Wholesale field guide
Standing orders on Square: the weekly wholesale order, without the weekly text
Cafes, delis and grocers often order the same thing every week, with a few changes. Square has no recurring order for that. Here is what Square offers, the workarounds sellers use, and how Crate turns the usual order into a standing order on your Square catalog.
By the Crate teamUpdated
The short answer
- Square has no recurring order setting. Square staff told a bakery in 2019 there was no way to set one up; a 2024 reply pointed to Subscriptions instead.
- Square Subscriptions and recurring invoices repeat a fixed plan or amount. Neither lets a wholesale buyer change this week's quantities, and a declined recurring invoice payment is not retried.
- In Crate, buyers set a standing order every one, two or four weeks, change or skip it themselves, and each one becomes a normal wholesale order at their prices, from $80/month.
The problem: the same order, every week, by hand
A roaster delivers beans to the same cafes every Monday. A bakery drops bread at the same restaurants twice a week. The order barely changes, yet someone texts it in, someone types it up, and someone remembers who forgot to order.
Square sellers have asked for a fix for years. In the 2019 thread Recurring orders, a bakery explained that its customers "order the exact same thing every week" and asked how to set that up. Square staff answered: "Currently there is no way to set up recurring orders."
What Square offers today
| Need | On Square | Source |
|---|---|---|
| A recurring order | Not available as an order setting. A 2024 reply in the same thread pointed to Subscriptions; a seller replied that the customer could not choose the pickup location and it did not appear as an order | Square Community |
| Item subscriptions | Any library item can be sold on a subscription plan, with orders in Order Manager. Fulfillment is shipping or none, with no pickup. The plan price cannot change after it is created, items cannot be swapped on an active subscription, and buyers manage payment, pause and cancel | Square Support |
| Recurring invoices | Bill the same invoice on a schedule, on free and paid plans. A card on file is charged at 10:00 AM local time; declined payments are not retried; edits apply to all future invoices | Square Support |
| Stock on invoiced orders | Items adjust only when the whole invoice is paid | Square Support |
| Delivery route planning | Not available. Square Online delivery has zones, fees and minimums for your own couriers, or on-demand couriers per order. Staff wrote in 2020 that nothing pulls addresses into a map to optimize a route; a 2026 request for route management was shared with Square's Restaurants team, with no commitment | Square Support, 2020, 2026 |
The workarounds, and where each breaks
| Workaround | How it works | The catch |
|---|---|---|
| A recurring invoice per account | Build the usual order once as an invoice series that repeats weekly | Fine while the order never changes. A change for one week means editing the series, which changes every future invoice, and a declined card is not retried |
| An item subscription | Put the usual items on a subscription plan for the account | Built for fixed boxes shipped to consumers: no pickup, no item swaps, and the plan price is fixed once created |
| Orders by text, typed into Square | The buyer texts the order each week and you ring it up or invoice it | Works with a few accounts, but every order is retyped and nobody is reminded when an account forgets |
| A spreadsheet of usual orders | Keep each account's usual order and delivery day in a sheet and copy it into Square | Prices and quantities drift out of date, and the delivery list is rebuilt by hand. One seller asking in 2026 found addresses blank in the order export and opened each customer one by one (Square Community) |
| A wholesale portal on top of Square | Buyers keep a standing order that turns into an order each cycle | One more tool to set up. This is what Crate does |
Standing orders with Crate on your Square catalog
Crate is a wholesale ordering portal that connects to Square. Your Square items stay where they are. Wholesale buyers sign in to Crate, see their prices, and set their usual order to repeat.
- Buyers set it up. From the Crate portal a buyer picks items and quantities, the first order date (never sooner than your delivery lead time) and a rhythm: every week, every two weeks or every four weeks.
- You choose what repeats. Turn standing orders on and offer them on all products or only the ones you choose.
- Changes without a phone call. Buyers change items and quantities, change how often it repeats, skip the next order, pause, resume or cancel from their account. You can skip, change it or place the next one early from the dashboard.
- A heads-up first. Buyers get an email five days before each order, so this week's changes come in before you plan production.
