Square

The Café Owner

The till runs on devices I can name and price — an iPad in a Square Stand, a Register with a customer-facing second screen, a Terminal, a Handheld, a Reader — with printed and automatic digital receipts, returns and exchanges, and an offline mode stated for iOS and Android. We found no public information on the limits of that offline mode (how long, which payments), on a compatibility list for third-party printers and drawers, or on split bills, tips at the till and modifiers. 1 3 4 9 10 12

Report an error

The Retail Shop Owner

The till runs on named, priced kit — Square Stand for an iPad at €119 + VAT, a two-screen Register with a customer-facing display at €699 + VAT, plus reader, terminal and handheld — each with a two-year warranty and free 30-day returns. Receipts print or go out digitally, offline payment processing is stated for the point of sale app, and barcode scanners, cash drawers and label printing come as accessories or plan features. We found no public information on a published hardware compatibility list, scales, split payments or discount handling at the till, and the only offline limit stated is that Tap to Pay will not work offline. 1 3 4 9 10 12

Report an error

The Tax Adviser

Sales run on named kit at published prices: the Point of Sale app on iPhone and tablet, Square Stand doubling as a self-serve kiosk, Register with a second customer-facing display, Terminal and a Handheld at €199 + VAT, each with a two-year warranty and 30-day returns; receipts print (a second itemized receipt can print automatically) and digital receipts go out automatically to opted-in customers, with returns and exchanges accepted at any location. Offline payment processing is supported on iOS and Android, with the stated limit that Tap to Pay is not available offline. We found no public information on a published compatibility list for third-party printers, drawers and scanners, on scales, or on how long offline mode lasts and how it syncs. 1 3 4 9 10 12

Report an error

The Hospitality Operations Manager

The till runs on named devices sold outright at published prices — Reader €19 + VAT, Stand €119 + VAT, Terminal €169 + VAT, Register €699 + VAT, Handheld €199 + VAT — with a two-year limited warranty, 30-day free returns, kits including cash drawer and receipt printer, and a customer-facing second screen on the Register. Receipts print or go out digitally by default, and offline payment processing is documented, with the pages noting Tap to Pay is not available for offline payments. We found no public information on a compatibility list for third-party printers, drawers and scanners, on scales, or on how long offline selling lasts and how sales settle up when the line returns. 3 4 9 10 12

Report an error

The Fee-Conscious Merchant

The till runs on my kind of kit: phone or tablet with the app, a €19 + VAT reader with longer battery life for the market stall, Stand, Register with its second customer-facing screen, Terminal and Handheld, all priced with a two-year limited warranty and free 30-day returns. Offline Mode is supported on iOS and Android, with one stated limit that Tap to Pay will not work offline, but how long offline lasts and how it syncs are not described, and I found no public information on scales or a published compatibility list for printers and drawers. 3 4 9 10 12

Report an error

The Skeptic

The till runs on named devices — iPhone and iPad apps, Square Stand, a two-touchscreen Register with a customer-facing display, Terminal, Handheld — with prices, a two-year warranty and free 30-day returns published, and receipts printed, skipped or sent digitally to customers who opted in. An offline mode is documented for developers with one stated limit (Tap to Pay does not work offline), but how long it holds and how it syncs back are not described, nor a published hardware compatibility list or scales. One captured detail smells of lock-in: the additional-receipt feature prints from the built-in printer only, and external printers are not supported for it. 1 3 4 9 10 12

Report an error

The Café Owner

The fees are printed plainly: "1.75% + VAT" per chip-and-PIN or contactless payment, "2% + VAT" keyed in, "1.4% + 25c + VAT" online for EEA cards, a "1.5%" international card fee, terminals from "€19 + VAT" to "€699 + VAT", payouts "as soon as the next working day", all through Squareup International Limited, regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland for payment acquiring. The acquirer is Square itself, however, and we found no public information on using a terminal or acquirer of my own choice, or on tips and split payments at the terminal. 1 4 5 6

Report an error

The Retail Shop Owner

Fees are unusually well published: 1.75% + VAT for chip and PIN or contactless with EU and EEA cards, 2% + VAT for manual entry, 1.4% + 25c + VAT online for EEA cards, a 1.5% international fee, and funds available as soon as the next working day. The payment institution is named and regulated — Squareup International Limited, regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland — and Tap to Pay runs on both iPhone and Android. The acquirer is Square itself; we found no public information on using a terminal or acquirer of one's own choice, on terminal-side tips and split payments, or on reconciling card payments to a daily closing. 1 2 4 5 6 11

