Connecting Stripe or Square

JoinCPR does not hold your money. Students pay directly into your own Stripe or Square account. You connect that account once under Settings → Payments; admins and staff can do this.

How it works#

• Stripe: you sign in to your existing Stripe account and authorise JoinCPR. Charges are created directly on your account with no platform fee. Stripe's own processing fees apply as usual. Payouts follow your Stripe payout schedule.
• Square: you sign in to Square and authorise JoinCPR. Payments land in your Square account at your first active location.
• Refunds you issue from a roster go back through the same processor. See Refunds.
• Disputes, payouts, fees and tax reporting are all handled inside your Stripe or Square dashboard.

Test mode and live mode#

Every account starts in Test Mode. Each processor can be connected twice: a Test (Stripe test / Square Sandbox) connection and a Live (Stripe live / Square Production) connection.

The Payment Mode card appears once at least one connection exists. Choosing Live Mode is refused ("Connect your live Stripe account before switching to live mode.") until your active processor has a live connection.

Connecting Stripe#

1. In the Stripe card, click Connect your existing Stripe account (Live) (or Test).
2. Sign in at Stripe and approve. You return to JoinCPR with "Stripe live account connected successfully!"
3. The box shows your account ID and Status: Connected.

If Stripe still needs details from you, the badge reads Setup Incomplete with "Finish enabling charges and payouts in your Stripe dashboard. This page updates automatically once Stripe confirms it." Complete Stripe's onboarding; JoinCPR is told automatically when charges are enabled.

Disconnect revokes JoinCPR's access for that mode. If you remove the connection from inside Stripe instead, JoinCPR notices and clears it.

Connecting Square#

1. Click Connect Square (Production) (or Sandbox).
2. Sign in at Square and approve. You return with "Square live account connected successfully!" and see your Merchant ID and Location ID.

Square access tokens are refreshed automatically every day, so the connection keeps working even when you have not sold anything for a while.

If you connected Square before refund syncing was added, an amber notice asks you to disconnect and reconnect so refunds made in your Square dashboard also appear on your rosters.

Which processor is active#

Only one processor takes payments at a time. The page shows "Stripe is your active payment processor (live mode)" or the Square equivalent.

• Connecting Square always makes Square active.
• Connecting Stripe makes Stripe active when its mode matches your current Payment Mode, or when nothing was active.
• Disconnecting the active processor clears it.

To switch from Square back to Stripe, disconnect Square in your current mode and reconnect Stripe.

When no processor is connected#

Checkout still works, but the payment step shows "Online payment is not available" and a Register (Pay Later) button. Those registrations are created as Pending and Unpaid, hold a seat, and receive a confirmation email that says "Payment due". You collect payment yourself and click Mark as Paid (Cash) on the roster. See Checkout.

Setup checklist for going live#

1. Connect Stripe Live or Square Production.
2. Switch Payment Mode to Live Mode.
3. Make a small real registration and refund it from the roster.
4. Check the payment and refund in your Stripe or Square dashboard.

Notes#

• Test-mode payments must be refunded while in test mode, and live payments while in live mode; the refund uses the keys for your current mode.
• If Stripe's own email receipts are enabled in your Stripe settings, students may receive both a Stripe receipt and the JoinCPR receipt.
• Stripe and Square notify JoinCPR automatically, so payments are confirmed, refunds made in their dashboards appear on your roster, and disputes are noted.