- Each cycle is a normal order. On the day it falls due, Crate creates an ordinary wholesale order at the buyer's current prices, so a new price list applies without editing anything. It waits for you to confirm, or confirms itself if you turn on automatic approval.
- Your rules still apply. Your order minimum applies, and if the buyer has an overdue invoice the cycle is held and you get an email instead of another unpaid order.
- Paid the way the buyer already pays. Each order follows the buyer's payment terms and your invoicing through Square, QuickBooks Online or Crate. If you send invoices through Crate and turn it on, prepaid buyers can save a card so each standing order is paid automatically, with retries if a payment fails.
- Same Square items. Confirmed orders can be sent into Square as open orders on the same items, next to your retail sales.
- No nagging. Buyers on a standing order never get a reorder reminder; Crate saves those for accounts that have gone quiet.
Where it may still fit: If you have two or three accounts whose order and price never change, a Square recurring invoice is free and may be all you need. A standing order pays off when quantities shift week to week, buyers want to make the change themselves, and you want each one to land as a real order at the right price.
See how the screens look on standing orders. For accounts without a standing order, read wholesale reorder reminders. To bill standing orders on terms, see Square Net 30 terms, and for case minimums on the same items, Square minimum order quantity. The overview is Square wholesale ordering.
Setting it up
- 01Connect Square from Integrations in Crate and choose which items are sold wholesale.
- 02Turn on standing orders and pick the products buyers can repeat, and your delivery lead time.
- 03Decide whether standing orders wait for your confirmation or confirm themselves.
- 04Invite your buyers, or tell your regulars. They set their usual order once and change it when they need to.
Questions
- Can I set up recurring orders on Square?
- Not as an order setting. When a bakery asked in 2019, Square staff replied that there was no way to set up recurring orders. The closest options are Subscriptions, which charge a fixed plan, and recurring invoices, which bill the same amount on a schedule.
- Do Square Subscriptions work for wholesale accounts?
- Only for a fixed, simple order. A subscription is a plan built from items in your library, with shipping or no fulfillment and no pickup option. The plan price cannot be changed after it is created, items cannot be swapped on an active subscription, and changes to a plan only affect new subscriptions. Wholesale buyers who change quantities week to week do not fit that well.
- What happens when a recurring invoice card payment fails?
- Square charges a card on file at 10:00 AM local time on the invoice date and does not retry a declined payment. The customer is told, and you follow up yourself. Edits to an active series apply to every future invoice, not just one.
- Can Square plan delivery routes?
- No. Square Online delivery lets you set zones, fees and minimums for your own couriers, or send each order to an on-demand courier. Square staff wrote in 2020 that nothing pulls delivery addresses into a map to optimize a route, and a 2026 request for route management is still a request. Sellers sequence stops by hand or in a separate route app.
- How do standing orders work in Crate?
- Your buyer sets up a standing order from their usual items in the Crate portal, every week, every two weeks or every four weeks. Each time it falls due, Crate creates a normal wholesale order at that buyer's current prices. It waits for you to confirm, or confirms itself if you turn on automatic approval, and it can be sent into Square on the same items.
- Can buyers change or skip a standing order?
- Yes. Buyers can change items and quantities, change how often it repeats, skip the next order, pause, resume or cancel from their account. They get an email five days before each order, and you can make the same changes from the dashboard.
- How much does Crate cost for standing orders?
- Standing orders come with Crate Wholesale Growth, $80/month for up to 50 active buyers, with Crate invoicing and payment collection. Starter is $50/month for up to 20 active buyers without standing orders, and Plus is $150/month for more than 50.
Sources
- 1. Square Community: Recurring orders
- 2. Square Community: What are the limitations for setting up a payment subscription for products
- 3. Square Community: Native delivery route management (feature request)
- 4. Square Community: Load the customer's address into a map with directions for delivery
- 5. Square Community: Managing delivery orders and addresses
- 6. Square Support: Create and send recurring invoices
- 7. Square Support: Create and send invoices
- 8. Square Support: Get started with Subscriptions in Dashboard
- 9. Square Support: Set up delivery options with Square Online
Square sources reviewed November 10, 2026. Square changes its products, so check its help center for the latest.
Turn the weekly text into a standing order
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