Square was founded in 2009 by Jack Dorsey and Jim McKelvey as a POS solution for small businesses across a wide range of verticals. Since then, it has turned in to a complete payments and business management solution. The invoicing software is ideal for small and medium businesses in various industries.

Square is unique among invoicing solutions because of its pricing. There’s no monthly fee which means you can get started with the platform free and only get charged when certain conditions are met. There are two ways you’re charged by Square Invoices.

Square Invoice Transactions

Square Invoice transactions are the standard pricing schedule that most businesses will experience. You’re charged when you send out an invoice through Square and your client pays you online through the client portal. It costs 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction. All of the features are available on this pricing plan which includes the ability to receive your funds the next day or even the same day.

Square Invoice Transactions with card on file

When a customer has agreed to save their file through the Square invoicing portal so you’re able to bill them automatically, the fee schedule is different. You’re charged 3.5% + $0.15 per transaction. As with the other pricing plan, all invoicing features are available.

Square is cheaper than other invoicing solutions because you’re only charged when you make money. The fees associated are similar to what you’ll get in almost every other payment processor unless you’re a high volume merchant and qualify for bulk discounts.

Square invoicing has many useful features to make it easier for you to create and send invoices to clients.  You can track the status of your invoice in real time to know if it’s been sent successfully, whether the client has opened it, and when they’ve made a payment. You can customize the invoices with your brand colors and logo to create a consistent experience, collect payments online for convenience, and send automatic reminders so you can focus on your core business. Finally, you can use Square Invoices anywhere through the mobile app or the online application.

Square financing

Square offers financing for customers who qualify with a product called Square Installments which is made possible through Square Capital. Your clients can pay you in equal monthly installments but you get paid immediately. This shields you from risk while allowing your clients to purchase more of your services.

Custom estimates

Send clients an estimate of your services which they can approve in seconds. After approval, estimates can be converted to invoices and sent to the client when the work is ready to commence (or after you’ve delivered your services). You can also use one of Square’s contract templates and attach it to the estimate so everything is handled at once.

Recurring billing

When you have clients on retainer, sending them an invoice every month can be a hassle, especially when you have to chase them for payments. Store client card details in Square and set up recurring billing with a fixed interval. You don’t have to chase clients and they know they’re going to be billed regularly.

With Square invoices, you don’t need a separate payment processor because Square handles everything in an end-to-end system. Because of that, it doesn’t have integrations with other payment processors but has a large ecosystem of business software integrations to help you grow. A few notable ones include Acuity Scheduling to make it easy to book appointments with clients, Tsheets for time tracking, JotForm to create surveys and even collect payments for registrations.

It also integrates with many marketing tools to keep in touch with your clients and audience. Mailchimp integrations allow you to store contact information and send newsletters, IFTTT gives you an extra level of automation in your business, and ActiveCampaign which serves as a CRM and email marketing platform.

Square has a simple interface that new users can learn in a few minutes. There’s a three-step onboarding tour that takes you through the invoicing set up process so you can add your logo, business colors, refund policy, and other essential information. You can also send yourself a test invoice to make sure everything is working properly and looks right.

The home dashboard shows you important information such as total sales, top items, payment methods, and customer feedback. One noticeable challenge is the fact that there’s no obvious way to send your first invoice.