Hey Square Community,
Some of you have already noticed. @VanKalkerFarms spotted changes on their terminal this morning, @ryanwanner saw sellers talking about it in a Facebook group, and @Sithkazar is already thinking about what's next. We hear you, and that's exactly why we're posting this.
Square is rolling out a wave of new features and improvements across payments, menus, operations, and security. Some are live now, and the rest will be fully available by April 16.
A quick note on how we're doing things going forward, in case you missed the March announcement. We know changes to your workflow can feel disruptive when they show up without warning. So we're now bundling larger feature releases every two weeks and announcing them here in advance so you'll always have a heads-up on what's coming and why.
This is Volume 1. Here's what's new.
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Payments & Checkout
Automatic card surcharging now applies to bar tab payments
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Card surcharges now apply to bar tabs. When you open a tab by preauthorizing a card, your configured surcharge will be applied to the final payment when that tab is closed.
Why it matters: If you run a bar or restaurant with open tabs, you've likely noticed that card surcharges weren't being applied to those transactions — meaning you were absorbing processing fees on some of your busiest sales. With this update, card surcharges work consistently, whether a tab stays open for five minutes or five hours.
Access: If you've already set up card surcharging, no additional setup is required — your surcharge will apply to bar tabs automatically. Card surcharging on bar tabs is now available in the US and Australia (regional limitations apply).
Learn more about card surcharges | Learn more about preauthorized bar tabs
Notes: Limitations apply. Surcharging available on Square Point of Sale, Square for Restaurants and Square for Retail. Surcharge must not be higher than your cost of acceptance. See our Payment Terms for more details.
Offline payments enabled by default
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Starting April 12, offline payments will be enabled by default for all Square customers. If your internet connection drops or there is a Square outage, your device will automatically process card payments offline. Payments are submitted once your device reconnects. Previously, the setting had to be enabled manually on each device.
Why it matters: Offline payments keep your business running during internet outages or Square service disruptions. Your devices will automatically process payments even when connectivity drops, so you never have to turn customers away.
Access: Starting April 12, offline payments will be enabled by default for all sellers unless you've chosen to keep your existing settings via the Dashboard modal. You can always turn it off by going to Settings > Checkout > Offline Payment on Point of Sale or Dashboard.
Learn more about Offline Payments
Notes: Offline payments are processed automatically when you reconnect your device to the internet and will be declined if you do not reconnect to the internet within 72 hours of taking your first offline payment. By enabling offline payments, you are responsible for any expired, declined, or disputed payments accepted while offline. Square is unable to provide customer contact information for payments declined while offline. Offline payments are not supported on older versions of Square Reader for contactless and chip (1st generation, v1 and v2). For help identifying your hardware, click here.
Menu & Catalog Management
Assign modifier sets to specific sales channels from Dashboard
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Modifier sets can now be assigned to specific sales channels (e.g., Point of Sale, Square Online, and delivery apps).
Why it matters: Not every modifier makes sense in every channel. Now you can keep in-store only options off your online menu (and vice versa) without creating separate modifier sets.
Access: Go to Items > Modifiers on your Dashboard and choose which channels each modifier set applies to. Disabling the Point of Sale sales channel will only affect POS versions 7.2 and later.
Learn more about assigning channels to your modifiers
Time-based menus on Square Point of Sale for food and beverage sellers
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Time-Based Menus on POS brings automatic menu scheduling to F&B modes (Full Service, Quick Service, and Bar). The POS now auto-selects the right menu based on the time of day, restricts off-hours access to manager overrides, and keeps menus in sync across every channel.
Key features:
- Auto Menu Selection — POS defaults to the first available menu based on the current time. No manual switching.
- Off-Hours Access Control — Team members without "Configure service settings" permission are blocked from off-hours menus. Manager passcode override required.
- Item Search Still Works — Staff can always find and add individual items via search, even from inactive menus — great for accommodating special requests.
- Full Channel Parity — Same menu hours now enforced across POS, Square Online, Kiosks, Ordering Profiles, and delivery apps (DoorDash, Uber Eats, Grubhub).
Why it matters: No more staff accidentally ringing up breakfast items during dinner service, or happy hour pricing outside of happy hour.