Report an error

The Tax Adviser

The acquirer behind the terminal is Square itself — Squareup International Limited, regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland for payment acquiring — and the published fee schedule is thorough: 1.75% + VAT in person by chip and PIN or contactless, 2% + VAT keyed, 1.4% + 25c + VAT for EEA cards online, 2.9% + 25c + VAT for UK/non-EEA cards, 2.5% + VAT for invoices, Virtual Terminal and card on file, plus 1.5% + VAT for non-EEA cards, with flat fees stated to include interchange, payout as soon as the next working day and terminals priced from €19 + VAT to €699 + VAT. Tap to Pay runs on iPhone XS or newer and Android 9 phones with the device requirements published. We found no public information on girocard, on tips or split payments at the terminal, on reconciling card takings to a daily closing, or on running the till with a terminal or acquirer of the merchant's own choice. 4 5 6 11 12

Report an error

The Hospitality Operations Manager

Fees are published per card type and channel — 1.75% + VAT in person, 1.4% + 25c + VAT online for EEA cards, 2% + VAT keyed, plus a 1.5% international card fee — and the flat fee includes interchange, network and acquirer charges. The institution is named and regulated: Squareup International Limited, regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland for payment acquiring, with funds as soon as the next working day, tap to pay on iPhone and Android, and terminal prices listed. We found no public information on using any acquirer or terminal other than Square's own, on tips or split payments settled on the terminal, or on reconciling card takings against the daily closing. 1 4 5 6

Report an error

The Fee-Conscious Merchant

The fee page is what I ask for: 1.75% + VAT for every chip-and-PIN or contactless payment, 2% + VAT keyed in, 2.5% + VAT for card on file, the flat fee stated to include interchange and acquirer charges, no monthly fee, and funds as soon as the next working day. The regulated payment institution is named — Squareup International Limited under the Central Bank of Ireland — and Tap to Pay on iPhone and Android is documented down to device requirements. But the captured pages name only Square's own acquiring and hardware; I found no public information on girocard pricing or on running the till with a terminal or acquirer of my own choosing. 1 4 5 6 11 12

Report an error

The Skeptic

Fees are published to a degree I rarely see — "1.75% + VAT" card present, "1.6% + VAT" on the paid retail plan, "1.4% + 25c + VAT" online for EEA cards, a 1.5% international fee, all stated to include interchange — with the acquiring entity (Squareup International Limited, regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland), next-working-day payouts and Tap to Pay on iPhone and Android documented down to device requirements. What the captured pages never show is a terminal or acquirer other than Square's own, a chargeback fee, or card payments reconciled to a daily closing — the free till is paid for in interchange and there is no documented way out. 1 4 5 6 11

Report an error

The Café Owner not rated — no public information

Across the till homepage, the restaurant features, the pricing pages and the point-of-sale terms I found no mention of a certified technical security device, a DSFinV-K export, a daily closing for the tax office, or any other country's fiscal rules — we found no public information on fiscal compliance. The captured pages describe a product sold in Ireland, France, Spain and the UK, not in Germany or Austria, so on this evidence I could not put it in front of a Kassennachschau at my counter. 1 2 5 7

Report an error

The Retail Shop Owner not rated — no public information

We found no public information on fiscal compliance — no certified technical security device with a BSI certificate, no DSFinV-K export, no Austrian RKSV signature, and no daily closing or cash book — on any of the captured pages for the point of sale, restaurants, retail, pricing, terms and privacy pages. Nothing I read names a fiscal signature, an export format for the tax office or a procedure documentation. 1 2 3 5 7 8

Report an error

The Tax Adviser not rated — no public information

On every page captured — the till page, the Restaurants and Retail pages, the hardware and pricing pages, the fee schedule, the point-of-sale terms and the privacy notice — I found no public information on any fiscal function: nothing on a certified technical security device, on DSFinV-K or the Austrian signature, and nothing on a cash book, daily closing or ten-year audit storage, nor on the receipt rules of the markets the vendor does serve. From my chair that is the whole ballgame for a cash-register purchase, and I can only report it as undocumented. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Report an error

The Hospitality Operations Manager not rated — no public information

We found no public information on fiscal compliance: the point-of-sale homepage, the restaurants features and the point-of-sale terms show nothing on a certified technical security device, the German cash-register export, the Austrian signature, or named fiscal rules for the markets the vendor does sell into. The vendor information lists the product as sold in Ireland, France, Spain and the UK, not Germany or Austria, so for a group facing cash audits this is undocumented ground. 1 2 7

