- Highs: No monthly cost. Contract-free. Many invoicing features. Contract templates.
- Lows: No multi-currency support. No evening or weekend support. Must include payment link.
- Best for: Freelancers and merchants needing free invoicing tools you can manage in an app.
Accepted cards
Merchants already using the Square Point of Sale app (with or without Square Reader) can also send invoices from that app for the same transaction fee, but without the full umbrella of features detailed below. It is also possible to invoice from any internet browser logged in to Square Dashboard, where you get a similar range of features as the app.
The recipient can pay with Visa, Mastercard, American Express, V Pay, Visa Electron and Maestro, and even Apple Pay or Google Pay. The customer does not pay transaction fees – it is only you who pay the same flat rate for all transactions.
When an amount is paid, the money is deposited in your bank account the following working day, provided it was paid by 4pm. You can manually schedule what time deposits are “sent” to your account, or decide to have them settled sooner via Instant Transfers (incurs extra cost).
All Square payments are shown in your main Square reports, so multichannel businesses do not need to collate transactions for accounting if they are only selling through Square.
Fees and costs
A huge benefit of Square is the transparency around prices. You don’t commit to ongoing usage – there’s just a 2.5% transaction fee for all invoice payments received online. Payments manually registered in cash, by cheque or via BACS are free, since these do not involve any processing on Square’s part. If the customer pays the invoice in person via Square Reader, the transaction fee is 1.75%.
There’s no charge for sending an invoice or using the features, so if no payments are processed, it is absolutely free.
A paid Invoices Plus plan gives you more time-saving features for a monthly fee of £20 (cancellable any time). The free plan is sufficient for my small businesses, though.
| Square Invoices | Cost |
|---|---|
| Transaction fee – online payments | 2.5% (any card) |
| Transaction fee – card reader payments | 1.75% (any card) |
| Transaction fee – cash, cheque, BACS, gift cards | Free |
| Instant Transfers (optional) | 1% on top of card fee |
| Monthly fee | Free: None Plus: £20/mo |
| Refunds | Free |
| Chargebacks | Free (conditions apply) |
| Square Invoices |
Cost |
|---|---|
| Transaction fee – online payments | 2.5% (any card) |
| Transaction fee – card reader payments | 1.75% (any card) |
| Transaction fee – cash, cheque, BACS, gift cards | Free |
| Instant Transfers (optional) | 1% on top of card fee |
| Monthly fee | Free: None Plus: £20/mo |
| Refunds | Free |
| Chargebacks | Free (conditions apply) |
If you need the money deposited earlier in your account, you can switch on the Instant Transfers feature, which adds an extra 1% to the transaction fee, but then payouts reach your bank account within 20 minutes instead of the next day.
Chargebacks are free if you follow good practice for payments, e.g. can provide proof of the service or products provided to the customer disputing the payment. Square has a dedicated legal team to deal with such disputes, which is also free of charge.
Refunds do not cost anything to process either.
Image: Mobile Transaction
Pick a theme colour for the banner and buttons on the invoice.
Recurring invoices: Rather than sending invoices manually every month, week or day, you can automate the process by setting up recurring invoices. You set up how often the invoice should be sent as well as the due date.
Payment reminders: Manually send payment reminders in the app, or decide in advance when exactly reminders should be sent to the customer. For instance, add reminders for a week or 3 days before, on the due date or any time after the due date if there has still been no payment.
Tipping: Allow clients to add a tip by switching on tipping for the particular invoice.
Request delivery address: If you need to ship items to customers, you can make it a requirement to enter a delivery address through the electronic invoice. This little detail could save you time chasing up the recipient in order to send a parcel.
Image: Mobile Transaction
On the Plus plan, you can schedule when the client has to pay parts of the invoice bill.
Send estimates: If your customer needs to agree on a quote, you can send an estimated amount for the recipient to accept. On the Plus plan, accepted estimates automatically convert into a normal invoice so the customer can pay immediately. On Free, you will need to send an invoice manually after the recipient accepts the estimate.
Request deposits: Partial payments are possible though the invoice if you request a deposit. You decide what amount should be paid as a deposit for the goods or service, and the customer will be required to pay this and then the remaining amount at a later time.
Customer directory: Rather than entering customer information over and over again, you can save client details in the Square account. This way, you only need to add a person from a list to the invoice.
Track invoices in the app. Photo: Square
The customer can voluntarily opt to have their card details saved on the system, if you prefer processing payments for them without having the customer submitting details every time.
Photo: Square
Overview of outstanding invoices in Square Dashboard.
