An SQSP INV charge on your statement is a Squarespace subscription billing your card. Squarespace is a website-building and hosting platform, and it uses this descriptor whenever it charges for a website plan, a domain, a professional email, Acuity Scheduling, Email Campaigns, or other add-ons tied to an account.1Squarespace. Investigate an Unknown Charge From Squarespace Almost every surprise SQSP charge traces back to an auto-renewal that someone with access to the card set up months or a year earlier.
How to Read the Charge on Your Statement
The full descriptor is SQSP*INV followed by a nine-digit invoice number. That nine-digit number is the key: it matches an invoice inside the Squarespace account that was charged, which lets you or Squarespace support trace the charge to a specific subscription.1Squarespace. Investigate an Unknown Charge From Squarespace Banks don’t all format merchant names the same way, so you may see SQSP INV, SQ*SP INV, SQUARESPACE INC, or SQSP DOMAIN when the charge is for a domain registration specifically.
The amount on your statement often won’t match a round advertised Squarespace price, because listed prices don’t include tax.2Squarespace. Taxes and Squarespace Billing A small mismatch between what you remember paying and what posted is normal and doesn’t mean anything is wrong.
What You Were Likely Charged For
Any of the following Squarespace products can produce their own SQSP charge, and each bills independently on its own cycle:
- A website plan (monthly or annual).
- A custom domain registered through Squarespace, which renews automatically on its own schedule.
- Google Workspace email set up through Squarespace, billed through your Squarespace account.3Squarespace. Using Google Workspace With Squarespace
- Acuity Scheduling, which runs as a standalone subscription even if your website plan is canceled.4Squarespace. Acuity Scheduling Pricing, Billing, and Invoices
- Email Campaigns, Squarespace’s email marketing tool.
- Digital Products such as courses or member sites.
All of these auto-renew unless you cancel them. Squarespace sends a reminder email 15 days before an annual website subscription renews, but monthly subscriptions renew with no warning.5Squarespace. Automatic Subscription Renewals An annual renewal hitting the card a full year after signup is the single most common source of these mystery charges.
It Probably Was Not a Free Trial
Squarespace doesn’t ask for a credit card to start a trial site. When a trial expires without an upgrade, the site just goes offline.6Squarespace. Starting a Squarespace Trial Site If an SQSP charge appeared on your card, someone with access to it actively chose a paid plan or bought a domain. A shared card is worth checking with family or coworkers before assuming fraud. Domains in particular require payment upfront and keep renewing even if the site attached to them was never built out.
Tracing the Charge to an Account
Write down the nine-digit invoice number from your statement. Then try logging into any Squarespace account you may have: open the Billing panel, click Invoices, and look for the matching invoice. It will show what the subscription was for and the amount charged.1Squarespace. Investigate an Unknown Charge From Squarespace
If you can’t remember which email address the account uses, search every email inbox you have for “Squarespace.” A receipt or renewal reminder will tell you the account email. If nothing turns up, contact Squarespace support with the invoice number from your bank statement and they can locate the account tied to that charge.1Squarespace. Investigate an Unknown Charge From Squarespace
Canceling So It Does Not Happen Again
Each Squarespace subscription has to be canceled on its own. Ending a website plan does not stop billing for a domain, Google Workspace, Acuity, or Email Campaigns on the same account.7Squarespace. Canceling a Website Subscription If you cancel only the website and leave a domain renewing, you’ll see another SQSP charge the following year.
To cancel a website plan, open the Billing panel for that site, click the subscription under Subscriptions, and choose Cancel Subscription. For a domain that isn’t attached to an active site, Squarespace parks it on a placeholder page and keeps renewing it until you turn off auto-renew. Go to the domains dashboard, click the domain name, and toggle off Auto-renew.5Squarespace. Automatic Subscription Renewals
Getting a Refund
Squarespace refunds some subscriptions and not others. Email Campaigns plans and Getty Images purchases are non-refundable.8Squarespace. Refund Policies for Your Squarespace Subscriptions When you cancel a website plan that qualifies, the cancellation flow gives you a choice: keep access through the end of the current billing period, or take an immediate refund and lose access right away.7Squarespace. Canceling a Website Subscription
If the cancellation screen doesn’t offer a refund, the subscription is outside the refund window. You can still contact Squarespace support directly, explain what happened, and ask. Have the invoice number and the charge details from your bank statement in hand.
Disputing the Charge With Your Bank
If Squarespace won’t refund you and you believe the charge was unauthorized or a billing error, you can dispute it with your card issuer under the Fair Credit Billing Act. The law requires written notice to the issuer within 60 days of the statement date that shows the disputed charge.9Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC Chapter 41 Subchapter I Part D – Credit Billing That deadline is firm.
Your notice needs your name, your account number, the date and amount of the charge, and a brief explanation of what’s wrong. Send it to the billing inquiries address on your statement, not the payment address. You can withhold payment on the disputed amount during the investigation without it being reported as late.10Federal Trade Commission. Fair Credit Billing Act
A bank dispute is a last resort. If the charge turns out to be a legitimate auto-renewal, the dispute will likely be resolved in Squarespace’s favor. Cancel the subscription first so no further charges post while the current one is sorted out.