Non for Profit or incorporated organisations

[WalkWithUs]

Hi everyone.

Looking for some assistance in setting up a Square account but we are an incorporated organisation (non for profit) so it is not allowing me to finalise set up. Any tips or hints on what I need to do please and thank you.

Nikki

[Seamus · Accepted solution]

Hey @VHHC and @LynYork,

Thanks for reaching out.

I understand this is a disappointing experience at the moment for many clubs and associations who use "Other Incorporated Entity" and "Other Unincorporated Entity" ABN Types and wish to sign up to use Square for card payments.

We're looking into ways we may be able to onboard more ABN types in the future, and while I'm not able to share any timelines around new potential features, this is something we're hoping to be able to accommodate in the future. You can read a little more on this here.

[Remi]

Sure sounds frustrating to have made it this far only to find out it isn't possible. 

Apparently Square decided to silently change their policy here in Aus around what business/legal entities are "supported" (after tests) - due to the additional work that would mean Square had to do on the legal, reporting and security aspects of their platform.

It seems incredibly disappointing given the low cost/tech entry Square offers and the opportunity for NFP, Inc and other orgs ... but sadly that doesn't seem to be in Square's current game plan.

And given it'd be quite a chunk of work, I'd imagine Squares response will be "we can't offer a timeline or confirm any future support around this matter" - it's seemingly  par for the course around these parts.

Hope you find a viable solution.

[LynYork]

Very disappointed 

[VHHC]

Same experience, as thanks for the post, but unfortunately nothing has changed.

Pity, as this was a great solution for our sporting club needs.

[Seamus · Accepted solution]

Hey @VHHC and @LynYork,

Thanks for reaching out.

I understand this is a disappointing experience at the moment for many clubs and associations who use "Other Incorporated Entity" and "Other Unincorporated Entity" ABN Types and wish to sign up to use Square for card payments.

We're looking into ways we may be able to onboard more ABN types in the future, and while I'm not able to share any timelines around new potential features, this is something we're hoping to be able to accommodate in the future. You can read a little more on this here.

[ZontaDunsboroug]

Hi there - our non for profit is incorporated in WA.  The Zonta Club of Dunsborough Inc.  We changed banks to be able to use Square.  Our former Treasurer set up the Square account, not knowing that we would not be eligible - the info was not clear. 

And I believe such organisations deserve a very speedy response and a timeline for when  we can expect incorporated not for profits to be able to use Square for payments at fundraisers.  We are a purely volunteer organisation and the process of switching banks are registering for Square has been very time-consuming.  I cannot find any phone number to actually talk to Customer Support and have sent messages to Customer Support via squareup.com 4 times in 3 weeks - with no reply yet.   

Please advise ASAP.  Thanks - Joyce Odom, Zonta Club of Dunsborough Inc

[Seamus]

Hi @ZontaDunsboroug,

Thanks for reaching out.

While we're not able to look into account specifics via this forum, if you'd like to speak with support you can call on 1800 760 137. Lines are open Mon-Fri, 9am-5pm Melbourne time!

[geekay]

Have you made any progress with this issue? It is over 12 months since you said "We're looking into ways we may be able to onboard more ABN types in the future,"

[Seamus]

Hey @geekay,

Plenty of progress has been made - though it's not visible publicly unfortunately! 

Our team have been and continue working on a solution for the most common NFP/association based ABNs and we hope to have more to announce here within a few months. Sorry I can't be of more immediate help, but it's coming! I'll be updating this thread once I have more I'm able to share.

[KristyMcWillia]

The not-for-profit that I represent moved a motion to purchase the square equipment prior to my appointment as treasurer. We also secured a funding grant to purchase the square equipment for me to spend 2 weeks trying to work out why I can't complete the setup. It took quite some investigation to arrive here to find the answer. It should be made very clear that you don't support not for profits up front. 

What a ridiculous waste of time and energy. I hope we can get a refund on the equipment.

[Seamus]

Hey @KristyMcWillia,

Sorry to hear about your experience here, that sounds understandably frustrating!

We're planning on launching support for the follow couple of ABNs quite soon:

Other Incorporated Entity
Other Unincorporated Entity

You could either wait until we launch official support for your NFP ABN, or return the hardware to the place of purchase for a full refund. If you purchased from Square's website read more about returning hardware here. I don't have a set timeframe, but we're in the process of testing for launch - hopefully within a few weeks.

[RUMPUS]

My NFP Incorporated Association has had the same issue as has been outlined several times above. It's very frustrating that Square which has the perfect set-up and fee structure for a NFP with small turnover hasn't been able to service that sector. I much prefer Square but have been forced to use PayPal as they have no such limitations. Could you please update as soon as it's possible for Incorporated Associations to use Square?

[SpanishClubSA]

I have been asked to investigate linking our social club's use of Square for POS payments to our Facebook page. However, reading the posts above, I'm not confident this is achievable. I find I am being driven through a registration and setup path before understanding clearly what commitments I am making on behalf of the club. Has anyone been through this and can explain it in simple terms?

[Patryck]

Hi,

Any updates as to when "Other Unincorporated entity" ABN types in Australia will be able to use Square terminals to accept payments?

PayPal is stopping their PayPal Here terminal offering in Australia on June, so there's a big opportunity for Square... 

Thanks! 

[HFS-Melbourne]

If you have an ABN and try and register an account BEFORE buying a square site checkedand validates your ABN and told me it will not support me - so I advise to try that

There's no money and nothing committed - as they just rejected me as not supported so I did not see a great risk in this

I assume I could then go and buy a Square afterwards but I never got to that point

My not-for-profit is with Bendigo bank and we get a free loan of a EFTPOS machine for a day - I have to pick it up and drop it off - so its not really convenient  and I'm still waiting for Square to fix this but it works for us at the moment

[Seamus · Accepted solution]

Support for the two most common association-based ABNs is available now. Read more about it here🙂

@HFS-Melbourne @RUMPUS @WalkWithUs @Patryck @SpanishClubSA @ZontaDunsboroug @VHHC @geekay @LynYork @KristyMcWillia