About Square

Category: Accounting Software
Square offers top-notch invoicing software to help you get paid faster, bill and track from anywhere, streamline your business' collaborating needs, and manage your business from one platform. It has many integrations and connects to Square's small business suite of solutions.

Company: Square

Square Inc., is a San Francisco, California-based financial services and digital payments company. Its first platform was launched in 2010 by Jack Dorsey and Jim McKelvey. Since November 2015, it has been traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol SQ. Millions of companies use Square to take payments, manage staff, and conduct business in-store and online.

Square Invoicing
2.9%+$0.30
/transaction
No monthly fee
Square Invoicing + Card on File
3.5%+$0.15
/transaction
No monthly fee

In-Depth Analysis

0 Overall
Price 5.0
Ease Of Use 4.5
Features 3.5
Support 4.0

Pros

  • Robust estimate and invoice management
  • Recurring invoices and automated payment reminders
  • Simple UI
  • Competitive transaction fees

Cons

  • No time tracking
  • Can’t charge late fees
  • Can’t add expenses to invoices

Square Comparisons

VS
VS
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Plans & Pricing

Square is free in terms of upfront or recurring fees. Instead, you only pay per transaction. This makes it easy to sign up for Square on your own schedule without worrying about wasting money.

With that said, they charge two different transaction fees depending on how the customer pays.

Square Invoicing
2.9%+$0.30
/transaction
No monthly fee
Square Invoicing + Card on File
3.5%+$0.15
/transaction
No monthly fee

Square Invoicing

Square’s regular invoicing fee is 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction — you pay this when your client pays you via their client portal. This is comparable with many other free solutions like PayPal invoicing. You have access to all Square Invoicing features under this “plan”.

Square Invoicing + Card on File

Square bumps the fee up a bit to 3.5% + $0.15 per transaction for “card-not-present” payments, which most often occurs when a client uses a stored card to pay an invoice. Stored cards are slightly riskier — as neither your client nor their card need be present. This somewhat higher fee helps Square cover this risk. Still, allowing your customers to save cards makes purchasing from you effortless, so you’re also likely to earn more revenue to cover the fees. Note that this charge also occurs if you manually key in your customer’s card number.

Featured prices can be updated and free offers may include additional terms.
Ease of Use

Square’s UI is excellent and easy for beginners to learn. It walks you through the product with a three-step onboarding sequence to get your business set up and explain some basics. It’ll even let you send yourself a mock invoice to ensure everything works how you want it to.

Customer Support

Square provides its customers with nearly every common support option, from phone to live chat to tutorials and blog posts. Customer support is generally pretty strong, too.

That said, the company nudges users towards the Square community, FAQs, and other resources to minimize the need for support agents.

Additional customer support:
Social Media
Square support will respond on social media channels such as Twitter.

Community
Join Square’s seller community to talk about Square and business with other users.

Blog
Square’s blog has more articles about software and small business in general.

Phone Support
Phone Support
Access phone support Monday-Friday from 6 am to 6 pm
Live Online Chat
Live Online Chat
You can ask for help via live chat
Email
Email
Email the Square customer service from the support portal
Video Tutorials
Video Tutorials
Available in the Square support center as well as YouTube
FAQ
FAQ
Simple presale FAQs, guides, and other resources available
Features & Functionality
General Features
Recurring Invoices

Service businesses are often on retained for some of their clients. Sending your retainer clients invoices every month can be a headache, which is only made worse when they seem to dodge around paying you.

However, thanks to Square, you can store client credit or debit cards and set up recurring billing quite easily. Their card will be charged automatically, so they won’t have to remember to pay, and you won’t have to stress about non-payment.

Payment Reminders

Another automation feature Square offers is payment reminders. When creating your invoice, you can schedule payment reminders ahead of time to increase your clients’ chances of paying on time.

Deposits

If you run a service business, you likely require your clients to put down a deposit upfront to reserve a spot in your calendar or protect yourself if they’re a bad client.

Square lets you set up deposits and other milestones, so you can get paid when you complete essential portions of each client project.

Estimate Management

Square provides excellent estimate creation and management features. You can create and send custom, multi-package estimates so that clients can pick the best one based on their needs and budget. Once they choose their package, you can convert the estimate into an invoice with a few clicks.

To streamline documents even further, Square offers numerous contract templates you can fill in and send with the invoice.

Features
  • General Ledger
  • Bookkeeping
  • Manages Accounts Payable/Receivable
  • Income & Expenses Tracking/Management
  • Account Reconciliations
  • Financial Reporting
  • Receipt Scanning
  • Invoicing
Track Expenses
Features
  • Record Expenses
  • Record Mileage
  • Generate Invoices
  • Recurring Expenses
Tax Preparation
Features
  • Tax Compliance
  • Manage Tax Calculations/Reporting
  • Accountant-Prep Friendly
Time-Saving Automations
Features
  • Automation of Invoices/Notifications
  • Suggests Transaction Matches
  • Purchase Order Automation
Add-Ons

Square offers numerous other small business management beyond their invoicing. Some are free, while others cost money.

Additionally, Square integrates with several administrative and marketing tools to streamline your operations, such as Acuity scheduling software, ActiveCampaign, JotForm, Mailchimp, and TSheets.

Features
  • Payment Processing
  • Payroll Processing
  • Project Management
  • Time Tracking
  • Third-Party Integrations
Supported Devices
Features
  • Windows
  • Android
  • Linux
  • iPhone/iPad
  • Mac
  • Web-Based
Verdict

Square is an excellent billing solution, offering a budget-friendly way to streamline your invoices and ensure you get paid on time. Rather than focus on fancy features, it hones in on automating your invoicing and payment reminders — and does them well. And if you want to add more tools to your business, Square has other PoS and e-commerce features.

Square won’t do your bookkeeping for you, but fortunately, you can integrate it with other products to cover those areas. So if you need a way to manage your billing more efficiently, consider Square.

Bradley Schnitzer
Author: Bradley Schnitzer
Bradley Schnitzer helps businesses gain loyal customers through informative content pieces and persuasive copy. He is passionate about personal finance and helping budding freelancers further their careers.
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Square User Reviews

S
Sarah G
11-50 employees
Used for: 1-2 years
31 Jan - 2021

Great for our business needs

We really love the simplicity and speed of card processing. I especially like that I’m able to enter items, and charge taxes to only some of them. Love that we can easily charge for anything even if it wasn’t originally on our item list.

Pros

The gift card service is fantastic and money is deposited in a day every time.

Cons

I initially had issues connecting the card reader to my phone, but customer support solved that problem.

A
Alex C
11-50 employees
Used for: 6-12 months
30 Mar - 2021

Saved on bank fees upon switching to Square

We are a wholesaler and retailer company and the bank charged us a bit much to accept or process payments. Square, on the other hand, has no monthly fees, only transaction fees, which are slightly less than what we paid before.

D
David G
51-200 employees
Used for: Less than 6 months
10 Jan - 2021

Easy to use with good features

Square is simply the perfect addition to my business. I’ve not had any issues and all cards so far, have worked with my Square card reader.

Pros

I can email invoices, schedule payments, and re-bill clients.

K
Karen H
11-50 employees
Used for: 6-12 months
12 Mar - 2021

The portable card reader is the best

I ab absolutely love Square. I use the portable card reader to charge clients on the go and all I need is my smartphone. The whole software is very simple and has many features. I’m loving it.

Cons

I feel customer support can be more optimal

All Square User Reviews
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