Basic Inventory Management

Square’s inventory management gives you basic tools to keep a clear count of in-stock items in your item library. For items with inventory enabled, the stock count will update based on sales from the Square app, Square Invoices and for orders shipped through your Online Store.

Inventory is currently supported on devices running the latest version of Apple iOS or Google Android software. Be sure to run the most up-to-date version of the Square app on a supported device.

Item inventory is also tracked for payments accepted by your mobile staff members running Register version 4.3 or higher.

Enable Inventory Management

Stock Actions

Stock actions allow you to adjust stock levels and apply reasons. For instance, you are able to add or remove stock and assign reasons such as Stock Received, Inventory Re-Count, Damage, Theft, Loss and Return.

Manage Inventory by Item

With inventory enabled, you can receive alerts in your Dashboard for low-stock or sold out items, so you’ll know when to reorder and restock.

From your online Square Dashboard:

1. Visit Items & Orders > Item Library in your online Square Dashboard.

2. Select an item from the list.

3. To edit inventory by item variation, you can click on the variation row.

   

4. Under Stock Action, enter the reason for adjusting your stock.

   • If you select Damage, Theft, Loss, the amount entered will automatically deduct from your current stock count for that location.

   • If you select Stock Received or Restock Return, your stock count will increase for the amount entered.

   • Selecting Inventory Re-Count will show your current stock amount – just enter in your new stock amount to update.

5. Enable Alerts - if your stock drops below the alert threshold, a stock alert will be generated.

6. Click Save to confirm your update.

From the Square Point of Sale app:

1. Tap More from the navigation bar at the bottom of your screen and select Items > All Items.

2. Create or select an existing item.

3. Enter a stock amount under the item details or tap Prices, Sizes or SKUs to add stock to an item with multiple variations.

4. To adjust stock, tap the stock amount > select a reason > enter amount to be adjusted.

5. Save.

You can also go straight to step 3 by pressing and holding an item from your in-app items grid.

Keep in mind, if you have multiple locations, inventory is established, edited and tracked on a per-location basis.

Note: You can also update your inventory alert settings at any time from Email Notifications in your online dashboard.

Mark Items as Sold Out

Even if you don’t track inventory, you can mark an item or item variation as sold out, in the case that it’s unavailable for sale.

From your online Square Dashboard:

1. Visit Items & Orders > Items in your online Square Dashboard.

2. Select the item(s) or item variation(s) that you’d like to mark as sold out.

3. Click Edit variation details > Manage stock.

4. Toggle on/off the Mark as sold out on Point of Sale and Online option.

5. Click Done.

From the Square Point of Sale app:

1. Tap More from the navigation bar at the bottom of your screen and select Items > All Items.

2. Select the item(s) or item variation(s) that you’d like to mark as sold out.

3. From the Edit Item screen, tap the variation(s) to open up the Edit Variation screen.

4. Toggle on/off the Label as sold out at this location option.

5. Tap Done > tap Save.

Note: This will also label the item or item variation as sold out in Square Online.

Schedule an Automatic Restock

You can also schedule items marked as Sold Out to restock automatically. Set a specific day and time for the items to automatically restock or use your business’ end of day to keep your stock accurate and up to date.

To schedule an automatic restocking time:

1. From your Square Dashboard, go to Items & Orders > Items > Item Library.

2. Select the item you want to schedule.

3. Under Variations, click the Stock count. Note: If the stock is zero, the stock count may show as None or a dash.

4. An ‘Edit variation’ window will pop up. Under ‘Manage stock’, toggle on Mark as Sold Out and Choose a time to make for sale again.

5. You can choose to keep the restock scheduled for the end of your business day or to use the date selector to choose a custom date and time.

6. Select Done > Save.

Once you schedule an automatic restock time, a calendar icon will appear in the Stock line under Variations for that item.

Note: Your end of day is based on your set business hours. To edit these hours, go to Account & Settings > Business > Locations.

Enable Inventory in Bulk

You can also enable inventory from your Inventory Excel (.xlsx) or CSV report:

1. Visit Items & Orders > Items in your online Square Dashboard.

2. Click Actions > Import Library > Modify Item Library > Next.

3. Select Download our template file and select the format. This file includes your entire item library.

4. Open the file and add your inventory by item in the column labelled New Quantity [Location]. Any changes made to the New Quantity column will replace the existing item quantity. If you put a 0 in the New Quantity column, your inventory for that item for that location will be set to 0.

5. Save the file to your computer.

6. Drag and drop your saved file to the Import Inventory window > click Upload.

Edit Inventory by Individual Item

1. Visit Items & Orders > Items in your online Square Dashboard.

2. To view low and out of stock items for all categories, select All Categories or All Inventory in the upper-left corner.

3. Adjust the In Stock quantity by selecting an item. Click Manage Item Inventory and Alerts to add or decrease the quantity.

4. You can also manage alerts for items by checking or unchecking the Alert box and setting the alert threshold. If stock reaches the alert threshold (or drops below it), a stock alert will be generated.

5. Click Save.

Edit and Manage Inventory In Bulk

The Import tool allows you to import and update your inventory quantities in bulk, as well as download a report of your current inventory. This is especially helpful for managing inventory and doing stock checks.

To import inventory, you will need to download our template Excel (.xlsx) or .CSV file containing your existing item library.

Note: At this time, Excel (.xlsx) and .CSVs are the only supported file for bulk import. Custom templates are not supported.

To make updates to your inventory in bulk or download an inventory report:

1. Click Actions at the top right of the page.

2. Click Import Inventory from the drop-down menu.

3. Choose to modify or replace your library > Download our template file to download your current inventory Excel (.xlsx) or .CSV report.

4. In this report, update your Alert Threshold and New Quantity values and save the file to your computer. Do not edit any other columns to prevent trouble uploading the file.

   Note: You can use this Excel (.xlsx) or .CSV file as an inventory report for stock tracking or download this report from the “Export Inventory” drop-down option.

5. Drag and drop your saved file to the Import Inventory window and click Upload.

6. Once the file is done uploading, click Confirm Import to confirm the changes.

7. Click Done.

8. Select Export Inventory from the drop-down menu to download, save and print this information for your records.

Note: The Import Inventory tool is only for adjusting inventory and alert threshold quantities. You cannot create or edit your items here. To bulk edit your item library, choose Import Items from the drop-down menu.

Component Inventory