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How do I set up an account for a non profit?

I was told that you cannot have Square for non profits.  Is this correct?  Can I set up an account for the organization?

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Best Answer

You can absolutely create an account for your non-profit!

 

The sign up process doesn't change between business types, however, you'll probably want to add your Employment Identification Number (EIN) during signup to help us identify you as a business (especially in regards to tax preparation). 

 

It's also always a good idea to activate the account using the name and Social Security Number of an individual who is a stable figure in the organization, as to avoid having to create a new account each time a person leaves.

 

Hope this helps, and any other general questions you might have are very welcome - just post them here!  


Sean
he/him/his
Product Manager | Square, Inc.

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57 REPLIES 57

Can I convert my regular account Northowne Arts Coalition to a non-profit. It now is a 501C 3?

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Square

@vcphillips77 - While there aren't different types of accounts with Square, you can definitely add your new tax identification number to your account. Just add these details to the Tax Payer Information section on your Square Dashboard. Also, make sure you sign in using the main email address for the account - not the employee account you used to comment in the Seller Community with. Hope this helps! 


Sean
he/him/his
Product Manager | Square, Inc.
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Is the processing fee less for a non profit organization?

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Square

@KYB - We don't currently offer a special processing rate for businesses designated as non-profit. In general, our custom pricing is based on processing volume. If your organization processes over $250K a year, you may qualify. 


Sean
he/him/his
Product Manager | Square, Inc.
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I do not want to set up my Elks Lodge account in my name and SSN number.  I want to create the account in the Lodge's name.  We have a tax ID. Although I am a member in good standing, it makes no sense to have my name associated with the account.  I am only the IT guy.

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Square

Hi @mikeinfl2, federal law requires that Square verifies the information of each individual who creates an account, so I'm afraid there won't be a way around that. You may want to consider having another member of the organization create the account in this case.

 

Read more on the information required to create an account; hope that helps clarify.

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I am in the process of evaluating whether to use Square for our non-profit organization, with under $10,000 in revenue.  I understand the point about needing the last four digits of an SSN for a contact, but am curious as to the process for changing that person as our organization changes.  We are a volunteer organization, and while I am the contact now, I might not be in 2 years.  How difficult is it to change the contact.

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Admin

Hi @LWVJFC, thanks for your interest in Square!

 

At this time, we aren't able to transfer account ownership from person to person. However, we do have a process outlined for organizations that may change leadership. Learn more about it here: Can I Transfer Ownership of a Square Account?

 

Hope this helps! Let us know if you have any other questions about this. 🙂

️ Tom | he/him
Seller Community Manager | Square, Inc.
Find step-by-step help in our Support Center
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Is there a way to set up one account for the non profit organization and have several volunteers be able to take payments to it (without the volunteers setting up individual accounts or seeing the bank account info of the non profit)?  My example is we are doing a silent auction and we want to be able to take more than one payment at a time (by having multiple volunteers take payments).  Thank you for your guidance. 

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Admin

Hi @Volunteerdogmom! ✌🏻

 

Yes — it sounds like a handful of sellers brought up this question in another thread. Have a look at Fresh1's reply in: Can the same account be used on multiple mobile devices?

 

Hope that clears things up. If not, just reply here and we'll take another look.

️ Tom | he/him
Seller Community Manager | Square, Inc.
Find step-by-step help in our Support Center
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If a social security number if required from an individual, how does that affect that persons taxes? In other words, how and what is reported it the IRS for this person?

 

Also, what if the person connected to the account becomes estranged from the organization, or even passes away? How does the organization recover at minimum the details of the account?

 

 

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Admin

Great question, @DebEllis! Another seller asked about this issue on this page: How do I set up an account for a non profit? Have a look at Sean's answer and let us know if that helps:

 

"In a nutshell, the sign up process doesn't change between business types, however, you'll probably want to add your Employment Identification Number (EIN) during signup to help us identify you as a business (especially in regards to tax preparation). 
 
It's also always a good idea to activate the account using the name and Social Security Number of an individual who is a stable figure in the organization, as to avoid having to create a new account each time a person leaves."

️ Tom | he/him
Seller Community Manager | Square, Inc.
Find step-by-step help in our Support Center
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Thank you Tom, but you didn't answer any of my questions.

 

Best regards,

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Admin

Thanks for your reply and I'm sorry for the confusion. Unless you enter in an EIN for your organization, your SSN would be associated with a 1099-K tax report in the event that your organization processes more than $20,000 and more than 200 transactions in a tax year.

 

There isn't a way to transfer account ownership, even if someone becomes estranged from the organization or passes away. If anything like that should happen—hopefully not, please let our Support Team know directly and request the account details as soon as possible. They would have to take a closer look at account specifics and they would be able to make sure everything gets sorted out properly.

 

I realize these answers are still pretty general. We aren't able to offer tax advice, so you may want to touch base with a tax professional regarding any specific concerns related to your organization. If anything else comes up, please let us know!

️ Tom | he/him
Seller Community Manager | Square, Inc.
Find step-by-step help in our Support Center
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What if the person who runs the not-for-profit also wants a personal square account, can they use their SSN for both accounts and can they set up the not-for-profit on their personal email address?

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Admin

Hey @zalmanives! Yes, whoever runs the not-for-profit can also have another Square account and use their SSN on both. They can set up the not-for-profit using a personal email address as well, they aren't required to use a business email address/email address from the organization.

 

Let me know if you have any other questions. Happy to help! 

️ Helen
Seller Community Manager

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My not for profit is an NGO, a non governemtn organisation, so I don't have an ABN etc. How do I go about setting up sqaure in this case? 

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Hello @freedomprojectf, welcome to the community! 

 

Since you're setting your account up in Australia, I think you should reach out to our Australian Support Team. The requirements for creating an account in the United States might be slightly different and I don't want to  provide you with inaccurate information. 

 

If you need help getting in touch with the team let me know! 

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I have 2 accounts with Square and both are very small Non-Profits. One is a Gril Scout Troop and we use square for selling cookies so around $1000 per year. The other is an Elementary School PTA with less than $10,000 in sales.

 

I have heard that starting in 2018 we will need the chip reader or our insurance will not cover using Square readers. However, the cost of $49 is very high for us. Do you have any discount options for small Non-Profits like mine?

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Ok, I’m setting up for a boy scout troop. The name and tax number we use, should it be the pastor of our church who sponsors us? Or does it have to be the troop treasurer who’s name is on our bank account? If we use the treasurer, will he show our income on his SSN?

 

i have permission from the church who really is our “owner”

 

 

thanks,

[Personal information redacted]

committee chairman

 

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Hello @DalNewbold, I'd be happy to make a recommendation. 

 

When setting up an account for a troop I recommend using the personal information of an individual that's going to be apart of the organization for an extended amount of time. The account owner can't be changed once the account is setup. The account owner is the only individual that can make significant changes, like deleting a bank account or manually updating the email address over the phone with our Customer Success Team.  

 

Once the account is setup you'll want to enter the EIN or TIN for the troop, so the payments reported to the IRS are credited to the troop rather than the individual that setup the account. 

 

In the future please refrain from posting full names on public posts. If you have any other questions please feel free to reach out to me. 🙂

 

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