The Square Partner Program is not what you think. Technically, it lets developers, agencies, and consultants integrate, build, or refer businesses to Square’s ecosystem. What you are looking for is how to sell Square POS. To do that, you must apply to a company that already holds a Square partner relationship, and you resell under theirs. Square has already chosen 150 partner ISOs like Turnkey for you to resell through, rather than signing resellers directly. There is no reseller application or a number to call on Square’s website. That’s why we created our Square reseller program, where you can earn up to 100% in residuals from the merchants you sign up.
What Is the Square Partner Program?
Square publishes three routes, and none of them is the one most merchant services agents need.
- Solutions Partner: for developers, ISVs and integrators building on Square’s APIs. They earn a share of processing revenue on the merchants they bring.
- Referral Partner: for businesses whose customers overlap with Square’s. You send people through a tracked link and earn a share when they adopt Square. Little commitment, little control.
- Square Specialists: certified designers, marketers and developers who take on project work. They’re vetted professionals, not Square employees, and pay varies by the work.
If you don’t have a product built on Square’s APIs, the Solutions Partner route isn’t for you, and the other two don’t let you sell Square POS as your own product. For that, you sell under a partner, which is what the rest of this article covers.
Why Square Never Says “Reseller”
Search Square’s site for the word “reseller,” and you will not find it. Square says partner and referral partner. If you searched “Square reseller” to find this, you used the same word most agents do. On Square’s side, a partner is the organization that holds the relationship with Square. A reseller is the agent or sub-ISO who sells Square through that partner. Same channel, two names for two different seats in it. The next section shows where you sit.
Partner and Reseller: What the Difference Actually Buys You
A Square partner is a company signed directly by Square. A reseller is anyone permitted to sell Square through a partner. Turnkey is both: we resell Square, and the agents and sub-ISOs who sell through us are our partners.
The biggest practical difference is support. A Square partner has a direct line to a named account manager at Square, and that line covers every agent and sub-ISO underneath the partner. It is also why the channel is small. Square’s partner managers can only look after so many organizations, so Square limits how many it accepts and chooses companies that can learn the product, keep merchants on it, and solve problems.
Turnkey built the same structure one level down. Our partner managers are trained on Square, our technical support team knows the product in depth, and every issue has a clear escalation path. When you call us, we solve the problem. When it needs Square, we use our direct line, and Square has been quick to respond when we have. Every call gets help first, and the account details get sorted out afterward.
A Square partner has to handle everything: learning the product, fixing problems, and implementing systems. As a Square reseller, you have a partner doing that work behind you. That leaves you free to focus on what you do best: meeting merchants and closing deals.
Put it all together, and you walk in offering more than a POS. You offer one point of contact for the merchant’s system, menus, and marketing, backed by a team that helps their business grow. That is the reason they sign with you. Here’s our full guide on how you can become a square reseller.
How Square Chooses Its Partners
Square looks for proven ability: a track record of successful implementations, a steady flow of merchant referrals, positive merchant feedback, a standard onboarding process, and a dedicated support team. Above all, Square wants organizations that make Square their primary product.
The creator of Square’s reseller program interviewed every ISO himself, and he boiled the decision down to two questions:
- Is this organization capable and organized enough to deploy and scale the product? Selling Square was never the hard part. Square wanted to know what happens to the merchant after the account boards: who sets up the system, who trains the staff, and who keeps it running as the business grows.
- Is Square going to be a back-burner product, or are you all in? Square wanted partners who lead with Square in every conversation, because a partner who believes in the product puts real effort into every merchant on it.
Those two questions shaped the channel you sell through today. Every official Square partner has already shown it can deploy the product and wants to lead with it. When you sell through one, you inherit that work: every merchant you sign gets a partner built to set them up and support them, and that is what keeps your accounts processing year after year.
