Wholesale field guide
Square invoices and inventory: why wholesale stock stays on the shelf until the invoice is paid
You invoice a cafe for 20 bags on Net 30. Square still shows those bags in stock for a month, and your website keeps selling them. Here is exactly when Square moves stock on an invoice, what committed stock changes, the workarounds sellers use, and how Crate keeps wholesale orders inside one Square count.
The short answer
- Square lowers stock on an invoice only when it is paid in full. A deposit does not move it. A request to change that has 217 replies and is marked Not Planned.
- On Retail Plus or Premium, or a Square Invoices subscription, committed stock lowers what is available to sell when you invoice. Stock on hand still waits for payment.
- Crate reads your Square count, stops wholesale buyers from ordering past it, and sends orders into Square on the same items, from $50/month. It does not take stock out of Square on its own.
The problem: the invoice is sent, the stock is still there
Wholesale buyers rarely pay at the moment they order. You pack the order, ship it, and send a Square invoice due in 30 days. Square keeps counting those items as on hand until the money arrives, so your online store, your register and your low-stock alerts all work from a number that is too high.
Sellers have asked Square to change this for years. The idea Inventory is updated when an invoice is sent, posted in 2017, has 217 replies and is marked Not Planned. In October 2025 a seller started Invoices and inventory management is just a mess with Square, writing that decrementing stock only once an invoice is paid "just creates fundamental problems with inventory tracking."
What Square does with stock on invoices
| Situation | What happens to stock | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Invoice sent, not paid | Stock on hand does not change. Items adjust only when the entire invoice is paid | Square Support |
| Deposit or payment schedule | Paying the deposit does not change item counts; only full payment does | Square Support |
| Committed stock (Retail Plus or Premium, Square Invoices subscription) | Turn on Adjust inventory levels through invoices and items on an invoice lower the available to sell count at the locations you choose. Stock on hand still updates only when the invoice is paid | Square Support |
| Invoice canceled before full payment | Counts do not change. Any manual adjustment you made for it has to be undone by hand | Square Support |
| Orders created through Square's API | Counts update when the order is completed. A Square developer staff reply (September 2026) says a tracked item drops once its itemized order is paid or completed | Square Developer |
| Low stock alerts | Emailed 90 minutes after each location's closing time, set up in Square Dashboard | Square Support |
The workarounds, and where each breaks
| Workaround | How it works | The catch |
|---|---|---|
| Turn on committed stock | Upgrade to a plan with invoice inventory management and let invoices commit stock | Needs a paid plan, and stock on hand still waits for payment |
| Adjust stock by hand when you ship | Record a stock adjustment when the order leaves (reasons list), and invoice with a custom amount so payment does not take the stock out a second time | Easy to forget, easy to count twice, and the invoice no longer shows which items were sold |
| Charge a house account at the register | Ring the order up as a sale charged to the buyer's house account, which moves stock at once | Sellers report stock updates immediately (Square Community), but house accounts only work at the point of sale, and the October 2025 seller called the house account route a deal breaker |
| A separate wholesale location | Hold wholesale stock at its own Square location | Splits one shelf into two counts that drift apart |
| A wholesale portal on your Square stock | Buyers order from a portal that reads your Square count and cannot order past it | One more tool to set up, and the paid-invoice rule still decides when on-hand stock drops. This is what Crate does |
One stock count with Crate
Crate is a wholesale ordering portal that connects to Square. It does not keep a second stock count for your Square items. It works from Square's own count, so retail and wholesale draw from the same shelf.
- Reads your Square count. Crate imports tracked stock from Square for each item and size, totaled across the open locations that sell it, and refreshes it when Square reports a change. Items you sell in Square without tracking stay unlimited.
- Wholesale orders stay inside your Square count. Buyers cannot add more than the count Crate last read from Square, the cart stops there, and an item shows as sold out at zero. Crate does not reserve stock in Square, so a retail sale and a wholesale order placed at the same moment can still count the same last units.
