I want to apply service charges only to certain items.

[Stella]

Hi, I would appreciate any help or feedback. To first provide some context: We have a restaurant that uses Square for retail because of the massive range of items we sell (not just food) and it has always just worked better for the way our business is operated. We also offer catering services, and charge an automatic service charges for our catering services. 

We want our catering to be offered online, however I am only finding that I am only able to automatically apply service charges per "pickup" or "delivery" and not by item. This is an issue; many of our items wouldn't need that charge- it's ONLY applicable to certain items (catering items). 

Is there not a way to apply automatic service charges by item, or even by category, instead of by "pickup" or "delivery?" And if there isn't, I would like to request this feature from Square. That, and a way for a guest to order online and select tax exempt- we are in a college town and have to refund tax FREQUENTLY for online orders, causing major paperwork headaches. 

[Ellie_]

Hi there, @Stella,

We hear your feedback and we really appreciate you taking the time to share how this limitation has impacted your business. Have you already posted this on our Square Ideate board? Members of our product teams view the posts on those boards and other Sellers can vote and post their opinions as well. 

[Stella]

I did just post it there as well. Thank you.

[Subport]

Hi @Stella 

Would you be able to change the tax so that it covers your service charge? Or how about adding an option/modifier that allows you to add that to each item as a service charge?

[Stella]

Several problems with that- 1) We have a ton of tax-exempt orders come through, and while I have found a work-around for tax-exempt orders, the taxes are all a lump sum on the customer's receipt, so we have people confused about why they are still being charged "tax" when really it's just that service charge (this IS what I have done for a workaround, but it is causing more and more frequent confusions on the customer's end), and 2) An option/modifier wouldn't adjust percentage-wise. For example, if we have a buffet with variations that adjust the headcount, the modifier would offer the same service charge for a buffet for 10 or a buffet for 100. 

I appreciate your ideas though! I am pulling my hair out trying to figure this one out. I think the best solution is simply for Square to let us apply service charges to specific items. Automatically adding service charges only by "pickup" or "delivery" is really limiting- I can see many ways that it could make this feature unusable for Square users of all types of different businesses as it is set up now- pretty much any business that offers items both "with" services provided and "without" services provided.