Who can do this: Owners only. Where: Sidebar → Business → Settings → "Payment Processor"
Until you connect one: demo mode#
With no processor connected, your booking page still works end to end — customers pick times, choose gear, see a total, and get a confirmation — but no card is ever charged.
That's genuinely useful for testing your whole funnel before you go live. It is not useful for taking money. Connect a processor before you announce your booking page.
Stripe or Square?#
You pick one. The card explains: "Choose which processor handles booking payments. Disconnect the current processor before switching."
| Stripe | Square | |
|---|---|---|
| Best if | You don't already take card payments, or you want the most flexible online setup | You already run Square at your front counter and want everything in one dashboard |
| Setup | Stripe Connect onboarding — business details, bank account, identity verification | Square OAuth — sign in to your existing Square account and approve |
If you already use Square at the counter, Square keeps all your revenue in one place. Otherwise Stripe is the straightforward choice.
Connecting Stripe#
- In Settings, expand "Payment Processor" and click the "Stripe" tile.
- Click "Connect with Stripe".
- Complete Stripe's onboarding — business details, bank account, identity verification.
- You'll come back to PBHQ. A green "Connected" pill and your account ID appear, along with a "Stripe Dashboard" link.
If you see a "Setup Incomplete" pill, Stripe still needs something from you. Click "Continue Setup" and finish it. You won't be paid until onboarding is complete — PBHQ tells you as much: Stripe onboarding is not complete. Click "Continue Setup" to finish.
Connecting Square#
- Click the "Square" tile, then "Connect with Square".
- Sign in to Square and approve access.
- You'll return to PBHQ with a "Connected" pill and a "Square Dashboard" link.
If you see "Square connected, but no active location was found. Add a location in your Square dashboard, then reconnect." — Square requires at least one active business location. Add one in Square, then reconnect.
Square reconnect prompts#
Two amber banners can appear later. Both mean the same thing: click "Reconnect Square" and sign in again. It takes under a minute.
Action required: Your Square connection needs updated permissions to process payments. Please reconnect your account.
Action required: Reconnect your Square account to keep accepting payments. Your current connection uses an access token that will expire and can't be renewed automatically — reconnecting once fixes this for good.
Don't ignore these. The second one in particular means your connection will stop working on its own. Reconnecting once fixes it permanently.
Switching processors#
The tile you're not using is disabled, with an amber note: "Disconnect your current processor before switching to another."
So: disconnect the current one, then connect the other.
Disconnecting#
Click "Disconnect". A modal confirms: "Are you sure? You will not be able to accept payments until you reconnect."
Disconnecting doesn't touch money already taken, and doesn't affect your Stripe or Square account — it just unlinks it from PBHQ.
Troubleshooting#
"Stripe is not configured. Add STRIPE_SECRET_KEY to your environment." A platform-level configuration problem, not something you can fix. Contact PBHQ support.
Customers report checkout failing. Check the "Payment Processor" card for a "Setup Incomplete" pill or a reconnect banner. Then check your Stripe or Square dashboard directly for account holds.
A customer says they paid but the booking still shows Pending. PBHQ checks for completed payments every couple of minutes and catches up on its own. If it's still Pending after a few minutes, see Taking payment.