Running a hospitality business is a constant act of balancing creating amazing guest experiences with maintaining smooth service, keeping costs under control, and keeping a happy team. It’s a tough gig, especially when things get busy.

For those using or considering running Square, the company is bringing to market new tools to help sellers move away from tedious admin and onto the floor, allowing them to speed up service, simplify operations, and sell more.

Keep orders flowing, even during peak service

Technology should empower venues to take on more orders and serve more guests, especially when things get busy. This major update helps venues grow revenue by making self-service a smooth and effective way to take orders.

• Square Kiosk Upgrades: Your fastest way to take orders. The Square Kiosk has been completely rebuilt as a native iOS app, delivering faster performance and a smoother checkout flow for customers. This upgrade helps venues cut wait times, increase order sizes and keep sales flowing.
• Kiosk Order Ready texts smooth out pickup (coming soon). To complete the self-service flow, venues can now automatically send customers a text message when their kiosk order is ready for collection. This cuts down on customer crowding and confusion at the counter.

Speed up service and payments

The checkout experience should never be a bottleneck on a busy shift. These updates help venues turn tables faster and give teams back precious time by simplifying how guests pay and order.

• Let guests settle bills faster with Scan to Pay. Diners can now simply scan a QR code on their printed bill and pay straight from their phone. It helps turn tables faster, gives staff more time to serve, and makes it easier to track which tables are ready to go.

• Item Splits make complicated bills simple. Staff can now split a single item (like a shared bottle of wine or dessert) across multiple separate bills in just a few taps, keeping the line moving and customers satisfied.

• Reservation Deposits are now seamlessly applied to the bill. For venues taking reservations via OpenTable and SevenRooms, any deposit paid at the time of booking is now automatically applied to the final bill. This removes one manual step for staff at checkout.

• The new Order Manager consolidates all orders in one place. Whether it’s a walk-in, a takeaway, or a delivery order, the new Order Manager tab within Square POS unifies all incoming tickets onto a single screen. This makes coordinating the kitchen and front-of-house simple and consistent. House Accounts simplify billing for regulars (coming soon). Venues can easily extend credit, track balances, and issue invoices (automatically or manually) for their frequent corporate clients or regulars, all with accurate reporting built into Square.
• Cleaner, shorter receipts. Printed receipts now automatically group identical items. This keeps receipts tidy, saves paper, and makes it easier for staff to review orders quickly.

Gain Control, Simplify Daily Operations

The back-end admin can slow operations down. These features are designed to consolidate platforms and automate daily tasks so venues can focus on delivering great service.

• An upgraded DoorDash integration to the tablet juggle (coming soon). Sellers taking DoorDash orders no longer need to keep switching between tablets. The new integration connects directly to the Square, syncing menus, prices, and availability in real time. Orders drop straight into the POS and Kitchen Display, and venues can even pause or resume DoorDash orders right from within Square.

• Automated weekend & public holiday surcharges on Square Online. Managing surcharges to offset higher weekend and public holiday costs is important for many Australian venues. These surcharges now automatically apply on the Square Online store, syncing with the POS and reducing manual work.
• Transfer of Accounts simplifies business handovers (coming soon) . If a venue is changing ownership, bringing in a new partner, or moving to a multi-owner structure, this tool simplifies the process. It helps ensure a smooth transition without complex admin.