I love the direction Square is taking with this update! As a beauty business owner who has used Square for over eight years, I can see how much this will improve daily operations.
1. Individual Service Pricing & Duration
We have several lash technicians, and each one takes a different amount of time to complete the same service. Currently, our front desk uses a cheat sheet to remember each lash technician’s service duration time for each service and manually adjust appointments for every appointment.
Being able to set the duration for each service provider for every service would eliminate that extra step, reduce scheduling mistakes, and help prevent service providers from being booked incorrectly. Since our lash technicians work on commission (their Independent Contractors), accurate scheduling is especially important because if they’re not booked they do not get paid. Our receptionist and Admin team are responsible for booking our service providers and that team is paid hourly to do so but unfortunately some of them can’t comprehend that a white gap on a service providers calendar means they are not making money and all of their appointments should be booked back to back as if they were clocked in like an employee so they can have a great paycheck every Friday. This feature will ensure everything is booked back to back because the duration is set for the specific staff member and the time they take to do the service.
I also believe pricing should be customizable by service provider. Service providers have different experience levels, skill sets, and work performance, so their pricing should not have to be identical to those who are not up to par or just now starting out.
2. Automatically Updating Prices When Changing Service Providers
If we change the service provider assigned to an appointment, the price should automatically update to that provider’s established service price.
For example, if Sarah charges $150 for a service and Becky charges $175, switching the appointment from Sarah to Becky should automatically update the price to $175. Switching it back should restore Sarah’s $150 price.
Since Square’s Register, Dashboard, iPad, and mobile app are connected, the updated price should carry over across all devices and appear correctly at checkout without manual adjustments.
If an appointment was accidentally left under the wrong service provider and the customer was overcharged, we should still be able to issue a partial refund. Square already allows businesses to enter a custom refund amount, so this should transition well into the workflow.
For example, if a customer was overcharged $25, we can already enter $25 as the refund amount rather than refunding the entire transaction. That existing functionality should continue to work alongside automatic provider-based pricing.
The goal is to have pricing update automatically when service providers change while keeping the flexibility to correct a transaction when necessary.
3. Smart Scheduling Gaps — An Additional Feature Suggestion
I would love to see Square build on this update with a feature that helps businesses fill available appointment gaps.
When a receptionist selects an empty space on a service provider’s calendar, Square should automatically display:
- The exact amount of available time.
- Which services that specific service provider can complete within that time since it’s selected in their profile.
- Which combinations of services can fit without exceeding the available time.
For example, if Shanora has a 75-minute opening, the system could recognize that her 2 Week Lash Fill takes 75 minutes, her Brazilian wax takes 30 minutes, and her underarm wax takes 10 minutes.
It could suggest the lash fill as one option or the Brazilian and underarm wax as another.
Because each service provider’s service durations would already be saved, Square could generate these suggestions automatically on the calendar when we hover over the empty white gap.
This would eliminate unnecessary mental calculations, help front desk employees book more accurately, and make better use of available appointment times.
4. Client-Specific Deposit Requirements
Another important feature I have discussed with the product team is the ability to require deposits from specific clients without changing booking requirements for everyone.
Our business currently allow clients to keeps cards on file, but occasionally a client’s card declines when we attempt to collect a cancellation fee. We then require that client to pay a deposit before booking with us again because we didn’t get paid for the slot they took up. Whether they were a no show or cancelled after the allotted timeframe we couldn’t collect the cancellation fee because their card declined.
Currently, this involves manually sending an invoice and managing the booking restriction through workarounds.
I would love the ability to flag an individual client’s profile as “Deposit Required” and establish customizable deposit rules.
For example, our policy is:
- Services over $35 require a $35 deposit.
- Services under $35 require full payment.
- Permanent makeup services require a $99 deposit.
Once a client is flagged, the system should automatically apply the appropriate deposit requirement when they attempt to book.
Businesses should not have to make every customer follow stricter booking rules because a smaller group of clients repeatedly creates problems.
5. Service Provider Commission & Payroll Automation
I would also love to see commission percentages customizable by individual service and service provider.
Not every service provider earns the same commission percentage. Experience, performance, tenure, and the specific service performed can all affect compensation.
For example, Sarah may earn 25% on a full set of lashes, while Becky earns 30% for the same service.
Ideally, Square would allow us to assign those commission rates under *each service provider’s profile for *every service because the service commission is different as well for each individual service, then automatically calculate their earnings from completed transactions, including their assigned tips.
One challenge we currently experience is that selecting the service provider at checkout is not available consistently across all register modes. Because of this, we use modifiers to identify which service provider performed a service.
I would love to see a consistent service provider selection option at checkout, directly connected to commission reporting and payroll.
Each completed transaction should assign the appropriate service revenue, service commission, and tip to the selected service provider. The system should then generate an individual earnings report for each service provider for that pay period.
There should also be a way to make adjustments when two service providers perform services for the same client (they both contribute to the service).
For example: For instance, if a client is booked for a full set of lashes, which is a two-hour service, Sarah is on the client’s lashes for 30 minutes, while Becky is lashing her for an hour and 30 minutes. If this is booked on the calendar correctly, payroll should be able to calculate the commission for each person based on the *transaction amount paid and the *time they spent on the client or we should be able to manually adjust it because both names were selected on the transaction if the system needs help answering or verification of approval.
Currently, our payroll process involves reviewing transaction history, transferring information into spreadsheets, and manually calculating commissions. This can take approximately 2.5 hours.
With accurate provider-level commission automation, that process could potentially be reduced to approximately 30 minutes of reviewing and correcting any exceptions.
Square already offers payroll, but these missing features prevent us from fully using it for our commission-based business.
Final Thoughts
What excites me most about this update is how these features could work together.
Individual service durations improve booking accuracy. Individual pricing makes checkout more accurate. Smart scheduling helps fill openings. Provider-level commissions connect completed services to payroll.
Each improvement removes another manual step and allows businesses to spend less time managing workarounds.
After more than eight years with Square, I have developed a deep understanding of the platform through daily use. I genuinely enjoy identifying gaps in workflows, recognizing patterns, and thinking through how different features could work together more efficiently.
I have shared feedback with several account managers and have enjoyed the opportunity to discuss potential improvements with the product team.
Square has occasionally made changes that created new challenges for our operations, but seeing updates like this makes me excited about where the platform is heading.
I truly appreciate the opportunity to contribute feedback and would love to continue helping shape a platform that better supports the beauty industry and other service-based businesses.
