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!

[ocho]

I am running a guest house and require this functionality urgently.  It is very frustrated when trying to charge "no show" penalty but then the card declined. 

[TheSanctuaryBnB]

I would also greatly appreciate this feature as a B&B owner. Given that fees are higher for manually entered transactions, we would prefer not to do a full charge when we get a booking. Not being able to do pre-authorizations is a significant issue. It is one feature that I would very much like to see implemented.

[mebane]

I saw a few threads where people asked for this feature, and the response was it's in the works essentially--any updates?  I sell products that come with a 1 to 2 week trial period and need to be able to pre-authorize a card, so if they decide to keep the product---or don't return it--the charge can then be finalized.  

I really like this service, but this is a very crucial feature and would prefer to not have to shop around for a new one, but will hang in there if this feature is coming soon.  Thanks!

[Sean]

@mebane - I went ahead and moved your comment over to the thread where we are tracking this feature request. While I don't have an update to share at this time, I'll definitely pass along the feedback! For more details on the feature request process, please check out this thread. 🙂

[RoseHouse]

Can this system be used for lodging reservations?  I use square for phone and in person payments but would like to use it for online reservations.

[WoodenLegs]

Is there a way to issue a Credit Note back to a customer using the invoice system? The use case here is that we create an invoice for the customer and part of that invoice is for equipment that we hold a deposit on until it is returned? 

[Sean]

Hi @WoodenLegs — It looks like another seller had the same question, and received an answer. Check out the reply from Spenser and let us know if that helps!

[Sean]

@RoseHouse - While we don't have a feature specific to lodging reservations, I don't see a reason why Square Appointments wouldn't work. Check it out, and then let me know if you have any specific questions. 🙂

[bradengw]

I need Square to process CC Authorization only for taking deposits for VRBO accomodations. If Square had that capability I would completey ditch my Costco merchant account.

[BarMngr]

I have a requirement to maintain a positive credit balance for individuals using a bar.

Is there any way i can handle this in the software.

I can create a ticket for each persons "Tab" and keep on adding their drinks as they are consumed.

I would like to reduce their credit balance down by the correct amount at the close of a night with the ability to notify them when the credit balance is running low.