Square Appointments: full prepayment at booking on the Free plan

Square Appointments' free UK plan can take payment when a client books. As of October 2026, Square's UK pricing page lists prepayments on Free, Plus and Premium alike, while charging a cancellation fee to a saved card stays on Plus, at $39£29€35A$56C$55 a month per location. Square's help article describes the prepayment as the full price of a fixed-price service, not a part deposit. For a salon, valeter or coach working from one location, that's protection against no-shows for the cost of card fees alone.

What Square's pages show

The UK pricing page shows Free at $0£0€0A$0C$0 for a single location, Plus at $39£29€35A$56C$55 a month per location and Premium at $92£69€82A$132C$130. The prepayments row is ticked on all three, described as asking clients to pay in advance for specific services or as part of your cancellation policy. Card on file is also on all three plans. The "Cancellation policy and fees" row, which lets you charge a fee to the card on file after a no-show or late cancellation, is ticked only on Plus and Premium.

Square's UK help article, Manage booking cancellations and prepayment policies, says the prepayment option requires clients to prepay for fixed-price services to book, and that the payment is taken when they book online. It doesn't describe a part deposit. The article is written for Plus and Premium subscribers, which doesn't match the pricing page, so check that the prepayment setting appears in your own account on Free before you change your booking terms.

What it costs

There's no monthly fee on Free. Square charges its online card fee on each prepayment: 1.4% + 25p for UK cards and 2.5% + 25p for non-UK cards, the same on every plan. On a $120£90€107A$173C$169 color appointment paid with a UK card, that's $1.68£1.26€1.50A$2.42C$2.37 plus 25p, about $2.01£1.51€1.80A$2.90C$2.84. On a $47£35€42A$67C$66 coaching session it's 49p plus 25p, about 74p.

In-person card payments cost 1.75% on Free against 1.6% on Plus and Premium. That gap only matters at volume: on $6,650£5,000€5,950A$9,600C$9,400 a month taken at the counter, 0.15% is $9.98£7.50€8.92A$14.40C$14.10 a month, well short of the $39£29€35A$56C$55 Plus fee.

Full prepayment, not a deposit

With a deposit, a client pays part of the price to hold the slot. With full prepayment they pay everything when they book, so for a $120£90€107A$173C$169 color they pay $120£90€107A$173C$169 up front. That covers the whole loss if they don't turn up, but some clients will hesitate to pay in full weeks ahead, and Square's article applies it to fixed-price services, so a service with a variable price won't take a prepayment this way.

Refunds are at your discretion, the article says. Declining an appointment request refunds the card automatically, and a cancellation more than 60 days after booking has to be refunded outside Square. The article is unclear on whether clients can cancel a prepaid appointment themselves: one part says they can't, another says they can if you allow online cancellation or rescheduling and don't review requests. Make a test booking with your own card to see how your settings behave.

Whatever you set, put the refund terms where clients see them before they pay. The site's ideas all flag the same risk: a payment the client didn't understand invites disputes, and keeping the money after a genuine emergency can cost you a regular.

How this affects the site's ideas

Six ideas use Square Appointments, and five of them work on the Free plan with prepayment. The figures come from their worked examples, which are illustrative, and the no-show savings rest on stated assumptions, not promises.

• Color prepayments for hair salons with Square Appointments: about $239£180€214A$346C$338 a month if prepayment stops 2 of 3 monthly no-shows on $120£90€107A$173C$169 color appointments, for $0£0€0A$0C$0 plus card fees.
• No-shows for sports coaches: prepaid one-to-one sessions: about $400£301€358A$578C$566 a month recovered from 2 missed $47£35€42A$67C$66 sessions a week that are now paid.
• Online booking for golf lessons: fill the pro's diary: about $366£275€327A$528C$517 a month in profit from extra lessons, with card fees of about $9£7€8A$13C$13 a month if pupils pay online.
• No-show prepayments for mobile valeters: Square Appointments: about $193£145€173A$278C$273 a month in profit if no-shows fall from 3 to 1.
• Bespoke consultations for jewellers: booking with prepayment: about $130£98€117A$188C$184 a month of designer time, with card fees of about $11£8€10A$15C$15 a month.

The sixth, Late-cancellation fees for nail salons: Square Appointments, needs Plus at $39£29€35A$56C$55 a month, because it charges a fee to the card on file after a late cancellation instead of taking the money up front. In its worked example that's about $279£210€250A$403C$395 a month if losses halve from 12 to 6. The two approaches suit different clients. Prepayment on Free fits one-off, fixed-price work where a no-show costs the whole slot. A fee on file fits regulars who rebook every few weeks and would resent paying in full each time, and Plus adds waitlists to fill the gaps.

Where to start

Pick the one fixed-price service that loses you the most to no-shows and turn on prepayment for that service alone. Write a short refund rule, such as a full refund if you cancel or if the client gives 48 hours' notice, and show it on the booking page. Make a test booking with your own card, check what the client sees, then refund it. After a month, compare no-shows with the month before; move to Plus only if you'd rather charge a fee to a saved card than take full payment up front.