How do I allow customers to select a school for reporting

[479photo]

We run a school sports photography business. We take photos at the school and parents can preorder photo packages from our square site. I need to figure out a way to allow customers to select their school from a dropdown so that we can run reports afterwards to see what the total sales were from that school. I tried making modifiers with a dropdown of the school names and $0 value. However, when I run a modifier report it shows the quantity but zero dollars. Currently we are just manually entering the orders into a spreadsheet when they come in to track sales that way. Does anyone have a suggestion as to how we can do this?

[Stacelyn24]

Hey there — totally understand why you’d want a cleaner system than tracking everything manually. Using modifiers is smart, but like you mentioned, since they’re $0, the report only tracks quantity, not revenue per school.

One workaround that might help is using variations instead of modifiers. You could create a “School Name” item and list each school as a variation (still at $0), then have it added to each order. Variations show up better in reporting and can be filtered more easily by name.

Another option is to create separate items for each school (like “Photo Package – Lincoln High,” “Photo Package – Roosevelt Middle,” etc.). This way, sales are tracked individually, and you can run item-level sales reports per school — no spreadsheet needed.

Not perfect, but definitely more automated than what you’re doing now. Hope that helps!

[Summer2024 · Accepted solution]

Hi, @479photo ! Welcome to the Square Community! We are so happy to have you here. @Stacelyn24 provided an awesome workaround. I will also outline some potential workarounds as well so you can see what best fits your business needs. 😁

Here are several potential solutions to track school-based sales:

1. Categories Method (Recommended):

   • Instead of using modifiers, create separate categories for each school
   • Place identical photo packages under each school category
   • Benefits:
     • Can run sales reports by category
     • Shows both quantity AND revenue
     • Easier to track in the Square Dashboard
     • Can export category-based reports directly

2. Custom Fields Method:

   • Use Square's Custom Fields feature for online orders
   • Add a required custom field for "School Name"
   • Benefits:
     • Appears on receipts and in order details
     • Can be exported in transaction reports
     • Doesn't affect your item structure

3. SKU-Based Method:

   • Create unique SKUs for each school's packages
   • Example:
     • Basic Package for School A: "BASIC-SCHOOLA"
     • Basic Package for School B: "BASIC-SCHOOLB"
   • Benefits:
     • Can run SKU-based reports
     • Maintains price tracking
     • Easy to export and analyze

4. Location-Based Method (If you have Square Plus or above): (this one is also a bit more tricky)

   • Create different locations in Square for each school
   • Process orders under the appropriate location
   • Benefits:
     • Built-in location-based reporting
     • Clear separation of sales by school
     • Comprehensive sales data

Step-by-Step Implementation for Categories Method:

1. In your Square Dashboard, create a category for each school
2. Copy your photo packages into each school category
3. When processing orders, select items from the appropriate school category
4. Run "Category Sales Reports" to see both revenue and quantity by school

For Reporting:

• Use Square's Sales by Category report
• Export to CSV for additional analysis
• Can be automated to run on a schedule
• Shows both quantity and revenue

I hope this helps!