Feature Request: Keep Tabs Open Without Requiring Card Reauthorization Or Removal of Card

[glounge]

Square should allow a manager to reopen a tab that an employee accidentally closed without requiring the customer to present their card again.

Currently, the only available option appears to be removing the card from the tab and leaving the tab open, hoping the customer does not leave before returning to close it out.

This is not a reliable or practical solution.

In a busy bar with 300 guests, closing the wrong tab is an understandable staff error. Correcting it should be quick and controlled. Requiring the customer to reauthorize their card forces staff to locate one specific guest in a crowded venue, even though that guest already provided their card to open the tab.

Guests move around, join friends, and may not remain near the bartender who originally served them. Searching for them takes staff away from other customers, slows service, and creates unnecessary confusion. It also places the burden of correcting an employee mistake on the customer and creates the risk that the customer will leave before the tab can be closed properly.

Managers need a secure way to correct this immediately. The feature should include:

• Manager approval to reopen an accidentally closed tab.
• The ability to keep the original card associated with the tab without requiring reauthorization.
• Restoration of the tab’s items and transaction history.
• Clear payment status and safeguards against duplicate charges.
• An audit trail showing who closed and reopened the tab, when, and why.

If Square cannot restore the original card authorization, it should provide a secure manager-approved workflow that keeps the tab open without requiring the card to be removed and without relying on the customer to return before closing time.

An accidental tap should not force staff to remove the card and hope the customer does not leave. A controlled reopening option would help staff correct honest mistakes promptly, protect payment accuracy, and keep service moving without unnecessarily inconveniencing the guest.

I have worked Aloha, Toast and Shift 4 and they allow this.