Direct Square connection · 8 min read
How to automate review requests after a Square payment
Written by Mannie Gill, Founder & Lead Developer at EmbedMyReviews. LinkedInPublished
Use the Square automation in EmbedMyReviews (EMR) to send review requests after completed payments. The agency connects the business’s Square account once; later qualifying payments trigger the campaign automatically. Zapier and custom code are unnecessary for this route.
TL;DR
The short version
- Best for a spa, salon, repair shop or retailer that takes payment after the visit.
- The owner supplies a Production Access Token. You choose the campaign, Square locations and timing.
- Collect a customer email at checkout. Anonymous payments and phone-only records cannot complete this native workflow.
What happens automatically?
- 01
Customer pays in Square
- 02
EMR waits until your chosen time
- 03
Your campaign sends the review request
Choose this when: The customer has received the service by the time they pay, and Square holds their email address.
Choose another route when: Deposits, advance payments or a business that needs a specific service or product filter. A completed payment does not prove the appointment happened.
Who does what?
The business owner
Provides access from their own Square account, checks the correct locations and ensures checkout records an email.
You, the agency
Creates the branded campaign, connects Square inside the correct client location, tests delivery and monitors activity.
Set up EMR Automations while signed in as the agency owner and working in the intended client location. The business owner handles access to their own software. They do not need your agency login or a daily EMR task.
A message you can send the business owner
“We can send your review requests automatically after checkout. Please have the owner of your Square account join the setup and make sure customer emails are saved with payments. You will create a connection token in Square; I will connect it to your review campaign, select the correct branch and test the message. After that, your team keeps using Square as usual.”
Once it is connected
Reception takes payment and records the customer email as usual. Each eligible completed payment starts the review workflow automatically. You check the connection and delivery activity; the owner only needs to tell you if they change their Square access or checkout process.
Have these ready
- A campaign with a working email sender; add an SMS sender only if you will also use SMS.
- Access to the business’s Square Developer Console. The owner may need to create an application there first.
- A customer email on the payment or its attached Square customer. Do not assume every card payment includes one.
First client? Prepare the review campaign first
From your agency, open Business → Customers → Manage Customers → Open dashboard (or the Customer tab if shown). Select the business location you are setting up.
A campaign is the review message and any follow-ups you want EMR to send. A feedback form controls where the customer is invited to leave their review.
Use Grow → Review Tools → Feedback Forms to prepare the customer’s review destination, then Grow → Campaigns → Request Reviews to create the campaign. Choose its feedback form, message and working sender. Start with one email step for this walkthrough. Add your own test contact through Grow → Campaigns → Invites and verify the message and link.
Set the campaign’s sending window and duplicate-request window. Honour opt-outs. For Google review campaigns, ask eligible customers consistently, leave review gating off and offer no incentives.
Do I need to understand APIs or write code?
No coding is needed for this route. You enter the business’s connection details into EMR’s built-in setup wizard. EMR handles the API calls. Your work is choosing settings and copying the connection credential; you do not write code or build a Zap.
A key or token is a private connection credential. A webhook is an automatic notice that something happened, such as a payment completing. Keep connection credentials private; the business owner does not need to share their everyday login password.
The walkthrough
Set it up, step by step
Copy a token, then follow the wizard. Work through this together the first time.
Together
Agree which checkout should ask for a review
For a spa, choose the payment after treatment. Confirm whether the same Square account also takes deposits, sells gift cards or serves other branches.
Use a separate EMR client location and matching campaign for each business you manage. Choose a duplicate-request window in the campaign so regular visitors are not asked on every visit.
Before moving on: You can name the payment moment, recipient and business location before connecting anything.
Business owner
Copy the Square production token
Sign in to the Square Developer Console with the business’s Square account. Open its application, or create one for this connection and give it a recognisable name such as Review requests. You do not need to write any code.
Open Credentials, select Production, then choose Show in the Production Access Token box and copy it. This is the connection credential you will paste into EMR, not the owner’s Square password.
Have the owner enter the token during setup, or share it through your agreed secure credential-sharing method. Keep it out of email threads and screenshots.
