charges > Create service charge

  3. Name your charge, choose a percentage-based or fixed-price service charge, then enter the amount of the charge.

  4. Select the location where the charge applies and add any applicable taxes.

  5. Click the toggle if you want to automatically apply this charge to online orders; then, select which fulfillment types you want the charges to apply to.

  6. Click Save.

Note: Automatic service charges only apply to Square Online orders fulfilled via pickup, delivery, or self-serve ordering. You must also have item-level taxes enabled to apply automatic service charges for these fulfillment types.

Learn more about tax settings in Square Online.

Apply Service Charges

Once you create a service charge from your online Square Dashboard, you can manually apply it to transactions via Square POS, Square Retail POS app, Square Invoices, and Square Online. You can add service charges to orders that include items, custom amounts, or both. You cannot apply a service charge multiple times on the same sale or invoice.

From the Point of Sale app

Service Charge POS App Apply

  1. From the Square POS app, tap Library.
  2. You can search for service charges by name, or tap the Service Charge category.
  3. Choose all of the service charges that apply to the sale.
  4. Tap Review Sale to check the details of the transaction.
  5. Tap Charge.

Service Charge POS App Receipt

The service charge will show as a line item on your customer’s receipt and in your transaction report details.

From the Square Retail POS app

  1. From the Checkout screen, hold down a tile then tap Edit tile grid.
  2. Under Add to page, tap Action.
  3. Check the Service charges action tile box.
  4. Select applicable service charges.
  5. Tap Done.

From there, you can move the tile to rearrange or tap the Service charges tile to make edits at any time.

To checkout a customer with a service charge:

  1. Add items to cart.
  2. Tap the applicable items, then tap Apply Service Charge.
  3. Choose applicable service charges, then tap Save.
  4. Tap Add to Cart
  5. Tap Charge to complete the payment.

To remove the service charge from the cart, swipe left, then tap Delete.

From Square Restaurants POS app

  1. Open your Restaurants POS app and select the order to which you want to apply a service charge.
  2. Tap Actions > Service Charges.
  3. Select the service charge you want to apply.

From the Square Invoices app

Service Charge Invoice App Apply

  1. From the Square Invoices app, tap create a new invoice.
  2. Tap Add a line item to apply a service charge.
  3. Select any preexisting service charges you want to apply to the invoice.
  4. Fill out the rest of your invoice and send it as you normally would.

Service Charge Invoice App Receipt

The service charge will show as a line item in your customer’s invoice and receipt and in your report details.

From Invoices on Dashboard

Square Dashboard - Square Invoices - Add Service Charge - EN

To apply service charges during the invoice creation process from your online Square Dashboard:

  1. Go to Payments > Invoices.
  2. Select Send an invoice and fill out your invoice details.
  3. Under Line items, select Add service charge.
  4. Create a new service charge or choose an existing service charge. Indicate the amount of the service charge and add sales tax if needed.
  5. Click Add to apply the service charge to your invoice.
  6. Complete the rest of your invoice and send it to your customer as you normally would, then click Send.

From Virtual Terminal

To create service charges for Virtual Terminal payments:

  1. From your online Square Dashboard, go to Settings > Account & Settings.
  2. Click Business information > Service charges and choose Create service charge to enter the service charge information:

  • Enter the name for your service charge (like a packing fee).
  • Enter the percentage or amount.
  • Choose whether or not the service charges will be taxable.
  • Choose the location(s) where this service charge will apply, click Save and select Add.

To add the service charge you created to the sale:

  1. From your online Square Dashboard, select Virtual Terminal > Take a payment. If you don’t see Virtual Terminal, select Payments > Virtual Terminal > Take a payment.
  2. Choose if you want to charge an itemized sale or process a Quick Charge. Under Transaction details, choose the purchased items, or manually enter the amount to be charged. Note: You can edit taxes to be charged for each item by clicking the item name.
  3. Select Add service charge.
  4. Choose the service charge you created, or Create service charge. Important: Make sure to let your customer know about any service charges before you proceed.
  5. Click Add to add the service charge to the sale, then enter Payment details, customer information and choose payment method. Note: You can select Add additional service charge to add more than one service charge to the sale and repeat the process.
  6. Click Charge to charge the total amount, including applicable taxes and service charges. The service charge will show as a line item in your customer’s invoice and receipt and in your report details.

You can enable or disable service charges from your online Square Dashboard by selecting Virtual Terminal > Settings > Checkout, and toggling on or off the Allow service charges option.

For Square Online Orders

Any service charge can be automatically applied to Square Online orders fulfilled via pickup, delivery, or self-serve ordering.

  1. Go to Account & Settings from your online Square Dashboard.
  2. Click Business information > Service charges > Create service charge.
  3. Name your service charge. This name will be displayed on customer receipts and order summaries.
  4. Choose a percentage-based or fixed price service charge, then enter the amount of the charge.
  5. Select the location where the charge applies and add any applicable taxes.
  6. If applicable, toggle on Automatically apply this service charge to Square Online orders, then select which fulfillment types you want the charges to apply to.
  7. Click Save.

Note: Item-level taxes must be enabled for these fulfillment types before you can set up automatic service charges.

