What's New From Square: August Features Coming Soon (Volume 10)

Hey Square Community,

A few weeks ago, we rolled out Volume 9, and the response has been incredible. Thank you to everyone who shared feedback, asked questions, and helped other sellers navigate the changes.

We're rolling out a wave of new features and improvements across Inventory Management, Payments & Checkout, Appointments & Services, Menu & Kitchen Operations, and Online Ordering & Fulfillment. Some are live now, and the rest will be fully available by August 24.

This is Volume 10. Here's what's new.

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Inventory Management

Change measurement units during inventory counts 🇦🇺 🇨🇦 🇬🇧 🇮🇪 🇺🇸

Sellers switch between measurement units while performing a full or cycle inventory count. A count can be recorded in individual units, cases, or other configured units without leaving the count screen.

Why it matters: Inventory arrives in cases but sells in individual units — and until now, sellers had to do the math themselves or exit the count to check conversions. Switching units mid-count removes that mental arithmetic and reduces miscounts, especially for sellers managing bulk goods, beverages, or supplies that ship in mixed packaging.

Access: Available for sellers on the Square for Inventory Plus plan. Unit switching appears directly on the count screen during any full or cycle count.

Notes: Measurement units must be configured on the item before they appear as options during a count.

Exclude specific items or categories from discounts 🇦🇺 🇨🇦 🇬🇧 🇮🇪 🇺🇸

Sellers exclude specific items or categories from discount promotions, preventing those products from being discounted at checkout. Exclusions are set per discount and apply across all channels where the discount is active.

Why it matters: A storewide 20% off sale shouldn't apply to consignment goods, gift cards, or already-reduced clearance items — but without exclusions, sellers had to build workarounds or manually void incorrect discounts after the fact. Per-discount exclusions give sellers precise control over which products participate in a promotion without restructuring the catalog.

Access: Available now on the Free plan. When creating or editing a discount in Square Dashboard, sellers find exclusion options within the discount configuration.

Low-stock alert emails scheduled by location business hours 🇦🇺 🇨🇦 🇬🇧 🇮🇪 🇺🇸

Low-stock alert emails arrive 90 minutes after each location's closing time, rather than at one fixed time for the whole account. For sellers with several locations, each alert arrives at the end of that location's day instead of mid-shift.

Why it matters: Each location gets its own alert, timed to when that location closes — so the counts reflect a full day of sales, with time to reorder.

Access: Available globally to eligible retail sellers who use low-stock email alerts. No new setting or action is required — alerts automatically follow each location's configured closing time.

Schedule price updates from Square Dashboard 🇦🇺 🇨🇦 🇬🇧 🇮🇪 🇺🇸

Sellers schedule bulk price changes to catalog items from Square Dashboard. Prices update automatically at the scheduled date and time without manual intervention.

Why it matters: Seasonal price increases, promotional pricing windows, and supplier cost adjustments all have a specific go-live moment. Previously, sellers had to remember to log in and update prices manually — often early in the morning or over a weekend. Scheduled updates let sellers set the new price once and trust that it takes effect on time, even if no one is at the register.

Access: Available for sellers on the Plus plan. In Square Dashboard, navigate to the item or items to update, set the new price, and choose a scheduled date and time for the change to take effect.

Payments & Checkout

Pay bills from an external bank account 🇺🇸

Sellers connect an external bank account as a funding source for bill payments. Previously, bills could only be funded by a debit card, credit card, or Square Checking account — so sellers who keep operating funds in an outside bank had to leave Square to pay those vendors.

Why it matters: Many sellers maintain a primary business checking account at a bank outside of Square. Paying vendors meant switching to a separate banking app, re-entering payment details, and losing visibility in Square's transaction history. Connecting an external account keeps vendor payments and records in one place, regardless of where the operating funds sit.

Access: Available now on the Free plan. Sellers in the US connect an external bank account from the bill payment funding options in Square Dashboard.

Appointments & Services

Add-ons in the online booking flow 🇦🇺 🇨🇦 🇬🇧 🇮🇪 🇺🇸

Buyers select add-on services when booking an appointment online. A client booking a massage can add a facial treatment in the same session, for example. Sellers configure which services are available as add-ons from their appointments settings.

Why it matters: Without add-ons in the booking flow, clients had to call or message to request extra services — or book multiple separate appointments. That created scheduling gaps, missed revenue, and extra back-and-forth for the seller. Surfacing add-ons at the moment of booking increases average ticket value and reduces the coordination work that eats into a service provider's day.

Access: Available now on the Free plan. To configure add-ons, go to Square Appointments → Settings and select which services are available as add-ons for each primary service.

Dark mode in Square Appointments 🇦🇺 🇨🇦 🇬🇧 🇮🇪 🇺🇸

Square Appointments supports a dark mode display option. Sellers switch between light and dark themes based on their preference.

Why it matters: Service providers often check their schedule in dimly lit treatment rooms, salons with mood lighting, or late-evening studios. A bright white screen is jarring in those environments and harder to read at a glance. Dark mode reduces eye strain and fits naturally into spaces where ambient lighting is part of the client experience.

Access: Available now. Sellers switch between light and dark mode in their Square Appointments display settings.

Menu & Kitchen Operations

Move ready tickets to front on Kitchen Display System expo 🇦🇺 🇨🇦 🇬🇧 🇮🇪 🇺🇸

An opt-in setting on the expo Kitchen Display System moves tickets to the front of the queue once all prep stations mark them complete. Expo staff see fully-ready orders first, ahead of tickets still waiting on other stations.