- Lead times instead of a dead end. For a size you can choose to take orders beyond stock and ship them after a lead time you set, or to ask the buyer to contact you. Off unless you turn it on.
- Counts shown only if you want. Buyers see sold out either way; showing how many are left is a setting you turn on.
- Orders land in Square on the same items. Each confirmed order goes into Square as an open order on your catalog items, next to your retail orders.
- Billed through Square, stock follows Square's rule. When you invoice a terms buyer through Square, the invoice uses that same itemized order, so Square takes the stock out when the invoice is paid, the same as any Square invoice.
Where it may still fit: Be clear on the limit: Crate does not take stock out of Square when an order is placed, confirmed or delivered. If you bill through QuickBooks or Crate invoicing, or a buyer pays by card link, adjust those counts in Square. If you send a handful of wholesale invoices a month and already pay for Retail Plus, committed stock may be all you need.
For the bigger picture, read Square wholesale ordering. For prices on the same items, see Square wholesale pricing; to sell by the case, Square minimum order quantity; and to bill on terms, Square Net 30 terms.
Setting it up
- 01Turn on stock tracking in Square for the items you sell wholesale.
- 02Connect Square from Integrations in Crate and choose which items are sold wholesale. Stock comes across with them.
- 03Decide, per size, whether buyers stop at your count, order beyond it with a lead time, or ask you.
- 04Pick how you bill: Square invoices take stock out when paid; for QuickBooks or Crate invoices, plan a stock adjustment in Square when you ship.
Questions
- Why doesn't my Square invoice take items out of inventory?
- Because Square only counts an invoiced item as sold when the invoice is paid in full. Square's help center says an item will not be reduced in quantity until the invoice is paid in full, and paying a deposit does not change item counts. Until then, the stock is still on hand in Square.
- What is committed stock in Square?
- On Square for Retail Plus or Premium, or with a Square Invoices subscription, you can turn on Adjust inventory levels through invoices. Items on an invoice are then committed, which lowers the amount available to sell at the locations you pick. Stock on hand still only drops when the invoice is paid.
- What happens to stock if I cancel a Square invoice?
- If the invoice was never paid in full, stock on hand never moved, so there is nothing to put back. Square reminds sellers to account for any manual adjustments they made for that invoice.
- Does a house account lower stock right away?
- A Square Champion who tested it reported that a sale charged to a house account updates inventory immediately, because it is a completed sale at the register. The catch is that house accounts are a point-of-sale feature, so buyers cannot use them to order online.
- Does Crate take wholesale orders out of my Square stock?
- Not by itself. Crate sends each confirmed order into Square as an open order on the same items, and Square lowers stock when that order is paid. If you bill the buyer with a Square invoice, Square takes the stock out when the invoice is paid. Orders paid by card link, or billed through QuickBooks or Crate invoicing, need a stock adjustment in Square.
- Can wholesale buyers oversell my retail stock?
- Not past your Square count. Crate reads tracked stock from Square, totaled across the locations that sell the item, and refreshes it when Square reports a change. Buyers cannot add more than that to an order, and an item shows as sold out at zero. You can let a size take orders beyond stock with a lead time instead.
- How much does Crate cost?
- Crate Wholesale Starter is $50/month for up to 20 active buyers, Growth is $80/month for up to 50, and Plus is $150/month for more than 50. Every plan connects to Square and reads your Square stock.
Sources
- 1. Square Community: Invoices, inventory is updated when an invoice is sent (idea, Not Planned)
- 2. Square Community: Invoices and inventory management is just a mess with Square
- 3. Square Community: When does a house account affect inventory?
- 4. Square Support: Invoice payment schedules and deposits
- 5. Square Support: Create and send invoices
- 6. Square Support: Invoices inventory management (committed stock)
- 7. Square Support: Stock adjustment reasons
- 8. Square Support: Low stock alerts
- 9. Square Developer: How the Inventory API works
Square sources reviewed November 10, 2026. Square changes its products, so check its help center for the latest.
Keep wholesale inside your Square count
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