Get Started with Square Contracts
With Square Contracts, you can create and send contracts right from your online Square Dashboard. Establish clear service agreements with your customers, secure digital signatures and help protect yourself against potential payment disputes.
Choose one of the predefined templates templates from Square and customize it to meet your needs, or build an entirely new template from scratch for your business. With Square Contracts you can:
Create custom clauses from scratch.
Duplicate, edit and reorder any clause in the template to best fit your contract.
Include your business logo and receipt background colour in the contract PDF.
Send contracts in bulk to up to 20 recipients at a time.
Note: Square Contracts only provides sample templates for you to create your own contract. Square does not provide any legal advice, and we do not guarantee or advise that any contract is suitable for your purposes or enforceable in any jurisdiction. See Square Contracts Terms and Conditions.
Create and Send a Contract
- Go to Customers > Contracts in your online Square Dashboard.
- Select New contract to select a standard or saved template and then click Create.
- Enter the recipient’s name or email address. You can also search for a customer saved in your Customer Directory.
- Fill out the customizable fields in your selected template, including:
- Contract name (required).
- Contract message (optional): This message will only be included in the email we send to your customer. It is not part of the contract.
- Contract overview (optional): An overview of your contract. If you write an overview, we will include it at the top of your contract.
- Under Payment, select from No Payment or Add payment information. If this contract requires payment, you can enter payment information here. You can also attach a Square invoice or estimate, even if the contract does not require payment information.
- Click Next to select the clauses you want in the contract. Square provides predefined clauses, but you can reorder, remove, or edit them as needed. You can also select Create a new clause. This new clause will not be saved to your clause library. Clauses are arranged in the order they will display.
- Click Next to preview the contract.
- Add the owner’s name. An e-signature and signed date will automatically populate.
- Select Share to either email the contract directly to your customer or download it as a PDF to deliver it manually.
- Click More > Contracts.
- Select + to select a standard or saved template and then click Create.
- Enter the recipient’s name or email address. You can also search for a customer saved in your Customer Directory.
- Fill out the customizable fields in your selected template, including:
- Contract name (required).
- Contract overview (optional): An overview of your contract. If you write an overview, we will include it at the top of your contract.
- You can attach a Square invoice or estimate.
- Add the owner’s name. An e-signature and signed date will automatically populate on the contract once sent.
- Contract message (optional): This message will only be included in the email we send to your customer. It is not part of the contract.
- Select Share to either email the contract directly to your customer or download it as a PDF to deliver it manually.
Send a Contract to Multiple Recipients
Create one contract and choose your recipients – then, we’ll create independent contracts for each recipient and send them separately for signature. You can send contracts in bulk to up to 20 recipients at a time.
Note: Bulk-sending contracts is not for multi-party negotiations where multiple signers need to review and complete the same contract.
- Go to Customers > Contracts in your online Square Dashboard.
- Select New contract, choose a template and click Create.
- Add your recipients to the contract. If a recipient is not an existing customer, you will be prompted to add the customer and their contact details to your Directory. Learn how to manage customer profiles in your directory.
- Continue filling out the customizable fields in your template. Keep in mind that Payment information cannot be tailored for each recipient and will be the same for all customers on the contract. Note: Adding an invoice or estimate isn’t available when sending a contract to multiple recipients.
- Click Next to select the clauses you want to include in the contract. Square provides predefined clauses that you can reorder, remove or edit as needed.
- Click Next to preview the contract. You can view each contract for each recipient and choose from a dropdown list of recipients to flip between contracts.
- You can save your contract for later by clicking Save as draft. If you save your contract as a draft, you’ll see one line in your Contracts Dashboard that indicates it’s a multiple-recipient draft.
- Select Share to either email the contract directly to your customers or download a PDF to deliver it manually. You can track the progress of each contract individually from your dashboard after you share it with your customers.
Edit a Contract
If an unsigned contract is in the In review status, you can still make changes to it.
- Go to Customers > Contracts in your online Square Dashboard.
- Find the In review contract you want to edit, select Edit.
- Once you finish editing the contract, send the updated version to your customer for signing.
When a contract is in the Edit state, your customer will automatically be locked out of the contract to prevent them from signing it as you make updates. Once you finish editing, share the edited contract with your customer. They’ll receive an email about the updated contract prompting them to review and sign the newest version.
Cancel a Contract
If a contract has been shared with your customer but it hasn’t been signed, you can cancel the contract to void the terms. The customer will see a banner that states the date of cancellation and they will also receive a cancellation email notification.
- Go to Customers > Contracts in your online Square Dashboard.
- Find the In review contract you want to cancel, select Cancel.
- Confirm the cancellation by clicking Yes, cancel.
Once the contract is cancelled, you can archive or delete the cancelled contract from your Dashboard.
Note: Signed contracts cannot be cancelled. You can only cancel contracts that have been emailed or downloaded or are in review.
Create Contract Templates
Instead of creating a contract from scratch each time, you can create custom templates with your business-specific information to save time and easily update any future contracts.
Template Options
| Template | Overview |
|---|---|
| Credit card authorization form | This contract template gives you authorization to store a customer’s card information and charge it as agreed upon. Use this for repeat customers or subscription services. Once a customer signs and submits this contract, their card information will automatically be added to their Customer Directory profile under Card on File. |
| Services agreement | Set clear expectations with your customers about your service. |
| Sale of goods contract | Set clear expectations with your customers about your physical or digital products with this template. |
| Completion of services contract | Use this template once your business completes any services sold to a customer. This agreement helps you obtain written acknowledgement from your customer that your services were successfully completed as described. It can also provide added protection during a payment dispute process. |
| Confirmation of delivery contract | Use this template to obtain written acknowledgement from customers that the products they purchased were successfully delivered as described. This agreement can provide added protection during a payment dispute process. |
Create a Contract Template
Build your own contract template or edit one of the predefined templates from Square to meet your business needs.