Before moving on: You have the business’s production token, not a Sandbox token.
Agency
Connect Square in the client’s EMR account
From your agency account, open the client dashboard and select the correct location. Go to Connect → Integrations → Automations. On the Square card, click Connect Square. If it already shows Manage Square, open that and choose New Integration.
Give the connection a recognisable name and paste the production token. Validate it, then continue.
Before moving on: EMR accepts the token and can load the Square locations.
Agency
Choose the campaign, locations and timing
Select the campaign. Choose specific Square locations for this destination; use All locations only when every Square location should feed this same campaign.
Choose a delay after payment, up to 24 hours, or The next morning with the business’s timezone. For the spa example, start with one hour. Check campaign timing too, because its sending rules still apply.
Before moving on: The selected Square branch, EMR location, sender and review link all match.
Agency
Create the connection and prove delivery
Click Create Webhook & Send Test. This asks Square to send a connection test. Then choose Activate Integration.
A received webhook test proves Square can reach EMR. It does not prove that a real customer can receive your campaign. With the owner, follow the test below using a genuine purchase and your own contact details.
Before moving on: The connection is active and the separate campaign delivery test has passed.
Example: a spa takes payment at 3 pm
The receptionist attaches the customer’s email and takes the final payment at 3 pm. With a one-hour automation delay, EMR plans to add the customer to the campaign for 4 pm. The campaign then applies its own sending rules. Tomorrow’s customer follows the same path automatically; the owner does not copy a new token or press send in EMR.
How to know it is working
Follow the event all the way to a message you receive. A green connection or a successful test response is only part of that journey.
Where to look: Open Automations → Square, click the connection name and look under Recent payments. Then go to Grow → Campaigns → Invites, find the test email and open its activity. Finish by checking your inbox and the review link. In the automation’s activity, Sent means the contact was passed to the campaign; the inbox check confirms the message actually arrived.
When to expect the message: Set the first-request delay here in the automation. EMR does not add the campaign’s first-step delay on top, but its allowed sending hours still apply. For example, a request due at 8 pm waits if the campaign only sends between 9 am and 6 pm. Follow-up timing stays in the campaign.
Testing again? Use another email address you control for a second successful-send test. Reusing the first address can correctly trigger your duplicate-request rule. Keep that protection on for real customers.
Test 1: Send Square’s built-in connection test.
Expected result: EMR confirms receipt. Treat this as a connection check only.
Test 2: With the owner’s agreement, complete a genuine purchase with your own email at a selected location.
Expected result: Find the payment in the connection activity, confirm its scheduled time, then verify the actual branded message arrives and its review link is correct. Normal transaction fees may apply.
Test 3: Inspect a payment without an email, or a repeat contact inside the campaign’s duplicate window.
Expected result: The record is skipped or suppressed for the appropriate reason. There should be no second unwanted invitation.
If something does not work
Payments arrive but nothing sends
Open the activity reason first. Check email availability, selected locations, campaign steps, sender setup, duplicate window and opt-outs.
Only some branches work
Match the Square location filter to the branch. Do not send every branch to one location’s Google review link.
The owner rotates the token
Update or reconnect the credentials and repeat the connection and delivery checks. Assign this to the agency, rather than expecting reception staff to diagnose it.
At handover, record the connection name, source account, client location, campaign, timing, test result and person responsible for failures. Test again after changing the workflow. Keep passwords, API keys and private webhook URLs out of the handover notes.
Cost, reliability and the simpler alternatives
Cost: No separate automation-platform subscription is needed. Keep the normal Square account and payment costs, your EMR subscription, and the campaign’s email or SMS delivery costs in your budget.
Reliability: Square sends payment notices directly to EMR, which tracks each payment once. A refund or cancellation received while the request is still scheduled in this automation can stop it. Once the contact has been passed to the campaign, the source event does not withdraw that campaign request.
When to use something else: If payment happens before the visit, use HighLevel or Google Calendar appointment timing. If you need product or amount filters, use a source workflow or an automation bridge that can apply those rules before it sends to EMR.