The Complete Guide To Square Payroll Pricing

How Much Does Square Payroll Cost?

For contractors, Square Payroll costs $6/per person. If you are paying employees, Square Payroll costs $35/month + $6/employee. The cost of Square payroll will also vary if you add services like health benefits, retirement plans, and team management.

How Does Square Payroll Pricing Work?

Square has two plans for payroll services. Option one, “Pay Contractors Only,” does exactly that: It handles payroll for businesses exclusively paying independent contractors employed via 1099 forms. This plan is billed monthly per employee, barring any extra add-on features. Since cost reflects the number of employees, payment will change accordingly as new hires or layoffs happen.

If you have W-2 employees on your small business payroll, then you’ll go with option two: “Paying Employees & Contractors.” This plan comes with a monthly subscription fee plus a separate monthly charge per employee or contractor. Like the contractors-only plan, the cost is influenced by the total number of employees each month and any extra features you spring for.

Square Payroll Pricing Plans

Square Payroll’s two plans come with different sets of tools and features and thus vary in price. Let’s look at how pricing plays out for each option.

Square Payroll Contractors Only Plan

This Square Payroll plan costs a flat rate of $6/per person, and subscribers can cancel at any time for free. It’s hard to find pricing more straightforward than that. Here’s what’s included for small businesses:

• Unlimited monthly pay runs
• Choose to pay by check, direct deposit, or Cash App
• Mail delivery of 1099 forms
• No charge for seasonal inactivity

Square Payroll Employees & Contractors Plan

This Square Payroll package costs $35/month + $6/employee. The increased cost of this plan affords a more comprehensive set of tools and features for employers and employees alike, including:

• Automatic payroll calculations and services
• Tax filings
• Square dashboard
• Employee portal to download pay stubs
• PTO management
• Time tracking
• Reporting

Extra Square Payroll Costs & Fees

Your small business is unique, and you may not find the perfect prepackaged payroll solution for you and your employees’ needs. That doesn’t mean you’re out of luck, though. Square’s small business payroll software comes with optional tools that subscribers can add on à la carte.

To help make sense of it all, we’ve broken down the cost and usefulness of Square’s choices for extra features.

Square Payroll Health Benefits

Small businesses offering benefits such as health care and dental insurance can integrate them with payroll when using Square. In partnership with SimplyInsured, Square customers can offer employees health benefits via Aetna, Blue Cross/Blue Shield, Humana, Kaiser Permanente, and UnitedHealthcare.

Once the system is set up and employees have chosen their benefits packages, Square Payroll can automatically make deductions from their paychecks moving forward.

Square Payroll 401(k) Retirement Plans

Offering a 401(k) retirement plan in a benefits package helps retain small business employees for the long run. With Square, users can integrate Guideline’s 401(k) services to make this a reality without breaking the bank. A Guideline subscription comes with a base monthly fee of $39 plus an additional $8 per participating employee.

Square Payroll Worker’s Compensation Insurance

Policies vary by state, but in many cases, small businesses need to provide worker’s compensation for their employees. In the unfortunate event that an employee is injured on the job, this type of insurance can offer a safety net for any medical expenses and lost wages.

Employers pay an insurance premium for coverage with Square’s partner, AP Intego. The number of employees as well as the risk associated with the type of business influence this cost.

Square Payroll Pre-Tax Spending Accounts

This benefit allows employees to deposit pre-tax income into an account to be used for things such as medical costs, childcare, or commuter expenses.

Alice operates this service on Square’s behalf and provides a debit card to employees to utilize funds in their pre-tax spending account. Once integrated with Square, these deductions can be automated.

Square Payroll Team Management

Although Square’s more robust employee and contractors plan lets users input payment, tax, and HR information, there may be additional tools worth ponying up for. For $35 more per month, Square Advanced Access (formerly Team Plus) supports more advanced features, including the use of multiple wage rates, employee break violation reporting, and the ability to create different levels of access for HR staff and employees.

Other Square Products & Services

Square is known for much more than just payroll. If your small business is just getting started, you might want to consider some of Square’s other software offerings.

The Bottom Line: Calculating The Cost Of Square Payroll

If you’re seriously considering a new payroll program, as our Square Payroll review explains, this software delivers a straightforward interface and great features at an excellent value for many small businesses. A wide range of complementary small business software (Square POS, etc.) and add-on features also make it easy to customize a payroll package that works for you.

Let’s rehash what factors will impact Square Payroll pricing for your small business.

• Pay Contractors Only Plan: This plan covers unlimited pay runs for 1099 contractors for a cost of $6/per person.
• Pay Employees & Contractors Plan: This plan includes more comprehensive payroll services and some HR features for a monthly subscription fee of $35/month + $6/employee.
• Add-Ons: Square Payroll has several optional add-on features, including health, worker’s compensation, and retirement benefits. These are offered by partner companies and vary in price per small business customer.
• Additional Square Products:
  • Square Advanced Access: Costs $35/month per business location
  • Square POS: Charges 2.6% + $0.10 per transaction
  • Square Online: Priced at 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction
  • Square Marketing: Costs upwards of $20 depending on customer contacts
  • Square Appointments: Free for one user, then costs upwards of $29/month for more staff

Whether you’re looking for a simple way to handle payroll arithmetic and cutting checks or are aiming to beef up your business with online sales and marketing, Square has something for you. It’s also very easy to learn how to use Square Payroll.

If you’re still weighing small business payroll software options, you can compare Square payroll to the best cheap payroll options for small businesses.