Payments & POS for Bars & Taprooms.
Open tabs, pre-auths, happy hour, and last call — without losing a card behind the bar.
Food and drink runs more card volume than almost any other small business, and tips push every ticket higher. That makes your effective rate the biggest bill nobody reads — and the fastest thing to fix. Whatever you do about your POS, the processing underneath it is worth ten minutes of your time.
The realities of this business.
Open tabs running all night, and the ones that walk out
Pre-authorizing cards without upsetting anyone
Happy hour pricing that has to switch itself on and off
ID checks on every single guest
Comps, spills, and voids that need tracking, not hiding
A Friday night where the system cannot be the bottleneck
The features that actually matter here.
- Tab management with card pre-authorization
- Time-based pricing for happy hour
- Fast re-order on an existing tab
- Comp and void tracking by staff member
- Tips and tip pooling across the bar
- Age-restricted prompts at checkout
A sensible starting kit.
- Bar stationSquare Register
- Second well / patioSquare Terminal or Handheld
- Receipt printer + cash drawerper station
Then this list might be academic. If your setup works, we’ll leave it alone and just look at the processing underneath — that’s usually where the money is anyway.
Bars & Taprooms, answered.
Can I run open tabs with a card held?
Yes — tabs can be opened against a pre-authorized card, so a walkout doesn’t automatically become your loss.
Does happy hour pricing switch automatically?
Yes. Time-based pricing means nobody has to remember to change it, and nobody can forget to change it back.
Find out what you’re paying to take cards.
Ten minutes on a call with your statement. Free, no obligation — and if your rate is already good, we’ll tell you.
US-based · replies within one business day