Access: Go to Items > Items & menus > Menus on your Dashboard. Find the menu you want to schedule, then click the three-dot menu (⋯) and select Edit menu details to set the menu hours.
Learn more about Time Based Menus
Operations & Team Management
Edit team member on closed orders
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You can now reassign closed orders to a different team member from your Square Dashboard. This helps correct assignment errors and ensures accurate commission tracking.
Why it matters: When an order gets assigned to the wrong team member, you can now fix it after the fact. This is especially important for commission-based businesses where accurate attribution matters.
Access: Go to Orders in your Square Dashboard, select the order, and choose Edit Team Member from the order details.
Deferred sales tracking
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An enhanced Sales Summary now tracks all your sales including delayed payments. You can examine individual transactions in detail and get comprehensive insights into your gross sales, net revenue, returns, discounts and more.
Why it matters: For businesses that accept deposits, layaway payments, or installment plans, tracking deferred revenue has always been challenging. This update gives you better visibility into your complete sales picture.
Access: This feature is currently in beta. You can switch to the new enhanced Sales Summary in Reports > Sales on your Square Dashboard.
Price-embedded barcode scanning in RST POS modes
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Square for Restaurants now supports price-embedded barcodes (EAN-13 format with embedded pricing). When you scan a barcode with embedded price information, the POS automatically applies the correct price.
Why it matters: For delis, grocery stores, and markets using Square for Restaurants, this enables faster checkout for items sold by weight or with variable pricing. No more manual price entry.
Access: Price-embedded barcode scanning works automatically when you scan compatible barcodes in Square for Restaurants POS modes.
Account Management & Security
Passkey sign-in on the web for faster, more secure access
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The next time you log in to Square Dashboard, we will automatically create a passkey to make future logins more secure.
Why it matters: Passkeys protect your account from unauthorized access using your device's biometric features (like fingerprint or facial recognition) instead of passwords.
Access: Now that a passkey is created for your account, when you visit Square from this device, we'll automatically detect your passkey and prompt you to authenticate using your device's biometric features.
Learn more about creating a passkey
🎉 Your Feedback in Action
These updates are a direct result of your feature requests! Here's how the Community helped shape what we're launching:
Time-based menus on POS: The Community has been asking for better menu scheduling for years. @ChadCap864 started a thread asking how to hide or deactivate menu items during certain times of day, while @hellostix has been looking for ways to schedule menu items for specific days of the week. Time-based menus finally bring this long-requested feature to life to the POS.
Edit team members on closed orders: @budgetcutsalon requested the ability to change team members on completed transactions, and @Hcstreeteats asked for tracking when tickets get reassigned. You can now correct team member assignments on closed orders.
Assign modifier sets by sales channel: @PokeFreshOhio asked why they couldn't disable modifiers on point of sale, and @cdelord2 wanted modifiers for online orders but not in-store POS orders. Channel-specific modifier sets solve this exact problem.
Deferred sales tracking: @HArmstrongSP wanted deposits and partial payments to appear in their reports. With the new enhanced sales summary, you should now be filter to check for partial payments and see how they are grouped within your sales report.
📰 Community Conversations
We know some of these changes spark real questions. Here's a thread worth checking out:
Offline payments: enable or opt out? A month ago, @TCSlaguna kicked off a conversation among Square Champions about whether to keep offline payments on or off, and the thread is full of real-world experiences from sellers like you. @SVLFever shared why they opted in after regretting not having it during an outage. @homeprogreen pointed out you can set transaction limits to manage risk. @Donnie-M broke down how quickly transactions process once you reconnect. And @rtfulk and @Twpchair explained why they're holding off for now. With offline payments now being enabled by default starting April 12, this is a great thread to read before deciding whether to keep it on or opt out.
Thank you to everyone who takes the time to share feature requests, vote on ideas, and participate in discussions. Your input directly impacts our product roadmap, and we're always listening!
🪧 Stay in the Know
- Browse the Early Feature Access tab in your Square Dashboard to get a head start on upcoming features.
- Visit the Square Releases page for the full list of what's shipped.
- Got an idea? Share it in the Feature Requests board. The more details you provide about your use case, the better we can prioritize.
- Have questions about anything here? Drop them in the comments below. ⬇️