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This page outlines the path from signup to a live branded app. It’s aimed at merchant owners and evaluators who want to understand the flow without touching the dashboard.

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Prerequisites

  • A Square account with your locations and catalog set up.
  • Your business branding (logo, primary color, business name) ready.
No need to change your existing POS or KDS setup; Layout connects to what you already have.

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Step 1: Create your account

Merchants sign up through the Layout dashboard. Account creation is standard: email, company/business details, and verification. Once in, the dashboard is the control center for branding, Square, locations, and app behavior.

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Step 2: Connect Square

Layout uses Square OAuth so you authorize access once from your Square account:
  1. In the dashboard, start the Connect Square flow.
  2. You’re redirected to Square to sign in (if needed) and approve the requested permissions.
  3. After you allow access, Layout receives and stores a secure connection to your Square account (tokens are stored in a secure, tenant-scoped way).
  4. Layout then performs an initial sync of locations and catalog (items and categories) into the platform.
From then on, catalog and location changes in Square can be reflected in the app via scheduled sync and Square webhooks. You keep managing menu and locations in Square; the app stays in sync.

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Step 3: Configure branding and app behavior

In the dashboard you set:
  • Branding — Business name, logo (light/dark), primary CTA color. These drive the look of the customer app.
  • Locations — Which Square locations are enabled for mobile ordering (all or a subset).
  • Order and pickup — Settings like default pickup time estimates and any ordering rules.
The customer-facing app (e.g. the iOS build for your brand) reads this configuration so it shows your name, colors, menu, and locations without a separate build per merchant.

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Step 4: Kitchen display (optional)

If you use Layout’s kitchen panel:
  • Staff sign in and select a location.
  • Orders for that location appear on the panel with status (e.g. accepted → making → ready → completed).
  • Updating status can drive what the customer sees in the app (and optional push or Live Activity).
If you use Square KDS only, you leave kitchen display entirely in Square; the app can still show an estimated pickup time and order confirmation.

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Step 5: Go live

Once Square is connected, branding and locations are set, and (if applicable) the kitchen panel is configured:
  • Customers download or open your branded app, choose a location, browse the menu, and pay with Square (card or Apple Pay).
  • Orders appear in your kitchen (Layout panel or Square KDS, depending on config).
  • You keep using Square for payments, reporting, and menu/location management; the app and panel stay aligned with Square.

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Summary

StepWhat happens
1. AccountSign up and access the Layout dashboard.
2. SquareOAuth connect → secure token storage → initial sync of locations and catalog.
3. ConfigSet branding, which locations are active, and order/pickup behavior.
4. KitchenOptionally use Layout’s panel (location-based, status flow) or keep Square KDS.
5. LiveCustomers order in the app; payments in Square; orders in your kitchen.
No code or infrastructure is required on the merchant side. The technical work is connecting Square once and configuring the dashboard; Layout handles the rest. For more detail on how data flows end-to-end, see Integration flow. For how we keep payments and sync reliable and secure, see Reliability and Security.