- Go to Customers > Contracts in your online Square Dashboard.
- Click Templates.
- Select Create a template. Here, you can add your business details to the Template and Contract sections. Then, click Next.
- Add the clauses you want to apply to the contract. For custom templates, you need to include at least one clause.
- Click Save.
- Go to Customers > Contracts in your online Square Dashboard.
- Click Templates.
- Under Customize an existing template, select the Square template you want to use and click Create template or Create contract.
- Add your business details to the Template and Contract sections, then click Next.
- Add the clauses you want to apply to the contract. Edit, add, remove and rearrange any of the clauses.
- Click Save.
Note: You can copy and edit a standard template to create a new custom template. Your new templates will be saved under Custom templates and in the template selector of your Contracts page.
Contract Clauses
Use the clause library to create and manage a set of custom clauses you can add to any contract or template.
Contracts support two different types of clauses: default clauses provided by Square and custom clauses created by you. There are three different types of custom clauses you can create:
Library clauses: Create a custom clause in your clause library to add to any templates or individual contracts. You can only create, edit or delete library clauses from within the clause library.
Template clauses: Custom clauses created for specific custom templates.
Contract clauses: Custom clauses created for individual contracts.
- Go to Customers > Contracts in your online Square Dashboard, and click Clauses.
- Click +.
- Enter the Clause Title (required) and Clause Description. (required). You can also check the box if you require customer initials.
- Click Save.
As you add clauses, you can edit, duplicate or delete your custom clauses and use the search bar to navigate your clause library.
Create Custom Contract Fields
With custom contract fields, you can choose what information you want to collect from your customers, such as addresses, phone numbers or contract-specific details. To get started:
From your online Square Dashboard go to Customers > Contracts > Templates.
Under Customize an existing template, select the Square template you want to use and click Create template.
Add your business details to the Template and Contract sections. Then click Next.
Add any clauses to the contract. You can also edit, remove and rearrange clauses in this step.
For Invoices Plus subscribers, select Add custom fields. Drag and drop fields to create a question. Click Continue.
Click Save.
Attach Contracts to Your Square Payments
You can link Square contracts to specific payments in your online Square Dashboard, either from your Transactions page or when you create a new Square Invoice or Appointment.
Attaching your contracts to the related payments allows you to keep track of all the important information about a particular sale in one place. It’s also a good dispute management practice if a customer ever disputes a payment. Collecting all the important details for a sale across your customer profile, transaction history and documentation organizes your Dashboard effectively and efficiently.
- Go to the Transactions tab in your online Square Dashboard.
- Select the transaction to see the transaction details.
- Click …, then select Attach a contract from the drop-down menu.
- Use the search tool to select the Square Contract you want to attach, then select Save.
- Go to Payments > Invoices in your online Square Dashboard.
- Select Create Invoice.
- Fill in the required invoice details, and select Attach a Square Contract in the More options section.
- Select between New contract or Existing contract and follow the steps.
- Click Save.
For Invoices Plus users, you may add a setting that requires your customer to sign a contract before making a payment. Simply toggle Require contract signature before payment, which appears in the Contracts section once a contract has been attached.
When you enable the Appointments integration from your Appointments Settings page, we’ll automatically generate a contract with the customer’s details provided upon requesting a booking, using the template you chose in their settings for that business location. Any payments made towards that appointment will be associated with the contract automatically. To enable contracts with Appointments:
- Go to Customers > Appointments in your online Square Dashboard.
- Click on Settings then Communications.
- Under Digital customer contracts, toggle on Send a digital contract to all customers upon booking.
- Select the contract template.
- Click Done > Save.
You can also attach contracts to your invoices on the Square Invoices app and the Square Point of Sale app on compatible iOS and Android devices.
Contracts FAQ
If you send your contract via email, the recipient will receive an email from Square Contracts. When they open the email, they’ll see your business name as well as a prompt to sign the contract electronically. To sign the contract, the recipient will:
- Click Review & sign in the email.
- Securely view the contract, and electronically initial and sign.
- Select Finish & send to finalize the contract. A PDF copy of the finalized contract will be emailed to you and the recipient for record keeping. You can resend a copy of the contract at any time from your Dashboard.
Square Contracts only provides sample templates for you to create your own contract. Square does not provide any legal advice, and we do not guarantee or advise that any contract is suitable for your purposes or enforceable in any jurisdiction. Square provides these templates to individuals choosing to prepare their own contractual documents for their private use. If you need legal advice as to the accuracy, sufficiency or enforceability of specific contract terms, you should consult with a practising lawyer.
For more information, please view Square Contracts Terms and Conditions.
In the Payment schedule section of the contract, select Multiple payments. This allows you to split the total cost of a project into two payments – a deposit and a final payment.
Each Square template will have a set of clauses already preselected for you. This is just a starting point for the template you select. You can reorder, remove or edit clauses to customize the contract. Some of the predefined clauses will have placeholder text in brackets for you to fill in.
To further customize contract templates to fit your business, you the option to select No payment information. This option is great if you need the flexibility of excluding detailed payment information, such as payment amount and due dates. Currently, this is most common for the Completion of Services, Confirmation of Delivery or the COVID-19 Agreement templates.