Report an error

The Fee-Conscious Merchant not rated — no public information

I found no public information on fiscal compliance: none of the captured pages names a certified technical security device, a DSFinV-K export, an Austrian signature or any other country's named fiscal rule, and the offering as captured covers Ireland, France, Spain and the UK. The homepage, pricing page and terms of service I read carry no TSE, Kassenbuch or audit-export statement. 1 5 7

Report an error

The Skeptic

We found no public information on any certified fiscal device, audit export, cash book, daily closing or fiscal certificate on the captured Irish-market pages — not even a named fiscal rule for any market it sells into. The fiscal-adjacent material stops at receipts, printed or sent digitally to opted-in customers, which is exactly the "finanzamtkonform" pattern with nothing behind it; a buyer facing a cash audit has nothing documented to hand an auditor. 9

Report an error

The Café Owner

Stock with vendors and cost tracking, automatic purchase orders, counts and cross-location adjustments, a kitchen display at "€15/month" or included with the Restaurants plan, self-service kiosks, delivery aggregation, and menus and staff managed remotely across locations — that is most of a café's back office in one place. We found no public information on table plans, granular staff rights, or a log of cancellations and voids per employee. 1 2 3 5 7 14

Report an error

The Retail Shop Owner

Stock fits my kind of shop: unlimited items with variations in the catalogue, stock counts with forecasts, vendors and amounts recorded when receiving stock, automatic purchase orders and barcode label printing on the Plus plan at €49 + VAT per month, per location, and menus, staff and more managed remotely across multiple locations. A developer page speaks of transfer-like cross-location adjustments, which hints at stock movements between my two branches, and a kitchen display is priced at €15/month while kiosks take self-service orders. We found no public information on staff logins with granular rights, a log of cancellations per employee, or cross-site reporting. 1 2 3 5 7 14

Report an error

The Tax Adviser

Stock is taken seriously: unlimited items with variations, low-stock alerts, counts and forecasts, automatic purchase orders, and vendor and cost recorded when stock is received, alongside kiosks and self-service ordering, a kitchen display at €15/month or included with paid Restaurants subscriptions, OpenTable reservations and Deliveroo/Uber Eats/Just Eat aggregation, plus menus, staff and more managed remotely across multiple locations. Team Management brings timecards and tip distribution. We found no public information on tables and courses, per-employee rights with a log of cancellations and voids, or how reporting splits across sites. 2 3 5 7 14

Report an error

The Hospitality Operations Manager

The multi-site bones are there: menus, staff and more managed remotely across multiple locations, a kitchen display included with paid Restaurants plans or €15/month, kiosks and online ordering, stock with vendors, purchase orders and counts, and real-time reports on what sells and how the team performs. But we found no public information on granular staff rights, a per-employee log of voids and cancellations, table and floor management, or reports comparing sites by the hour — exactly the controls my eight sites and my works council would ask about first. 1 2 3 5 14

Report an error

The Fee-Conscious Merchant

Stock is handled properly — import and scanning, counts and forecasts, automatic purchase orders, vendor and cost recorded on receiving stock, and cross-location adjustments — alongside a kitchen display at €15/month or included with paid Restaurants plans, self-service kiosks, online ordering and multi-location management of menus and staff. Team management with timecards and tip distribution is documented, but I found no public information on granular staff permissions or a per-employee log of cancellations and voids, which is what I would want before seasonal staff touch the till. 2 3 5 7 14

Report an error

The Skeptic

Stock runs deep — inventory counts, automatic purchase orders, vendor costs recorded on stock receiving, barcode label printing — and hospitality gets a kitchen display ("€15/month" or bundled), self-service kiosks, reservations, order aggregation and menus and staff managed remotely across multiple locations. We found no public information on granular staff permission roles, per-employee void or cancellation logs, or cross-site reporting. And note the trap: writing cost and vendor data through the API requires an active paid Retail or Restaurants subscription. 2 3 5 7 14

Report an error

The Café Owner

Sage, Xero and QuickBooks are named accounting integrations, the APIs and SDKs are free to use, and there is a documented webhook system covering events like payment created and order updated, plus a payouts API. We found no public information on a DATEV export, on booking with revenue accounts and tax rates, or on a full export of sales and articles at contract end — the only cancellation wording says Square "may delete all information on your website". 2 5 7 15 16

Report an error

The Retail Shop Owner

Named accounting links exist — Sage, Xero and QuickBooks among 100+ partner integrations — and the APIs and SDKs carry no monthly subscription fee, with webhooks documented down to event types and signature key rotation. We found no public information on a DATEV export, on revenue accounts and tax rates in the booking handoff, or on a full export of articles, customers and sales when the contract ends; the terms even say that after cancelling, website information may be deleted. 2 3 5 7 15 16

