Beating a Dead Horse but it needs to be: Preauthorization

[FarmAndBar]

We need to be able to preauthorize credit cards when running a tab. Period.  We really enjoyed the low buy in and easy menu development and a couple of the other features, but a bar/restaurant needs to be able to run a tab and preauthorize a credit card.  I've gone back and looked at conversations about it and it appears that this has been a CONSTANT request by users that has gone ignored.

I'd like to know why it isn't available.

[#2]

So sorry for the confusion here, @Amanda_Bierock @FarmAndBar and others!

Pre-Authorization recently became available to all users of Square for Restaurants (Free, Premium, and Plus), and you should be able to turn in on by following the instructions in this support article, via the Dashboard and device settings.

Enable and Configure Pre-Authorization Bar Tabs

If you are using Square for Restaurants and aren't able to enable Pre-Auth by following these steps, please reach out to our support team for assistance.

For businesses that use Square Point of Sale, there is not currently a way to access Pre-Authorization.  While we did run a Beta test last year for Pre-Authorization on Point of Sale, it has been discontinued and Square for Restaurants is the only application that currently supports this functionality.

The team developing Pre-Authorization decided last summer to focus their efforts on Pre-Auth within Square for Restaurants and discontinued the Beta and development of Pre-Auth for Point of Sale.

Some testers who participated in the Point of Sale Beta we ran last year may still have access via their open tickets settings on individual devices (like @ryanwanner) but accounts that were not enrolled in that Beta feature last summer can no longer be added.

@nika I hope this context is helpful when these questions come up - it can be confusing because at times we had a POS Beta on the way.  It's understandable when it's been a request for so long 🙂

Andy
Beta Specialist

[#3]

Hello all! We are so excited to let the community know that this feature is now available for Square for Restaurants! For more information on enabling and configuring preauthorization for bar tabs, check out this help article. Respond here if you have any questions, and thanks for your patience while our team built this out. We appreciate you!

️ Kristen
Square Community Manager
Product Engagement

[#4]

Pre-Authorization for Bar Tabs Update ⭐
Hi everyone - I'm Hadley, from the F&B product team. First of all, thank you SO MUCH for continuing to share all the feedback here over the years, we know how important the Bar Tabs feature is. For anyone who is not aware, this feature is currently in beta in the US for Square for Restaurants POS. 

➡️ You can join the beta community here and our beta team will enable feature to your account. You can find the support article for getting set up on RST POS here. 

As a reminder, when a feature is in beta, there is still some engineering work happening to iron out the smaller bugs and optimizing the experience for our sellers and their customers. If you choose to participate in the beta testing, please share any feedback (good or bad 😄) to our beta team at betafeedback@squareup.com so we can learn how it is working for you and your staff.  

Thank you!

[1wetwillys]

We rent jet skis. We need a damage deposit. 

[1wetwillys]

I said that wrong. We use deposits to hold time slots and apply that to the sale. We need to put a hold on a credit card for damage. This would be refunded upon return of in-tact equipment.

[WPResidences]

Hey Guys,

We have a situation with our accounting when it comes to deposits - we rent and take a refundable deposit in addition to the rental fee, up front.  We don't want the refundable deposit to necesarily hit our bank account unless we need to keep the funds due to damage (makes for easier book keeping on our end).  Does anyone know of a way to have Square hold funds for a week or so?

If Square has a way to hold the funds until our final inspection, that would be great to refund the deposit directly from Square rather than our bank account.

Thanks in advance for any input/suggestions!!

[Spenser]

Currently, Square doesn’t offer support for collecting deposits or temporarily holding funds in this way, but it's definitely a popular request. I’ll share your post with our product team in the meantime. I'll also update this thread should that change in the future!

[Idlewilder]

I would also like to use holds for room reservations at a B&B and guarantee against room/equipment damage.

[Sean]

@Idlewilder - Thanks for the post! We'll be sure to pass along your request to our product liaison team, as well. 

[captainboom]

I also need to be able to pre-authorize cards.  I run a business that accepts fairly large orders, often over $1,000, and it can take a few days to process and ship the order.  Being able to pre-authorize the card can allow the cardholder to see that a charge is pending, and perhaps reduce fraud.  It also allows me to know that the card is good prior to pulling and packing the order.

[jgillam]

We have started renting out our tent trailer and also need a security deposit from customers. Can this feature be expedited to save customers from stress and heartache waiting up to 10 days for a refund? Remember, I am a customer too and wouldn't want that stress waiting on Square to reimburse me. 

[Sean]

@jgillam - Thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts. While I can't speak to if / when features will be developed, I'm more than happy to pass along the feedback to our product liaison team! 

[mzabary]

We need this option to hold a deposit for a short term rental to cover any damages to the house.