How to setup your Square connection
Instructions
Go to the Connections page in your Ambrook.
Select New and type in Square, or select the three-dots next to New and then Connect with Square from the menu.
Enter your Square credentials to allow Ambrook to connect.
Enter the date you would like Square transactions to begin in Ambrook. (You can edit this date later if needed).
Click Connect to complete the setup.
Once you are setup, you will see two accounts on the Connections page, the Balances page and in your Balance Sheet:
Platform - This is where online payments, such as credit card payments, and payouts from Square to your bank are recorded
External - This is where offline payments such as cash, check, Venmo, or other payment methods are recorded
Tip: Your Platform account should have a relatively low balance since payouts are automatically recorded multiple times per week. For your external account, you will need to mark deposits into your bank account as account transfers to reduce the balance.
To mark deposits as Account Transfers:
Click Category on one transaction to open the tagger
Select the Account Transfer option, found in the Match Existing section of the tagger
Match the deposit from Square into your bank account to the payout from the Square external account. These amounts will be equal but opposite.
Transactions into both accounts will appear in your Ledger. Some common transaction descriptions are:
Square Card Payment
These are income transactions for online sales that are initially sent to your Square Platform account. All card payments are broken out into gross sales and square processing fees.
Square Payout
These are transfers from your Square Platform account to whatever bank account you have linked in Square. The amount of your payouts will be equal to your gross online sales less square processing fees.
Square Order
These are income transactions recorded as paid in Square by non online methods (cash, check, etc). These transactions come automatically split into line items that show what was sold.
Tip: When you set up your Square connection, consider what automations you might want to set up to automate tags for your line items (e.g. “Square Processing Fees” to the Bank Fees category).
Should you connect to Square?
Syncing with Square brings all your sales data into Ambrook. Use the table to decide if connecting directly or just categorizing Square deposits from your bank is right for you.
Connect with Square | Keep Square and Ambrook Separate |
You care about tracking sales at the item level, including the processing fees associated with each sale. | All of your sales income falls into the same Category and Enterprise. |
You've been trying to split Square payouts from your bank account into line items manually. | You don’t want each individual transaction to show up in Ambrook. |
You have multiple line items per sale that need to be categorized differently, and don’t mind seeing all your square transactions in Ambrook. | You prefer to reconcile and categorize your sales data weekly or monthly to add transaction fees or assign the correct enterprise. |
If you choose not to connect to Square, you can account for your Square sales data in a couple other ways:
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I account for Taxes?
Tax collections are managed directly in your point of sale system, so you’ll need to get in touch with Square or your accountant to determine if you need to be collecting taxes.