How to use Square and IFTTT for seamless payments

Running a small business today means juggling dozens of tools. You’re taking payments, making sales, communicating with customers, and possibly even managing an online store. Tools like Square have made handling transactions much easier by consolidating all of these tools into one. No longer will you have to switch between endless platforms, all the while racking up a huge subscription bill that takes away from your well-earned profits.

IFTTT, our powerful automation platform, can handle sales-related tasks all on its own, from email receipts to saving customer data. But here’s the big idea: when you connect Square with IFTTT, you can build seamless, top-to-bottom automated payment workflows that save time, reduce errors, and make your business feel like it runs itself.

This article will walk you through how Square and IFTTT work together, provide practical examples for different industries, and offer a step-by-step guide to getting started.

How Square can help your business

Square is already known as one of the most user-friendly payment systems for small businesses. As consumers continue to favor cards and digital payments over cash, integrating Square with your business is a no-brainer. Whether you’re using a countertop reader at a brick-and-mortar shop or an online checkout page, Square makes it simple to accept credit cards, manage inventory, and send receipts.

Over 4 million sellers use Square payments worldwide, from food trucks to consulting firms, because it lowers the barrier to entry for accepting modern payments. Square’s tools are designed for ease of use, making it a common choice with those who want to spend more time growing their business and less time dealing with technology.

Here are some of the biggest advantages Square brings:

• - Multiple payment options: Square accepts credit cards, debit cards, digital wallets like Apple Pay and Google Pay, and online invoices.
• - Inventory management: Track stock in real time and get alerts when products run low.
• - Analytics and reporting: Gain insights into sales trends, peak business hours, and top-selling products.
• - Customer management: Build a directory of customer profiles and purchase history to personalize offers later down the line.

Why Square and IFTTT make a perfect pair

Square already has most of the small business payments workflow covered, but not all of it. From planning and advertising to customer service after a payment, there are seemingly infinite tasks that follow a "simple" swipe of a credit card. Growing a business feels great, but if all of this has you feeling overwhelmed, we've got a solution for you.

IFTTT connects thousands of apps and services through automation. Instead of manually exporting spreadsheets or copying sales data into your CRM, IFTTT handles it in the background. Think of Square as your cash register and IFTTT as your assistant, instantly passing information wherever you need it to go.

When used together, they can completely change the way you do business. Here's a breakdown of some of the most impactful benefits you can get using IFTTT and Square together:

Saving you sweet time: Automations with IFTTT run in the background. That means no more late nights reconciling receipts.

Fewer errors: Manual data entry is one of the biggest sources of mistakes. Let automation do the work, and your numbers stay consistent.

Better customer experience: Customers love fast communication. With IFTTT, you can trigger thank-you emails, rewards, or even Slack notifications for your team the moment a payment is received.

Four Square automation use cases

Even if you're just a solopreneur with a couple of clients, exploring automation can make your one-person team seem like an army! On the other hand, our automations can be scaled up to serve a full-fledged operation as well. Let’s explore how real businesses can use Square + IFTTT.

Retail

For retail stores, Square and IFTTT can handle much of the behind-the-scenes work that eats up your day. For example, every time an item sells, a log in Google Sheets can update automatically, keeping stock levels accurate without manual tracking.

At the end of the day, a sales summary can be delivered straight to your inbox or Slack channel, so you know exactly how things went. You can even take customer loyalty a step further by automatically adding new buyers to a Mailchimp list for future promotions.

Food trucks & shops

Food trucks and cafés thrive on speed and adaptability, making them a perfect contender for Square and IFTTT. Here's a fun one: by connecting Square to a weather app, you can adjust your menu on the fly, highlighting cold drinks on hot afternoons or warmer food on those chilly days .

You can also send customers a review link right after their purchase, allowing you to collect more feedback.

Service-based business

For service providers, customer communication and scheduling are everything. With Square and IFTTT, payments can instantly trigger a Google Calendar invite, making it easy to confirm appointments without back-and-forth messages.

Client information can be logged directly into a CRM like Todoist or Airtable, ensuring records are always up to date. To top it off, you can send personalized thank-you messages right after checkout, leaving clients with a professional impression.

Nonprofits & community groups

Nonprofits can simplify management with automations that log contributions directly into Airtable or other tracking tools. For instance, every donation can trigger an automatic thank-you post on social media, amplifying your message in real time.

Volunteer teams can also stay in the loop with instant alerts when fundraising goals are reached, turning milestones into moments of celebration.

How to get started: Square + IFTTT setup

The good news: you don’t need coding skills to get started with IFTTT. You will need to set up accounts with both Square and IFTTT. Let's go through the steps to get started.

First, you'll have to get started with Square. If you have an account already, just make sure you are logged in. If you haven’t signed up for Square yet, simply head over to Square’s website and create a free account.

You’ll need to provide some basic information about your business and how you plan to accept payments. Once your account is verified, you’ll have access to your Square Dashboard, where you can manage sales, inventory, and customer information.

An important note: Square's free plan will be sufficient for most automations with IFTTT. If there is an automation that involves paid features, you'll have to upgrade before being able to use the automation. For any additional questions, visit our FAQ here.

Now, we can get started with IFTTT.

Step 1: Create an IFTTT account

• - Visit IFTTT.com.
• - Sign up for an account. You'll be limited to two Applets with our free plan, but upgrading can allow for unlimited Applets, AI tools, and much more.

Step 2: Connect Square

• - On our explore page, search for Square under services.
• - Log in with your Square account to authorize the connection. IFTTT never sells or shares your information with any third party.

Step 3: Choose your first Applet

Applets are prebuilt automations. You can find them on our explore page, scattered throughout this article, and on our newsletters. Once tapped, you'll be prompted to grant permissions, and customize as needed.

Then, just finish and activate the Applet. If you'd like to build your own from scratch, you can check out our guide here. It's super easy and only takes a couple of minutes.

Step 4: Test and optimize

With a business automation like Square, it's crucial to ensure that everything is running smoothly. We encourage you to run a test sale and confirm your automation fires correctly. Adjust filters or add conditions as needed.

The future of payments with IFTTT

Payments are no longer just about swiping a card. They’re about data moving smoothly between your inventory, marketing, and financial tools. With tools like Square, it doesn't take much effort to build the business you've been dreaming of.

By combining Square’s simple payment ecosystem with IFTTT’s automation power, even the smallest business can feel like it has enterprise-level systems. Best of all, you don't need to have any programming knowledge to harness the power of automation with IFTTT.

When businesses take off, hardworking entrepreneurs look to IFTTT to craft the perfect workflow, and so can you. Simply click the button below to get started with IFTTT for free.