Report an error

The Tax Adviser

Named accounting links exist — Sage, Xero and QuickBooks among 100+ integrations — and the developer platform is real: catalog, inventory and vendors APIs, webhooks with programmatic key rotation, a pull-based Events API and a Payouts API in general availability, all free to use. We found no public information on a DATEV export or any export that maps bookings to revenue accounts and tax rates, and none on a full export of articles, customers and sales when the contract ends; the online-store terms state that Square may delete all website information after cancellation, which is what keeps me up at night when a client changes tills. 2 5 7 15 16

Report an error

The Hospitality Operations Manager

There are named links to Sage, Xero and QuickBooks among a hundred-plus partner integrations, documented point-of-sale and terminal APIs, and a webhook service that pushes payment, order and customer events, with a payouts API in general availability. We found no public information on exports carrying revenue accounts and tax rates, or on a full export of articles, customers and sales at contract end — the online-store terms say Square may delete all website information after cancellation — and nothing on a DATEV connection. 2 5 7 15 16

Report an error

The Fee-Conscious Merchant

Named accounting links to Sage, Xero and QuickBooks plus 100+ partner integrations, a free documented API with Terminal and POS APIs, webhooks for payment and order events, and a Payouts API give my accountant something to work with. But I found no public information on revenue accounts and tax rates in the export or a guaranteed full export of articles, customers and sales at contract end, and the captured terms say that on cancelling the online store Square may delete all information on the website. 2 5 7 15 16

Report an error

The Skeptic

Accounting integrations are named — Sage, Xero and QuickBooks among "100+ technology partner integrations" — and the API side is genuinely documented, with webhooks, an events API and a Payouts API free of monthly fees. But we found no public information on export formats carrying revenue accounts and tax rates or a stated full export of sales and articles, and the captured terms for the online store say cancellation "will take effect immediately" and "we may delete all information on your website" — no data-return or post-cancellation access terms are stated anywhere I read. 2 5 7 15 16

Report an error

The Café Owner

My contracting party would be Squareup International Ltd in Dublin, data controller for EU residents, with the Irish Data Protection Commission as lead supervisory authority and Standard Contractual Clauses for transfers to affiliates. But the privacy notice says information is processed and stored in the United States, Japan, the UK, the EU and other countries, and the named helpers include Google Analytics, Facebook, SendGrid and Register.com; we found no public information on a seller data processing agreement, a full subprocessor list with locations, or an EU hosting option for the till data. 4 7 8

Report an error

The Retail Shop Owner

The EU data controller is Squareup International Ltd in Dublin, regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland for payment acquiring, with the Irish Data Protection Commission as lead supervisory authority and standard contractual clauses for transfers to affiliates outside the EU. But the privacy notice states data is processed and stored in the United States, Japan, the UK, the EU and other countries, analytics run through Google Analytics and Facebook, email marketing through SendGrid, and ownership sits in the Block, Inc. group. We found no public information on hosting infrastructure, a processor list with locations, or certifications such as ISO 27001. 4 6 7 8

Report an error

The Tax Adviser

The payments and contracting side sits in Dublin — Squareup International Limited, regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland, is data controller for EU residents with the Irish DPC as lead supervisory authority — but the privacy notice says information is processed and stored in the United States, Japan, the UK, the EU and other countries, with EU standard contractual clauses named for transfers to affiliates outside the EU. Some subprocessors are named — Google Analytics, Facebook, BugSnag, Crashlytics, SendGrid, Register.com — without locations, and the pages place Square inside Block, Inc.'s group. We found no public information on a published data processing agreement or on security certifications such as ISO 27001 or SOC 2. 4 7 8

Report an error

The Hospitality Operations Manager

The EU side of the chain is named: Squareup International Limited in Dublin is the data controller for EU residents, its payment acquiring is regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland, the Irish DPC is the lead supervisory authority, and standard contractual clauses cover transfers to affiliates outside the EU. But the pages state data is processed in the United States, Japan, the UK, the EU and other countries, and we found no committed EU hosting location, no locations for the subprocessors that are named (Google Analytics, Facebook, SendGrid, Register.com), and no public information on a data processing agreement — not something my data protection officer can sign off as it stands. 4 7 8

Report an error

The Fee-Conscious Merchant

The EU side is real: Squareup International Limited in Dublin is the data controller for EU sellers and the payment institution regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland, with EU Standard Contractual Clauses for transfers to affiliates outside the EU. But the privacy notice states processing and storage in the United States, Japan, the UK, the EU and other countries, ownership sits inside the Block group, and named subprocessors such as Google Analytics, Facebook, SendGrid and Register.com come without locations; I found no public information on EU-only hosting or an ISO 27001 or SOC 2 statement. 4 7 8

