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Feature request - surcharges

Beta Member

Feature request - surcharges

When will it be possible to configure surcharges in Square?

I see some old discussion topics (2 years) saying it is on the roadmap.

 

There are several reasons why we need surcharges but the two big ones for me:

1. Apply a credit card surcharge to all card transactions

2. Apply a Sunday or public holiday surcharge. This is pretty essential in Australia due to the higher wage costs.

 

Needs to be automated and rules-based.

1 Verified Answer
Verified Answer

Re: Feature request - surcharges

EDIT (July 2022): We've started to roll out Service Charges (AKA Surcharges) in Australia, which you can read more about here. The first iteration supports:

 

  • The Square Point of Sale app
  • Manually applied fixed ($) or variable (%) surcharges

In future iterations of Service Charges we hope to support:

  • More Square products (eg Square for Restaurants, Square for Retail, Invoices etc)
  • Automated service charges, so you won't need to manually add it

---------------


Hey @mikesee,

 

I'm sorry to say that I don't have an update on surcharges right now.

 

We're still tracking feedback on this and it's a popular request from Australian sellers. For now we recommend building surcharging into the overall price of your goods as you might other operating expenses, or you can manually calculate a surcharge into the overall cost of a given transaction.

 

If you would like to pass on credit card processing charges to your customers, you can use the following to calculate what you would charge.

 

 

For transactions put through a Square Reader at 1.9%:

Transaction amount divided by 0.981

e.g. $100 / 0.981 = $101.94 - you'd add $1.94 as a 1.9% surcharge.

 

 

For “Card not Present” transactions at 2.2%:

Transaction amount divided by 0.978

E.g. $100 / 0.978 = $102.25 - you'd add $2.25 as a 2.2% surcharge.

 

 

For transactions put through Square Terminal at 1.6%:

Transaction amount divided by 0.984

e.g. $100 / 0.984 = $101.63 - you'd add $1.63 as a 1.6% surcharge.

 

 

Why Wouldn’t I Just Add 1.9% or 2.2%?

Square’s card processing fees are based on the overall transaction amount, so if you’re adding $1.90 to a $100 transaction, the transaction becomes $101.90, not $100. Using the above formulas accounts for this small change to the overall fee on transactions if you’re adding a surcharge

 

 

Should you decide to apply a surcharge, it is your responsibility adhere to Australian regulations as set out by the ACCC.

186 Comments
Admin

EDIT (July 2022): We've started to roll out Service Charges (AKA Surcharges) in Australia, which you can read more about here. The first iteration supports:

 

  • The Square Point of Sale app
  • Manually applied fixed ($) or variable (%) surcharges

In future iterations of Service Charges we hope to support:

  • More Square products (eg Square for Restaurants, Square for Retail, Invoices etc)
  • Automated service charges, so you won't need to manually add it

---------------


Hey @mikesee,

 

I'm sorry to say that I don't have an update on surcharges right now.

 

We're still tracking feedback on this and it's a popular request from Australian sellers. For now we recommend building surcharging into the overall price of your goods as you might other operating expenses, or you can manually calculate a surcharge into the overall cost of a given transaction.

 

If you would like to pass on credit card processing charges to your customers, you can use the following to calculate what you would charge.

 

 

For transactions put through a Square Reader at 1.9%:

Transaction amount divided by 0.981

e.g. $100 / 0.981 = $101.94 - you'd add $1.94 as a 1.9% surcharge.

 

 

For “Card not Present” transactions at 2.2%:

Transaction amount divided by 0.978

E.g. $100 / 0.978 = $102.25 - you'd add $2.25 as a 2.2% surcharge.

 

 

For transactions put through Square Terminal at 1.6%:

Transaction amount divided by 0.984

e.g. $100 / 0.984 = $101.63 - you'd add $1.63 as a 1.6% surcharge.

 

 

Why Wouldn’t I Just Add 1.9% or 2.2%?

Square’s card processing fees are based on the overall transaction amount, so if you’re adding $1.90 to a $100 transaction, the transaction becomes $101.90, not $100. Using the above formulas accounts for this small change to the overall fee on transactions if you’re adding a surcharge

 

 

Should you decide to apply a surcharge, it is your responsibility adhere to Australian regulations as set out by the ACCC.

Beta Member

Including the CC fee in the regular price is do-able.

But changing the price of every item, every Sunday, is not really do-able.

Manually entering a surcharge for every sale would be a nightmare.

 

So yeah, another vote for that feature from Oz!

Admin

I'll update this thread and tag you if / when we see some change here @mikesee!

And another vote for this

Beta Member

So when giving any receipt it would be great to be able to access the phones contact list.

Also having a option to pass on the 1.9% per sale would de great.

Admin

Hey @Mmp74,

 

I've moved your post to this thread so we can track demand for surcharges - it's a feature we're considering for Australia.

 

You won't be able to capture phone numbers used to send receipts for privacy reasons (eg a phone number given for the purposes of receiving a receipt doesn't allow that to be used for any other purpose), however if you get your customer's permission to store their details you can do so via the customer directory. Hope this helps! 

Beta Member

A option for surcharge would be both great and legal, so people don't charge more.

 

A option to search in phone contacts eg a few of my customers are in my address book and would be great to search from address book to give receipt. 

Would like to vote for this feature as well please for Square Online. Currently we can't charge 10% surcharge on public holidays for online orders. Is there a workaround for this?

Admin

Hey miso_hangry,

 

There's no workaround at the moment unfortunately.

 

You could add a custom tax for a public holiday surcharge, however custom taxes are applied to a pre-existing tax amount of the transaction. So if you have GST turned on, your 10% public holiday "tax" would be calculating that 10% on a pre-GST amount, not the total amount of the transaction. You may wish to do this anyway, but it's not going to work in the exact way you're looking for here unfortunately!

As a suggestion, although automated increases by day of week aren't currently possible...
If you were to duplicate your menu as a separate category "Sunday Trading", you would simply need to expand that portion of the screen on Sunday's. Initially annoying no doubt, I don't think there is a copy paste of items, but it is a work-around. Possibly preface all item names with Sunday- to insure staff don't pull up the wrong item.  Sunday- Cappuchino, etc.

 

I'll be doing something similar for offering in-store listed items as online checkout links with shipping included (no-one wants to pay for shipping)

If Square was to set it so entire Categories could be enabled/disabled this would be a more robust solution.


Coding wise, there are already Discount's so a Surcharge shouldn't be hard to implement....
I've long wished for a surcharge option, and frankly it is more costly time-wise to process a card transaction than a simple $50 note, thank-you, next? 
As such for farm-gate sales, I round down and round off for cash. Preferable to someone cycling through the cards in their wallet looking for one with enough balance to use, calling their boss for PIN number.
ie. Cash or Card? $80 will do, thanks vs $83.72... tap there... would you like a receipt... please enter in your phone # or email... 
Having card processing is great, and a wonderful service, but...
{Trade, cash, need a receipt?... $83, where's my pen 😄 }