Square Connect — onboarding and using the Square Terminal
Connect a Square account, pair a Terminal device, and route in-person card payments through it.
Square Connect is the alternative to Stripe Connect for in-person + online card processing. Pick one — most tenants don't need both.
Stripe vs Square — quick decision
| Stripe | Square | |
|---|---|---|
| Online payments | ✓ excellent | ✓ |
| In-person hardware | Stripe Terminal (BBPOS WisePOS) | Square Terminal / Stand / Reader |
| Hardware availability AU | Limited | Easy in retail |
| Web checkout polish | Best in class | Solid |
| Reporting | Stripe Dashboard | Square Dashboard |
| Recurring subscriptions | Native | Limited |
| Per-transaction fees AU | 1.7% + $0.30 (online) | 1.6% (in-person) – 2.2% (online) |
Pick Square if you're heavily in-person and already use a Square Terminal in the salon. Pick Stripe if your booking traffic is mostly online deposits and you want richer subscription/billing tools later.
Connecting Square
- Settings → Payments → Square Connect → Connect Square Account.
- Square OAuth opens. Sign in with your Square account.
- Pick the Location to associate with this Trimsy tenant. Square accounts can have multiple locations; one Trimsy tenant = one Square location.
- Approve the requested permissions:
- Payments: read + write
- Orders: read + write
- Customers: read + write
- Settlements: read (for the Financial report)
- Square redirects back. The panel shows Connected with your Square account name + the linked location.
Square issues both an access token and a refresh token. Trimsy refreshes the access token automatically before it expires (every 30 days).
Pairing a Terminal device
Once connected:
- Settings → Payments → Square Connect → Terminal Devices.
- Click Pair Device.
- Open the Square POS app on your Terminal. Settings → Device Code → enter the code Trimsy displays.
- The Terminal pairs and shows up as "Online" in the Trimsy panel.
When you process an in-person checkout in Trimsy POS, the Terminal lights up and prompts the customer to tap, insert, or swipe. The result is reported back to Trimsy and the receipt prints.
Multi-Terminal
A single tenant can have multiple paired Terminals (one per checkout station). At checkout time, pick which one to send the charge to. Useful for busy salons with multiple POS stations.
Disconnecting
Settings → Payments → Square Connect → Disconnect. Tokens are revoked, paired Terminals unlink. In-flight refunds still settle.
Troubleshooting
"Terminal offline"
Most common: the Terminal's app went to sleep or lost wifi. Wake the Terminal, check it's on the same wifi as Trimsy, and click Refresh in the panel.
"Access token expired" mid-day
Trimsy auto-refreshes 24 hours before expiry. If you see this, the refresh failed — usually because Square detected unusual access patterns and revoked. Reconnect the account; tokens are re-issued.
Charges going to wrong location
You connected with the wrong Square location selected. Disconnect, reconnect, pick the right location. Past charges already in Square stay where they were.
Per-tip prompts on the Terminal
Configure tip prompts under Settings → POS Display → Tip Settings. The Terminal mirrors what's set there.
Webhook for reconciliation
Square sends webhooks to /api/webhooks/square for every payment + refund. Verify webhook signature is set up under Settings → Payments → Square Connect → Webhook Status. If it's red, payments still process but the in-Trimsy receipt status may lag.