Live Q&A: Learn how to get paid again and again (and again) with predictable revenue streams

[Tom]

Square’s subscription management software allows any business to easily create recurring revenue streams. If your business utilizes subscriptions, memberships, donations, or other forms of recurring payments, our product team wants to hear from you. Not using this service but interested in learning more? This is also the discussion for you. 

On Wednesday, September 28, we welcomed back @jean_sq from the Subscriptions team for another Question & Answer session! Her team is always eager to learn about how they can better address your business's recurring payment needs as well as answer any questions you may have.

Have a look below to see what topics business owners brought up, and be on the lookout for a "Best Answers" summary post (coming soon) that covers the main takeaways from this discussion.

Note: Although we can't share specific details on our product roadmaps, this information will be helpful as we continue to make improvements.

 Photo Credit: Ambitious Creative Co. - Rick Barrett on Unsplash.

[HOCLOU]

1. I have 4 different Plans that clients can choose from but I can't figure out how to pull a list for each separate plan. They all just sit in one list under Subscriptions. How do I pull a report with all the client info (specifically email address and which Plan they are subscribed to)?

2. When someone signs up new vs when a recurring payment gets charged. I can't tell the difference. Is there a way to tell if they are new or recurring?

Thanks!

[jean_sq]

Hi @HOCLOU,

We are currently working on better reporting, sorting and filtering features. With regards to question 2, you could click into the individual subscriber and look under “Activity” at the bottom of the customer blade and see how many times they have been charged. I understand that this is not a very good work flow and will add this as a feature request.

[billing1]

This is wonderful. Looking forward to join. Could we use this as a way for customers who are on a "payment plan." I.e. they have elected to pay their full balance with x-number of monthly payments?

[jean_sq]

Hi @billing1,

I think you might be able to do this. With Subscriptions, you could set up a subscription plan with a particular cadence (eg. monthly), amount and number of billing cycles. The monthly payments would all need to be the same. Might this work for you?

[creativesol]

I own and operate an art studio with a small retail area. I have a private facebook group where I charge $10/month for virtual workshops with optional kits to purchase. I would like to send an invoice to members upon signing up with the ability to have auto payments set up so my members do not have to keep paying an invoice every month. 

[jean_sq]

Hi @creativesol,

As you describe it, it sounds like a good use case for Subscriptions. I’d start with our getting started article - that walks you through getting started creating subscription plans through Square Dashboard and Square Point of Sale.

[FM-Massage]

Does Subscriptions integrate with Square Appointments? How so?

How do clients go about booking appointments after they have paid their monthly membership fee?

Are clients able to go into Square Appointments every month and book their appointment? If so, how do they show, when they book, they are booking their monthly prepaid (subscription) session?

[jean_sq]

Hi @FM-Massage,

Currently Subscriptions is not integrated with Square Appointments. Stay tuned as It is on the radar for 2023 though!

[FM-Massage]

Thank you so much! I will be looking for this in 2023.

I recently switched from Square Appointments to Acuity solely for Subscriptions. However,  I really enjoy the layout and ease of use of Square Appointments. 

I will happily switch back once Subscriptions is integrated into the mix.

[Stacelyn24]

OMG!  OMG!  OMG!  We can't wait for this feature to be released 🙂

[Lashandlacquer]

How do I set up subscriptions for multiple team members?  

[jean_sq]

Thanks for bringing this up, @Lashandlacquer. Not sure what you mean by this? Could you elaborate a bit more on what you are thinking?

[MCDC]

Hi Tom! 🙂 What might some of the differences between a "Subscription" and a "Recurring Invoice" be? (I've been using the latter for some time)? Why would / should one consider a Subscription vs a Recurring Invoice?  Thank you for your Insights! 🙂

[jean_sq]

Hey @MCDC,

Though there is some crossover in the features between a recurring invoice and a subscription, there are a few key differences. 

Scaling is easier with subscriptions as you can create "buy button" code and embed it on your website and allow customers to sign-up themselves. Or you could create a shareable subscriptions link and share it out via social media channels. With recurring invoices, each one needs to be set up individually by the seller.

Additionally, with subscriptions you have access to other management features such as allowing for pausing and resuming a subscription or offering a free trial. In the future we hope to expand these features to include things like bulk changes, billing adjustments, plan swaps, etc.

[Amharvin207]

So I currently offer membership subscriptions now for my clients here at my salon. It's going great however how do I encourage my clients to tip like they were before subscriptions?  It seems like, with the subscriptions, clients do not tip anymore, Every now and then a few will hand me cash after a service but very few tip through invoice.  Thanks in advanced!

[jean_sq]

Hi @Amharvin207, 

Great question! I’m hoping someone in the Seller Community can share their experiences here?

[CalyisDesigns]

Where do we watch the live event? 
My questions are when will discount codes be an option on the subscriptions?

Why doesn’t the form ask for an address to send their box?

Also, it’s a hassle to manually add the link onto your website versus being able to add a subscription as an item and being able to customize it. 
I’ve begun to look at Shopify as an alternative because of these problems and I’d rather not have to switch if these problems would be taken care of.

[Tom]

Hello everyone, thanks for taking the time to post your questions! 💯 The product team is signed in and will begin responding soon —and following up in this thread throughout the next hour. 🙌🏻

[robertstang]

Hi Tom , not sure if you received the question, but I use Square to process payments for my CBD company on Wix, does square support subscriptions/recurring payments?

[Tom]

Hi @robertstang, thanks for bringing this up and sorry to keep you waiting. I don't have specifics for this on hand right now though I've reached out to a few folks on the product team — will get back to you as soon as I have more clarity. 🙏🏻

[vasi029]

How about selling packages? x amount of sevices at a discount. We need this for laser hair removal and facial packages.