Pre-defined variations for service items

[Detailworks]

I use the services library for a detailing business and they're typically setup in a way where you have the same service that's priced differently depending on the size of the vehicle. The size of the vehicle can be a set list (roadster, compact sedan, SUV, etc) and variations in the service are perfect for this.

However, it seems that options (used for items) aren't available to be used in services and there's no way to define a set of variations so I have to copy and paste each of my 4 variation names into every single service. And if I want to adjust the variations for all services, it's also a manual process.

A setup similar to options in items would be amazing for variations in services. Any reason this doesn't exist?

[TheRealChipA]

Hi there @Detailworks.  Honestly, I wish we fellow sellers had an answer to the “why doesn’t this exist” question.  Not being a service provider, I hadn’t used the service library much and I did not realize just how limited it was compared to the item editor.  This means that your post falls into what we call a feature request.  You can submit a feature request here, but this just gets the ball rolling toward hopefully eventually getting this deficiency corrected.  Not only can’t you use re-usable options to create variations with services, there is also no Duplicate service action where you can use one as a template for the others, AND there is no import function like there is for items.  That is all very odd to me, but also very true.  At this point, your only option is to bite the bullet and do things manually.

If you don’t fall into the trap of making it too complicated, or requesting more than one feature at a time.  That will get it rejected immediately.  In your case, I’d submit a request that is very simple — give us the same editing/option/import-export/duplicate functionality for service libraries that exists for item catalogs so that we don’t have so much manual work to do.

Otherwise, I’m going to tag some fellow Square Champions who use the service library and see if they have any insight that I don’t have.

@EcoAutoClean,@dasap1234,@Doran,@rjonin,@vinesandrushes,@DinaLRosenberg,@MudFire_Dex,@mdgolden01,@Stacelyn24,@BMarxMed,@jjsmeatshak1,@Brewk12,@tl6734,@CareyJo,@a440,@TCSlaguna,@arickrtattoos,@Simplystunnin01,@Bronze_Palms,@RMConsultingLLC,

[TheRealChipA]

@namastewatford,@LukeNieuw,@Minion,@jmack1992,@ReginaRMT,@JessPoynter,@dieterslicke,@nell_a,@MALqueerhair,@SiBellebeauty,@cadresalon,@SVLFever,@Mobilebarn,

[Detailworks]

Hey @TheRealChipA, thanks for the reply! Ok cool I will definitely send a feature request. Thanks for the tip about keeping it as simple as possible 👍

[Minion]

Hey @Detailworks 

I'm in the auto industry myself and use both the service library and items, more so the service side of I.  My services are pretty straight forward and not as detailed (no pun intended) as yours. 

What type of variations are you using that you have to manually insert?  Just trying to get a better picture. 

As @TheRealChipA stated, this may need to be a feature request, and could probably be pretty beneficial to y workflow as well.

[Detailworks]

Hey thanks for the reply @Minion

I really only use variations for car sizes in each service. Example...

In every single service, each variation name has to be entered manually (see below) in a simple text input. It would be super helpful to have a more structured system where multiple services can use the same variations in a dropdown or autocomplete.

[Minion]

Ahh yes, okay that's what I thought.   For an undercoating in my library I have one category NHOU with a variable price but with 0.00 amount set 

I have pricing for Car, Suv, Mid Truck/Van, Full Size Truck and then HD Truck and I just input those manually depending on the vehicle.  

I found that way for me to be easier because of how slow sometimes it takes the backend of Square to load suggestions when typing etc.  

Beliners I have those options set individual on 4 different bed sizes.

[Mobilebarn]

As an electronics retailer that also offers repair services I completely understand Your frustration with this limitation. I feel the appointments app & services side of square always misses out on important features that seem to push through to the retail app or items ect. 

For us we have to create services like iPhone screen replacement, iPhone battery replacement ect and it was super tedious to list every model as variants for every single service we offered (even more-so for Samsungs as they have sooo many models) so a workaround I found was to create it as an item then convert to a service. As you stated you also can’t duplicate in services like you can with items so before converting we duplicated that item so it was ready to convert again (as once converted it’s gone from items) and changed the name once it was converted to a service. For some reason or another converting now doesn’t work for us anymore and throws an error everytime and even square had no answer/solution for this.

If you create the feature request I’ll be sure to kudo it and comment that we also require the feature. 

On a side note other limitations that appointments has is no card surcharging like retail has! (although square has just released a beta for weekend/public holiday surcharging) Super frustrating that things aren’t unison between the 2 sides of square whether it’s appointments/services or retail/items as many retailers offer both!

[CareyJo]

I found the same problem when we first started using Square in 2017.  The items I would need to put into a service ticket don't exist.  So I don't even use items at all.  We simply use the invoice total for the charge and then provide the client with a written invoice that shows the services provided.  We cannot do it any other way simply because there are far too many variables for me to have in the system.  We have thousands of parts and a variety of services.  I can't make Square begin to accommodate any of that.  My only request could be that they allow us to create our own descriptions for line items so that we could create a ticket.  Again, this is very time consuming for the tech to stand there in front of the client and select dozens of individual items and then try to charge the final total.  Especially when I cannot import the prices and keep them updated.  I know that there are limitations for businesses who are retail of how they get their inventory into the system to use a POS but as a service company who uses less than 1% of card transactions, it just doesn't make sense.

[a440]

We struggle with service limitations also, (and for some reason Google displays them in random and non-helpful ways). We're using Items, variations, modifiers and options in a jumble of ways to work around each ones limitations. Like other commenters, we are trying to offer estimates/invoices with many labor and parts possibilities. On a somewhat related topic, I recently found "Bundles" in the "Create Items" screen. This seemed like it would be great: we are a guitar repair shop so it's very common for a client to need labor and parts items A, B, C, D and Z for a repair. Instead of remembering all the line items that go into every conceivable repair, it would be great to just select a Bundle called "Neck fix" (that has 8 component items, let's say) and the 8 line items would be listed under the term Neck Fix on the estimate for the customer to see, and auto-priced by adding up the 8 lines. That way, if I edit the price of an individual item in that Bundle, the Bundle price is always real-time correct. As far as I can tell, none of this Bundle functionality exists at the moment but I'll be submitting it as a feature request.   

[EcoAutoClean]

For me we would just do "coupe / sedan" and "suv / x over / truck" and then in my language I had anything bigger 3 / row etc may be an uncharge - expedition etc. 

[JessPoynter · Accepted solution]

Unfortunately, what you're doing is the best approach. 
I TOTALLY feel your pain in terms of entering the same information for variations. I offer extensions, and giving color-way options is necessary for each style, but messes up my inventory when I list it in the ways available on Square. 
And I'm assuming modifiers won't work because you'd like those to be available during booking, not at checkout, yes? 

I would agree that your best bet is to submit a feature request. 

[Sammie_C]

Hi @Detailworks, thank you for your post! At this time, this would be a great Feature Request to add to our Ideate platform.

I appreciate all the help @TheRealChipA, @Minion, @Mobilebarn, @CareyJo, @JessPoynter, @a440, and @EcoAutoClean!