Square Invoices can help get you paid faster by encouraging your customer to pay online via credit or debit card through our secure portal, instead of mailing in a check. Square Invoices are also more cost effective to process than a manually entered credit card taken over the phone (2.9%+$0.30 vs. 3.5%+$0.15).
In this post we'll cover some tips on how you can create, customize, and send Invoices in a few easy steps:
- Create or import items
- Customize your invoices
- Add or import customers
- Send invoices on your mobile device or computer
- Store your customer card information
Create or Import Items
An item library helps you to create invoices even faster, as it keeps prices and item details saved. You can build your item library through your online Dashboard, or through your mobile device.
Here’s how to do it in your online Dashboard:
- Visit Items from your online Square Dashboard and either manually enter each item by clicking Create Item at the top-right corner or upload a CSV file with your item information by clicking Import Items.
- If you click Create Item to manually input items, you can enter a variety of descriptive fields about each item that can help you track and manage your items. But at a minimum we recommend adding the following information:
Fill in the name of your Product or Service in the field “Item Name”
Add the price of your Product or Service next to the “Regular” descriptor
- If you click Import Items to upload a CSV file with your items, you can download a CSV template and enter a variety of descriptive fields about each item that can help you track and manage your items. But at a minimum we recommend adding the following information:
Fill in the name of your Product or Service in the column “Item Name”.
Add the price of your Product or Service in the column “Price”
Your item library also maps to your sales reports, which gives you more granular data about what your customers are buying, and when. An added bonus!
Customize Your Invoices
Customize your invoices by adding a logo, business information, or color. Aligning your invoices with your business brand creates a more polished look for your customer, and is helpful in preventing chargebacks. Here’s how:
- Log in to your Square Dashboard
- Visit Account & Settings > Receipt
- Find the “Receipt Header” section and make the following changes (which will apply to both your Receipts and your Invoices):
- Change the color of your Invoices by selecting a color
- Add your business logo, business name, and business address to your Invoices - Click Save and you’re ready to go! The changes will automatically apply to both your digital receipts, and your Invoices.
Add or Import Customers
If you're on a computer:
- Visit Customers in your online Dashboard.
- Click Create Customer
- Enter your customer’s information -
Tip: you can enter a lot of information about your customers but at a minimum we recommend adding their First Name, Last Name, and Email Address to make creating and sending invoices easier. - Click Save.
If you're on your mobile device:
- Tap the drop-down arrow in the upper-right > Add Customer.
- Tap Create New Customer and enter their information.
- Tap Save.
If you have a long list of existing customers you want to add to Customer Directory, it may be easiest for you to import your customer list. To import customers:
- Visit Customers > Directory
- Click Import/Export and select Import Customers
- Upload a CSV file of your customer list or import your customers directly from MailChimp or ConstantContact. You can also fill out and upload a template CSV file provided
- Create or select the Group you would like to add your customers to
- Assign fields to your customer information
- Click Import
Send invoices on your mobile device or computer
Create Invoices from the Square App on your mobile device:
- Download the latest version of the app from the App Store or Google Play Store
- Open the app and select Invoices from the navigation menu.
- Click the Create Invoice button.
- Enter your customer’s name and email address > click Add to Invoice.
- If you want to send this invoice at a later date, click on the Send option and choose another send date.
- Click Add Item to add items from your item library.
- Click Send.
Create Invoices online in Dashboard on your computer:
- Navigate to Invoices in your online Square Dashboard > click Create Invoice.
- Select a customer from your Customer Directory, or enter a new name and email address. You can enter up to 9 recipients.
- Add the invoice details. Select items and apply modifiers by clicking Customize. Add any applicable discounts. Note that any discounts you select here will apply to the entire sale.
- Click Send. Or, if you’re charging a customer’s payment card on file, select a payment card from the drop down list below Payment > select a date to charge the card > Charge.
Store your Customer Card Information
If you let customers store their credit card information on file, it'll make it easier for them to pay your next invoice. Square will securely store their credit card information for you and the next time you go to send an invoice to that customer you can choose to “Charge their card on file”. Here’s how:
- Create an invoice in your online Dashboard and in the Payment section check to “Allow Customer to save their card.”
- Your customer will then receive your invoice with the option to save their credit card information with you by selecting “I authorize XXXX to store and charge this card for future purchases as agreed until I cancel this authorization.”
- The next time you need to invoice your customer, enter their name and email address in the “Customer” section and select their stored card on file to “Charge Immediately”. Your customer’s credit card will be charged immediately saving both you and your customer time!
Learn more about using card on file with Square invoices, and check out this video for some more tips on using advanced features of Square invoices:
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