Tracking: The app shows an overview of outstanding, paid, cancelled and past-due invoices so you can track payments wherever you are. If you cancel an invoice, an optional notification can be sent to the client. Individual invoices and estimates even show whether they have been viewed by the customer (so they can’t get away with saying they didn’t see it!).
Contracts: A new feature is Square Contracts, which enables you to pick a contract template to edit and include as a document with any estimate or invoice. Custom invoices can be saved for reuse later. You can also collect a digital signature through any contract, which is often a paid feature in other software – but with Square, this is free.
Photo: Mobile Transaction
Square Contracts makes it easy to create and send a contract for clients to sign.
Payment options: All Square invoices must include an option to pay through Square online via debit or credit card (2.5%) or Square eGift Card (also 2.5%). You can, however, include a note in a custom field (one available on Free, multiple fields possible on Plus) to say that you prefer bank transfer or another method, alongside instructions on what to do. But with a Square payment link present on all invoices, the payer may still choose to pay this way.
Photo: Square
With Square Reader, you can process invoice payments via tap or chip if the customer is present.
If you’ve received money in cash, by cheque or BACS, register the payment through the app yourself. If you have card details (for example, given over the phone), these can be processed through Square Virtual Terminal. If you have Square Reader, the app can connect with it via Bluetooth for direct payment via chip and PIN or contactless.
Most invoicing features are included for free in all Square accounts, but specific time-saving functions require the monthly Plus subscription. The differences between the Free and Plus plans are mainly:
| Square Invoices feature | Free | Plus |
|---|---|---|
| Unlimited invoices, estimates & contracts | ||
| Unlimited users & customers | ||
| Invoices by email, text & link sharing | ||
| Schedule recurring invoices | ||
| Charge cards on file | ||
| Collect deposits | ||
| Schedule auto-payment reminders | ||
| Real-time invoice tracking | ||
| Milestone payment schedules | ||
| Save & reuse custom invoice templates | ||
| Add custom fields to invoices | ||
| Multi-package estimate options | ||
| Auto-convert accepted estimates to invoices |
| Square Invoices feature |
Free | Plus |
|---|---|---|
| Unlimited invoices, estimates & contracts | ||
| Unlimited users & customers | ||
| Invoices by email, text & link sharing | ||
| Schedule recurring invoices | ||
| Charge cards on file | ||
| Collect deposits | ||
| Schedule auto-payment reminders | ||
| Real-time invoice tracking | ||
| Milestone payment schedules | ||
| Save & reuse custom invoice templates | ||
| Add custom fields to invoices | ||
| Multi-package estimate options | ||
| Auto-convert accepted estimates to invoices |
Square offers a lot of additional tools in general, plus the ability to integrate with partner platforms such as WooCommerce and Xero. Invoicing is just one facet of Square’s entire offering for small-business merchants.
Who is Square Invoices suitable for?
Square is recommended to most small businesses, entrepreneurs and sole traders within many kinds professions. It is the go-to option for those on a budget who require a fast, adaptable and easy way to get paid for their work.
Since Square is widely known for its compact card readers, it is ideal for the many users already seeing clients in store or out-and-about doing jobs on location.
Professionals with international clients expecting to pay in another currency than British Pounds may feel restricted by the inability to charge in anything other than Pound Sterling.
Certain business types are prohibited, but only those considered “high risk”. This includes trades like direct marketing, property investment services and dues for membership clubs.
More on features: Square Point of Sale review – free, but worthwhile?
Customer service and user feedback
Customer support is available to phone or message between 5am and 9pm from Monday to Friday. There is no weekend support. This is usually okay for Square users who generally find it very easy to navigate the system.
On the negative end, some customers have complained about sudden account holds for no apparent reason. This could be due to Square detecting payments that go against their terms, so it is a little hard to determine the extent of Square’s fault around this.
Image: Square
Invoices can be accessed in the app and Square account in-browser.
How to get started
Getting started with Square Invoices is straightforward. On the website, you have to fill in an online form with personal, business and bank account information. After submitting the required information, it takes up to four working days for Square to verify your bank account.
Once the bank account is connected (i.e. approved), invoice payments will settle there automatically. It is, however, possible to accept invoice payments immediately after registering with Square, but payments will then be held in the Square account until your bank account is linked up.
Our verdict
Square Invoices is ideal for anyone in the UK who needs an easy, fast and free way to create, manage and send invoices online. Out of all the invoice apps, it simply has the most features for free alongside an integrated payment system that lets you get paid quickly. You don’t enter into a long contract, and the free plan is a big advantage for those living sparingly on a month-to-month budget.
Businesses that require very specific, advanced functions may want to look at alternative invoicing software.