Four Ways to Work With Square
Four arrangements, and the differences that matter are who holds the relationship and who does the work after the sale.
| Direct referral | Solutions Partner | Reseller under a partner | Square partner | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| What you sell | The introduction | Square inside your own software | Square POS as your product | Square at organization scale |
| Who holds the Square relationship | Square | You | Your partner | Your partner |
| Who deploys | Square, or your merchant | You | You or your partner | Your partner |
| How you are paid | On adoption | Share of processing on your integrations | Monthly residual on your merchants | Revenue share, split downward |
| How you get in | A tracked link | A product built on Square’s APIs | Apply to a partner | Square has to choose you |
For most agents reading this, the third column is the answer. As a reseller under a partner, you sell Square POS as your own product, earn a monthly residual on every merchant you sign, and have a partner who can handle deployment for you. You apply once and start selling, with the partner’s Square relationship behind you. Do you need to be a registered ISO to sell Square? covers what you are taking on in that role, and what your partner handles for you.
What You Need to Sell Square Under a Partner
Getting started takes less than most agents expect. You need three things: a registered business entity, an active sales process, and a real plan to sell Square to merchants.
Your partner covers the rest, so you can start selling without the usual overhead:
- An ISO registration already in place. You sell under your partner’s registration, so there is no sponsor bank to find, no card-brand registration to file, and no compliance team to build.
- Free to join. Turnkey’s program has no startup cost and no investment. There is no territory to buy and no starter kit to purchase.
- Room to keep what works. Square sits alongside whatever you already sell. Most of our partners joined while carrying another product, and they still sell it today.
How the Program Works Once You Are In
There are five steps, and you can complete the first three before you commit to anything.
- Apply and talk with our team. The application starts a conversation about what you sell today, which deals you want to win, and whether you want to handle deployment yourself or have us do it. That conversation helps us match you to the program that fits you best.
- Sit in on training before you sign. Turnkey runs a live partner training every week through the Square Sales Academy, and prospective partners are welcome to join before committing. Once you are in, your agents can attend every week at no cost.
- Get your link, portal, and pricing. You get a white-labeled signup link with your company name and logo, so every merchant signs up under your brand. You also get access to the Square reseller portal, where you can see every account you have placed and how each one is performing.
- Sell and board the merchant. A Square application is short, and Square approves most merchants the same day. A merchant can even start before every detail is ready and add items like a bank account number once they have it.
- We deploy, and you get paid. Turnkey builds the menu, configures the hardware, routes the printers, trains the staff, and covers go-live. You earn a monthly residual on the account’s volume for as long as it processes.
Your Agents Stay Your Agents
When you bring a team to Turnkey, your team stays yours. Turnkey holds an agreement not to recruit any sub-ISO agents. Your team still gets the benefits, like our weekly training sessions, where they can learn from our team while their relationship stays with you. Think of Turnkey as an extension of your team. Check out our sub-ISO program.
Where an Agent Actually Fits
When you join a Square Partner organization, you get their connection to Square, their account manager there, and their support team. So the real decision is whose registration you sell under, and what that partner does for you once you do.
Turnkey Processing is an official Square partner and a registered ISO, so when you sell with us, Square is one call away. We hold the relationship and the direct line into Square, we can set up every system in the merchant’s business or let you handle it yourself for a larger split, and we pay your residual every month for as long as the account processes. You can see the full terms on our Square POS reseller program page, and Square POS shows what the product does for each type of business.
Start your Square reseller application — it takes under five minutes, there is no obligation, and you will see the terms before you sign anything. Or talk to our team and sit in on a training first.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Square have a reseller program you can apply to directly?
How do I become a Square partner?
What is the difference between a Square partner and a Square reseller?
What are the requirements to sell Square as a reseller?
What is the difference between the Solutions Partner and Referral Partner routes?
How long does it take to get started?
Who supports the merchant after the sale?
Can I sell Square if I already sell another POS?
Do I need to be a registered ISO?
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