Create and manage Square Contracts
About Square Contracts
With Square Contracts, you can create and send contracts right from your Square Dashboard and Square Invoices app. You can use contracts to establish clear service agreements with your customers, secure digital signatures, and help protect yourself against potential payment disputes. You can also use our standard templates or create your own custom template to suit your business requirements.
Before you begin
Square does not provide any legal advice, and we do not guarantee or advise that any contract is suitable for your purposes or enforceable in any jurisdiction. Review the Square Contracts Terms and Conditions.
Adding an invoice or estimate isn’t available when sending a contract to multiple recipients.
Custom contract fields are available with an Appointments Premium or Invoices Plus subscription.
With Square Appointments, you can connect agreements to your services for an automated, contactless solution for sending emails to get customers’ signatures for their next appointment. Learn how to create automated digital forms with Square Appointments.
Step 1: Choose template
Start creating contracts with our standard templates, or build and personalize a custom contract template for your business. By adding business-specific information and clauses, you can save time and easily update any future contracts.
Standard template
This contract template gives you authorization to store a customer’s card information and charge it as agreed upon. Use this for repeat customers or subscription services. Once a customer signs and submits this contract, their card information will automatically be added to their Customer Directory profile under Card on File.
Custom template
Sign in to your Square Dashboard and click Payments > Contracts > Templates.
Click Create a template.
Enter the template name and description.
Enter the contract name, description, and message to the customer. Click Next.
Add a new or existing clause or add new custom fields.
Click Save.
Step 2: Add clauses
Set up clause library
Use the clause library to create and manage a set of default or custom clauses you can add to any contract or template. By customizing clauses to your business needs, it helps to provide transparency and communication before you and your customers can enter into an agreement.
There are three different types of custom clauses you can create:
Library clauses: Create a custom clause in your clause library to add to any templates or individual contracts. You can only create, edit, or delete library clauses from within the clause library.
Template clauses: Custom clauses created for specific custom templates.
Contract clauses: Custom clauses created for individual contracts.
Add clause to contract
As you add clauses, you can edit, duplicate, or delete your custom clauses, and use the search bar to navigate your clause library.
- Sign in to your Square Dashboard and click Payments > Contracts > Clauses.
- Click (+) next to Add new clause. If you have existing clauses, click Add custom clause.
- Enter the clause title or description.
- You can tick the checkbox if you require customer initials.
- Click Save.
- Sign in to your Square Dashboard and click Payments > Contracts > Clauses.
- Click (+) next to Add new clause. If you have existing clauses, click Add custom clause.
- Click Generate content.
- Enter a clause title and prompt description, choose your length, then click Generate.
- Review the response. You can use the option provided by clicking Use this, or generate a new response by clicking Regenerate.
- You can tick the checkbox if you require customer initials.
- Click Save.
Step 3: Create and send a contract
Once you create your templates, you can create one contract and choose your recipients. We'll then create independent contracts for each recipient and send them separately for signing. You can send contracts in bulk to up to 20 recipients at a time.
Sending contracts in bulk is not for multi-party negotiations where multiple signers need to review and complete the same contract.
- Sign in to your Square Dashboard and click Payments > Contracts.
- Click New contract.
- Select from the standard templates listed above.
- Enter the contract details; including recipient(s), contract name, additional notes, payment information (if applicable), and any attachments, such as a Square Invoice or accepted estimate. Click Next.
- If you want to include a deposit request in the contract, in the Payment schedule section of the contract, select Multiple payments. This allows you to split the total cost of a project into two payments—a deposit and a final payment.
- Add the relevant clauses or add new custom fields. You can also add payment terms; these clauses address payment information such as refunds, reimbursements, expenses and warranties. Click Next.
- Add your electronic signature.
- Click Share or Save as draft.
You can only add a contract from the Square Invoices and Square Point of Sale apps by attaching an existing contract to an invoice or estimate. Contracts can only be created and edited from the Square Dashboard.
Learn how to create and send invoices.
Step 4: Have customers sign a contract
If you send your contract via email, the recipient will receive an email from Square Contracts. When they open the email, they’ll see your business name as well as a prompt to sign the contract electronically. To sign the contract, the recipient will:
Your customer can click Review & sign in the email.
They can securely view the contract, and electronically initial and sign.
Select Finish & send to finalize the contract. A PDF copy of the finalized contract will be emailed to your customer and the recipient for record keeping. You can re-send a copy of the contract at any time from your Square Dashboard.
Step 5: Attach a contract (optional)
You can link contracts to Square Invoices, estimates, or specific payments in your Square Dashboard — either from the Transactions page or when you create a new Square Appointment.
By attaching contracts to transactions you can keep track of all the important information about a particular sale in one place. This process is also a good dispute management practice if a customer ever disputes a payment.
- Sign in to your Square Dashboard and click Payments > Invoices > Create invoice.
- Once you fill in the required invoice details, scroll down to More options and click Add next to Square Contracts.
- Choose New contract or Existing contract and follow the steps.
- On the New invoice page, Invoices Plus subscribers can toggle on Require unsigned contracts to be signed before payment. This setting requires your customer to sign a contract before making a payment.
- Click Preview, Save as Draft, or Send when you’re ready.
- Sign in to your Square Dashboard and click Payments > Invoices > Estimates > Create estimate.
- Once you fill in the required invoice details, scroll down to Estimate details and click Attach a Square contract.
- Attach previously created and shared contracts to your estimate.
- Review the estimate, then click Save as Draft or Next.
- Finish completing the estimate details, then click Save as Draft or Send.
- Sign in to your Square Dashboard and click Reporting > Transactions.
- Select the transaction to see the transaction details.
- Click (•••) then select Attach a contract from the drop-down menu.
- Use the search tool to select the contract you want to attach, then click Save.
With Square Appointments, you can automatically send digital forms — also known as Square Contracts — once a new appointment is booked. Digital forms protect your business by collecting important client information ahead of an appointment or class.
You can also create custom form templates to fit your unique business needs, such as intake forms or cancellation policy agreements, receive and track customer agreements, and choose to have forms sent to customers who haven’t yet signed or who book certain services. You can customize digital forms per location.
Learn how to create automated digital forms with Square Appointments.