Get Started with Virtual Terminal

There are several ways to accept payments with Virtual Terminal:

^ There is no fee to accept other tender types. When you accept other tender types, Square doesn’t process any funds and functions only as an organisational tool. Money for these transactions is exchanged directly between you and your customer and will not be transferred by Square.

Note: No Square hardware is required to manually enter payments or accept card on file payments for one-off or recurring transactions using Virtual Terminal. A Square Terminal is required for in-person payments through Virtual Terminal.

Learn more about how processing fees and rates work.

• For in-person payments, when you connect Square Terminal with Virtual Terminal, the processing fee is 1.75% + VAT for every contactless or chip and PIN transaction. Pay 2.5% + VAT when you key in a credit or debit card number manually.

You can split a transaction into multiple payments of any tender in Virtual Terminal. When processing a customer’s purchase:

1. Go through the checkout flow from Virtual Terminal.
2. Add an optional note to the sale and select the reporting location. Click Next.
3. Click Split payment in the top-right corner.
4. Enter the first payment amount. You can select from Manually enter card, Customer card on file, Manually enter gift card, Record cash payment or Record other payment. You can also connect Square Terminal with Virtual Terminal for contactless in-person payments.
5. You also have the option to edit the split or cancel a completed payment should you need to change the amount or payment method. If you cancel one of the payment methods, ensure you complete the sale otherwise, it will be voided entirely. To cancel, click Reset split in the top-right corner.
6. If the payment failed, you can review the payment details to try again.
7. Continue processing the split payment amounts until the entire sale has been completed. You can send the customer a digital receipt via email or text message for the completed sale.

Note: Split payments do not currently support tips. To include a tip in a split payment, add it to your basket as a custom amount before selecting the ‘split payment’ option.

Streamline and automate your recurring payments right from your computer with Virtual Terminal. Save time, get paid on time, improve your cash flow and enhance customer relationships by easily scheduling recurring custom amounts or itemised sales for your repeat customers.

To accept recurring payments using Virtual Terminal, add a customer with a valid email address and Card on File. Learn more about best practices for accepting card-not-present payments.

Note: The first charge in the recurring series will occur immediately in Virtual Terminal. All subsequent charges will occur via recurring invoices which you can manage from your online Square Dashboard > Invoices. Your customer will receive a digital receipt for this and all subsequent recurring charges.

Learn more about scheduling recurring payments with Virtual Terminal.

You can view and manage your recurring payments at any time from your online Square Dashboard. To do so:

1. Go to Invoices.
2. Click Recurring.
3. Select a recurring series from the list to view, edit or end.

Learn more about scheduling recurring payments with Virtual Terminal.

Virtual Terminal on your laptop or desktop computer can wirelessly connect to one Square Terminal or many Square Terminal devices at a time for contactless in-person payments.

Learn how to connect Square Terminal to Virtual Terminal.

Send a link via text message for your customer to complete checkout using Square Online Checkout.

Learn how to send a payment link via text message using Square Terminal.

The Virtual Terminal Overview page will show you all of the transactions you’ve taken at a specific location. You can switch between locations using the location drop-down menu.

To filter your transactions, use the “Filter Activity” drop-down menu to easily find transactions based on a date range or transaction type.

If you select a specific transaction, you’ll be able to view more details, as well as send the receipt or issue a refund.

Go to Settings > Checkout from the Virtual Terminal Overview page to configure default transaction types and enable/disable service charges.

You can customise the payment method types you accept and arrange them in the order you’d like them to be displayed. The payment types you enable and disable will be reflected on the payment details in Virtual Terminal.

You can also choose to Collect Tips, and add your default tip amounts. Toggle Smart Tip Amounts so that charges under $10 add whole number tip amounts to the tipping flow, and charges over $10 add percentage tip amounts to the tipping flow.

When done changing your settings for Virtual Terminal, select Save.

When a customer makes a purchase from a Square seller, the transaction will show on their billing statement with an identification descriptor. By default, these descriptors begin with SQ followed by your BUSINESS_NAME.

Virtual Terminal has a customizable Statement Identification field to personalise this descriptor per order. Simply enter in your 20-character descriptor during checkout to help your customer easily identify a past transaction at your business.

If you are interested in this feature, contact Square Customer Success so we can activate it on your account.

You can configure your Team Management settings to grant access to Virtual Terminal. Before you can get started, you’ll need to create at least one team member.

Team members who wish to save customer information and charge a card on file using Virtual Terminal must have the following permissions enabled for their permission set:

• View, Edit, Create and Delete Customer Directory Data
• Add and Remove Customer Cards on File
• Use Virtual Terminal

To give a team member access to Virtual Terminal:

1. Go to Staff > Team > Permissions from your online Square Dashboard.
2. Select the permission set the team member is assigned to.
3. Check Use Virtual Terminal. If applicable, check Add and Remove Customer Cards on File and View, Edit, Create and Delete Customer Directory Data to allow this team member to save and charge cards on file using Virtual Terminal.
4. Click Continue > Select the access points that the team member can use their permissions at.
5. Click Save.

Note: Changes made to permission sets apply to all team members assigned to that permission set. Learn more about managing permission sets and permissions.

After you grant Virtual Terminal access to your team member, they’ll receive an email with instructions for setting up their account. Team members will be able to see only the account elements to which you have granted access.

Note: Permissions are only available through Square’s Team Management.

Plug a compatible USB barcode scanner into your computer, click the barcode scanner icon during checkout, and add items to your cart with ease.

Note: Bluetooth barcode scanners are currently not supported in Virtual Terminal.