Why it matters: During a rush, the expo screen fills with tickets in various stages of completion. Expo staff scanning left to right have to hunt for the orders that are actually ready to plate or hand off. Automatically promoting completed tickets to the front of the queue means food goes out faster and nothing sits under a heat lamp while the expeditor searches for it.

Access: Available now. On the expo Kitchen Display System device, enable the setting to move completed tickets to the front of the queue.

Split fired and held All Day counts on Kitchen Display System 🇦🇺 🇨🇦 🇬🇧 🇮🇪 🇺🇸

A device setting separates each item's All Day count into fired and held totals. When enabled, a flame icon shows the fired count and a hold icon shows the held count, covering held courses on live tickets and fully-held upcoming tickets.

Why it matters: A combined All Day count of "12 burgers" doesn't tell the grill cook how many to fire right now versus how many are coming later on held courses. Splitting the count into fired and held gives prep staff an accurate picture of immediate demand versus upcoming volume — critical for timing proteins, managing grill space, and avoiding overproduction.

Access: Available now on the Free plan. On the Kitchen Display System, go to Settings → Tickets → All day counts and enable the split view.

Online Ordering & Fulfillment

Fulfillment method tax rule exemptions for online orders 🇦🇺 🇨🇦 🇬🇧 🇮🇪 🇺🇸

Tax rules in Square Dashboard include Pickup, Delivery, and Dine-in as fulfillment method conditions. Sellers apply tax exemptions or reductions to eligible orders from Square Online and ordering channels based on how the order is fulfilled.

Why it matters: In some jurisdictions, takeout food is taxed differently than dine-in, or delivery orders carry different tax obligations than pickup. Without fulfillment-based tax rules, sellers had to apply one flat rate regardless of how the customer received the order — risking overcharges or compliance gaps. Fulfillment method conditions let tax rules match the actual regulatory requirements for each order type.

Access: Available now on the Free plan. In Square Dashboard, navigate to tax settings and add fulfillment method conditions (Pickup, Delivery, or Dine-in) when creating or editing a tax rule.

🎉 Your Feedback in Action

These updates are a direct result of feedback and feature requests shared across the community! Here's how the Community helped shape what we're launching:

Exclude specific items or categories from discounts — You can now exclude specific items or categories from a discount promotion, so a storewide sale automatically skips gift cards, consignment pieces, and already-reduced clearance items. This has been one of the Community's most-requested improvements. Shoutout to @Crush122 @Tacoisland @TheLittlestGift @ST_Ann @Coloninn @renmishele @21ECV @jettys @tangledboutique @BradleyRefresh and @experiencepts for raising this!

Add-ons in the online booking flow — Clients can now select add-on services right in the online booking flow — no more phone calls, messages, or separate bookings to tack on an extra treatment. @Spiro_Spero_Spa asked for service add-ons available to clients at time of booking, and @OTBDaycare @shotsbyjscott @FunRentals @VectorMin @the412detailer @SFP and @TwoScoops1 kept the request alive over the years. You asked, we built it!

Change measurement units during inventory counts — Switch between measurement units — cases, packs, or single units — mid-count without leaving the count screen. @SSB_YVR requested exactly this in Allow Changing Units of Measurement During Inventory: no more mental math between bulk purchases and per-unit sales.

Schedule price updates from Square Dashboard — Set a new price once and it takes effect automatically at the date and time you choose. @ChickenRacer asked whether there's a way to schedule price changes with Square, and @Loscuts wanted a price update starting on a certain date — scheduled price updates now have you covered.

Low-stock alert emails scheduled by location business hours — Low-stock alert emails now land about 90 minutes after each location's closing time, so counts reflect a full day of sales with time to reorder. Shoutout to @gemcityjunction, who asked for the ability to change the low stock notification email timing!

Fulfillment method tax rule exemptions for online orders — Tax rules in Square Dashboard now include Pickup, Delivery, and Dine-in as fulfillment method conditions, so orders from Square Online and ordering channels are taxed correctly based on how they’re fulfilled. @Tom15 flagged that UK VAT exclusion rules were not applying to online sales — takeaway orders from Square Online were being taxed like dine-in. Now tax rules follow the fulfillment method, whichever channel the order comes from.

💬 Community Conversations

Here’s what else is happening across the Community worth knowing about:

Help test Open Tabs for Online Ordering Profiles: @RazakM and the Online Ordering team are looking for restaurants, bars, coffee shops, bakeries, and other food & beverage sellers to try Open Tabs, now in Early Feature Access. Customers start a tab from their Online Ordering Profile, keep adding items throughout their visit, and pay when they’re ready to close out — while staff view and manage the same tab from Square Point of Sale.

Want in? Install it from the Early Feature Access tab in your Square Dashboard (Plus and Premium plans) and share your feedback in the thread.

New to Square? Tell us about your onboarding: @amersq is collecting stories from sellers who recently got set up — what went smoothly, what was confusing, and what would have made those first weeks easier. Your experiences go straight to the teams shaping the onboarding journey for new sellers. Reply to the post and share yours.

💬 We Want to Hear From You

Tried a new feature? Share your experience in Feedback Discussions — look for posts tagged Release Feedback or start your own.

Need help or running into an issue? Post in our Help boards where fellow sellers and Square Champions can chime in.

Have an idea for something new? Share it in the Feature Requests board. The more details you provide about your use case, the better we can prioritize.

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 Square Release Notes for the latest product updates, or browse the Feature Log for a full history of what's shipped.

Have questions about anything here? Drop them in the comments below. ⬇️