Report an error

The Skeptic

The EU chain starts well: Squareup International Limited in Dublin is the data controller for EU sellers, is regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland for payment acquiring, answers to the Irish DPC as lead supervisory authority and uses Standard Contractual Clauses for transfers to affiliates. But the same privacy policy says information is processed and stored "in the United States, Japan, the UK, the EU, and other countries", names Google Analytics, Facebook and SendGrid without their locations, and states no hosting jurisdiction and no ISO 27001 or SOC 2 — with the pages placing Square inside Block, Inc.'s group. Financial and fiscal data held for the lifetime of the account, spread across that chain, is not what I call sovereign. 4 7 8

Report an error

The Café Owner

I can nearly compute my year from public pages alone: "€0" till software, Retail Plus at "€49 + VAT" per month per location, Restaurants at "€69/mo per location" with unlimited devices, hardware priced from "€19 + VAT" to "€699 + VAT" with a two-year warranty and free 30-day returns, card fees by channel and card region, no setup fee, no monthly minimum, cancel anytime, VAT treatment stated. What stays dark are the add-ons: Loyalty and Marketing are charged per business location without amounts, Premium is custom-only above €250,000 a year, and the specialist training is offered without a price. 1 3 4 5 6

Report an error

The Retail Shop Owner

A buyer can compute most of the annual cost: the retail app is €0, Plus is €49 + VAT per month, per location, with a published 1.6% + VAT card-present rate, Restaurants is €69/mo per location, hardware runs from a €19 + VAT reader to a €699 + VAT Register, card fees are published by card type and region, and there is no setup fee, no monthly minimum and no long-term contract, with VAT treatment stated throughout. What keeps the total partly a sales conversation: the Premium plan is custom-priced through sales, and Loyalty, Marketing and one-on-one training are sold without published prices. 1 3 4 5 6 7

Report an error

The Tax Adviser

A buyer can price nearly the whole job from public pages: Retail free at €0 with Plus at €49 + VAT per month per location (1.6% + VAT in-person rate on Plus), Restaurants free or €69/mo per location with unlimited devices, online store free or from €14/mo, hardware priced from the €19 + VAT Reader to the €699 + VAT Register with a two-year warranty, 30-day returns and free product support, an exhaustive card-fee schedule with VAT treatment stated throughout and the Irish interchange caps noted, no setup fee or monthly minimum, and cancellation at any time with subscription auto-renewal disclosed. The kitchen display add-on is €15/month. Loyalty and Marketing carry fees per business location without figures, one-on-one training is paid but unpriced, and Premium pricing is a sales conversation above €250k per year. 1 3 4 5 6 7

Report an error

The Hospitality Operations Manager

Most of an annual budget is computable from public pages: the point-of-sale app free with no setup fee, monthly minimum or long-term contract, Retail Plus at €49 + VAT per month per location with a 30-day trial, Restaurants free or €69/mo per location with unlimited devices, the kitchen display at €15/month, every card rate by type and channel, and hardware priced with VAT treatment and free 30-day returns stated. We found no published amount for the per-location Loyalty fee, the Marketing add-on or the gift-card issue fee, and Premium is custom pricing for businesses processing more than €250k per year. 1 3 4 5 6 7

Report an error

The Fee-Conscious Merchant

A seasonal seller can work out the real year from public pages: the plan is €0 with no monthly fees and processing at 1.75% + VAT in person, Plus at €49 + VAT per month per location with a 1.6% + VAT card-present rate when signed into the Retail POS app, Restaurants free or €69/mo per location, the kitchen display at €15/month, and every reader, Stand, Terminal, Handheld and Register priced with VAT, no setup fee, no monthly minimum and cancel-anytime terms. What keeps it short of full computability is the edges: Loyalty is charged per business location without a captured amount, paid one-on-one training carries no figure, and Premium is custom pricing behind a €250k annual processing threshold. 1 3 4 5 6 7

Report an error

The Skeptic

Almost everything a buyer needs to compute is public: a "€0" free plan and "€49 + VAT" per month per location for Retail Plus ("€69/mo per location with unlimited devices" for Restaurants), hardware from a "€19 + VAT" reader to a "€699 + VAT" register, processing rates by card type and channel including the 1.5% international fee, VAT treatment stated throughout, "No long-term contract required" and cancellation at any time. What keeps it short of full computability is the Custom-priced Premium tier behind "Contact sales" and add-ons such as Loyalty and Marketing, whose fees are referenced per location but not priced on the captured pages. 1 3 4 5 6 7

Report an error