For Square Online Checkout

  1. From your online Square Dashboard, create a service charge by going to Account & Settings > Business information > Service charges > Create service charge.
  2. Enter the name and amount or percentage of your service charge. Select Taxable (assigned), and select the locations where the service charge will be available.
  3. Access the service charges created within Square Online Checkout through Online Checkout > General > Service charges > Add service charge.
  4. Select the service charges you would like to automatically apply to Square Online Checkout purchases.
  5. Click Save.

Service Charge Type

Service Charge Description
Manual Service Charge Percentage-based or a fixed amount. Service charges are created in your Square Dashboard and applied on the POS. For example, if a delivery fee is always 3%, that percentage would be set as a manual service charge added to the check.
Variable Service Charge Exact amount is determined at checkout, based on the total transaction amount or other factors. Once a service charge is added to the bill, you can select the value or percentage used for this particular fee.

Taxes

Tax Description
Nontaxable The amount of the service charge is not impacted by any tax rates.
Tax Assigned These service charges are taxable, and the entire service charge will be taxed at the assigned rate.
Tax Apportioned The service charge inherits the tax rate from the items in the cart. If there are two items in the cart and one has a tax rate of 0% and the other has a tax rate of 4%, the service charge will be taxed in proportion to the value of the two items and their respective tax rates.

Important Notes About Service Charges

If you use service charges at your business, here are a few things to keep in mind:

  • Merchants are responsible for adhering to all laws and regulations regarding imposing service charges on customers. We encourage you to consult with legal counsel to ensure you’re in compliance with the rules where you do business.

  • Even when local laws, regulations, and applicable card network rules permit you to apply a service charge, the charge should be reasonable and cannot be excessive.

  • When deciding on the prices for your products and services, consider all of your operational costs and ensure you have a sustainable profit margin.

Learn more about applying a service charge with Square.

Service Charge Fees

Square processing fees are taken out of the total amount of the transaction, including tax, tips, and any added service charges. Payment you receive for service charges is subject to Square processing fees.

Service Charge Reporting

To view and export a report of transactions with service charges applied:

  1. Go to Reporting > Reports in your online Square Dashboard.

  2. Click Service charges.

  3. Select your date range.

  4. Click Export.

FAQ

Can I use this feature to apply a credit card surcharge?

Because payment networks recently updated their rules around credit card surcharging, Square cannot support surcharging at this time, and you cannot use the service charge feature to add a credit card surcharge.

While we work to develop a compliant surcharging feature for sellers, there are options to more effectively manage your costs, including reviewing your pricing strategy with our Pricing Calculator and using cash discounts. Learn more about our Pricing Calculator, and cash discounting programs.

Note: Surcharging is not permitted on debit cards, prepaid cards, or Afterpay transactions. Surcharging is also subject to local laws and regulations that apply to your business and must comply with card network rules, including notification requirements.

What is the difference between a service charge and a surcharge?

A service charge is an extra fee added to a sale to cover any additional expenses outside the cost of the initial goods being sold, such as a bagging fee or delivery fee. Service charges can be a single flat fee or based on a percentage of the total sale amount.

A surcharge is a fee added to a sale by the seller to the costs of goods or services when a buyer pays for a transaction with a credit card. Surcharges are different from a convenience fee, which covers the costs of accepting payment outside of a seller’s usual channel, no matter what payment method is used.

What does it mean for a service charge to be a “variable” amount?

The percentage or dollar amount of the service charge to be charged to the customer during checkout is editable if you’ve set up the service charge as a “variable” service charge.

Can I make a service charge non-taxable?

Yes, so long as this is permitted under the local laws and regulations that apply to your business. You can create a non-taxable service charge, meaning the charge won’t be taxed at checkout. You can also assign one or more taxes to a charge, and the amounts owed to cover those taxes will be charged to the customer during checkout.

What devices can I use to create and apply a service charge?

Once you create service charges from your online Square Dashboard via a web browser on your mobile device or computer, you can apply it to a transaction on the

Service charges are not available for Square Appointments or Afterpay transactions.

Can I automatically apply a service charge to all card transactions?

No. Service charges and credit card surcharges are two separate types of fees.

Note: Under no circumstances are you permitted to apply a special charge to a customer solely because they are electing to pay with a debit card or prepaid card.

How many service charges can I apply to one sale?

You can apply multiple individual service charges, but you cannot apply a single service charge more than once. For example, you can apply a pickup service charge and a bag service charge to the same sale, but you can’t apply the bag service charge more than once to that same sale.

How do I calculate the processing fee on service charges?

Because Square charges payment processing fees based on the total amount of a transaction rather than the subtotal, the Square fees also apply to funds you receive from your customer through the application of service charges. The processing fees will still be charged on the cart total plus new service charge.

For example, on a $100 tax inclusive transaction with a processing rate of 1.9% and a service charge at the same rate, the buyer will be charged $101.90, but the processing fees will be $1.93.


Disclaimer: Please note that this guidance is general in nature and does not constitute legal, tax or any other type of professional advice. If you are unsure about your legal obligations or where to find the relevant information, we suggest that you consult with a professional.