Square Payroll

Square Payroll can work as a standalone payroll service for both hourly and salaried workers, though you're most likely to use it if you have other integrated Square apps, like Square POS, Team Management, and Shifts. It started out slow and simple, but it’s ramped up development over the last couple of years, with tools like an HR add-on in 2024. It makes sense if you already use other Square services, but if you’re looking for the best online payroll service, we recommend OnPay for larger SMBs and those in vertical industries, Gusto for people who are inexperienced at payroll, and ADP Run for small businesses that are poised to grow quickly.

How Much Does Square Payroll Cost?

Square Payroll costs $35 per month plus $6 per worker per month, the same as Workful, which also caters to hourly workers. A contractor-only option is $6 per month. That's close to what OnPay charges, which is much more capable and customizable. Gusto Plus is the most expensive tier of service I review at $80 per month plus $12 per employee per month, but if you're new to running payrolls, it's the best at helping you make sure you do it right. Patriot Software's Basic plan ($17 per month, plus $4 per employee per month) is the least expensive payroll option, but it requires you to submit payroll taxes yourself. 

Getting Started With Square Payroll

Square Payroll now offers a free trial and an interactive payroll run demo, so you can really try before you buy. You can’t import historical data from another payroll application like you can with ADP Run and others, but Square Payroll onboarding specialists are available to help you get set up. That’s a good thing because the site’s step-by-step setup wizard is not comprehensive, like QuickBooks Payroll’s.

Working With Employee Records

You can invite employees and contractors to enter some of their personal data so you have less to input yourself. Employee records are not nearly as detailed as they are in ADP Run, but there’s enough that you can run payroll and track options like benefits—including paid time off (PTO), tracked by fixed amount or hours worked—and retirement benefits. Employees can be paid different rates for multiple jobs, but overall, flexibility and depth don’t match what competitors offer.

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How Do You Run Payroll With Square?

Square Payroll’s deep integration with the company’s labor management and sales ecosystem gives you multiple options for entering hours as you begin a pay run. You can track and import hours recorded in Square Shift and Square POS, though doing so incurs additional fees in most cases. However, it’s free to bring in hours from the Team app. You can also enter hours manually or import them from a supported third-party time-tracking application. 

Earnings types, like PTO, Commissions, and Overtime, are limited to what you see on the Hours and Earnings page. You can hide some but not add them, just like you can in OnPay. You can’t consult employee records from this page without having to launch payroll again.

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The next page shows all adjustments to employees’ gross pay (taxes, benefits deductions, company contributions, and reimbursements) and calculates their net pay. You can make limited changes here if necessary. The last page you see before you submit payroll summarizes overall totals like gross pay, employee taxes, and scheduled debits. You can also see each employee’s earnings types, taxes, deductions, and available time off.

(Credit: Square/PCMag)

Once you’ve approved the payroll, Square Payroll tells you when employees who receive pay via direct deposit will see their money. It also sends a reminder email with each employee’s net pay for check printing. It repeats the information it displayed prior to payroll approval and provides links to check printing, pay stub downloads, and CSV export. If you need to pay contractors or run an off-cycle payroll, you can do that separately. 

What’s It Like to Use Square Payroll?

In testing Square Payroll, I didn’t have any trouble finding my way around—which isn’t to say the UI and navigation tools couldn’t be improved. The site’s user experience is not as sleek, professional, or state-of-the-art as other online payroll services. On the whole, the site is sparse, it's not particularly attractive, and its screen changes are slow. 

Yet, Square Payroll’s support tools are surprisingly good for such a simple site. You can search the help database to get specific questions answered or browse through common topics. The Support Center has a great library of resources, get-started guides, and video tutorials. Live chat, phone, and email support are available. 

What Sets Square Payroll Apart?

Square Payroll has a leg up on the competition when it comes to its seamless integration with Square POS and other related apps. That's a unique benefit among other online payroll services for small to medium-size businesses.

Another app that integrates with Square Payroll is Cash App, a mobile payment app along the lines of Venmo. Users receive routing and account numbers (and a free linked debit card), and Square Payroll employers can send their pay directly to Cash App accounts, which gets it there two days early. 

Square also has a mobile app called Teams, where payroll managers can log in to view employee records, run payroll and see payroll histories, work with benefits and tax forms, and manage time cards and schedules. In other words, you can do most of the things in this mobile app that you can on the browser-based version. 

If you’re an employee, you can log in to Teams to view the upcoming schedule, clock in and out, view pay stubs and estimated earnings, access benefits information, and edit some of your employee details.

(Credit: Square/PCMag)

Limited Reports

If you're looking for a payroll service that offers lots of preformatted reports, Gusto is far more accommodating than Square Payroll, partly because it has more data to report. With Square Payroll, you can’t view the reports on the site (except for payroll histories) but rather need to download them. You can export Paycheck Details, Employee Totals, or Company Totals as an Excel file and Pay Stubs as PDFs. Customization is limited to the pay-date range and team members.

(Credit: Square/PCMag)

Add-On HR Tools

Square Payroll has entered into a new partnership with Mineral, which offers HR resources like document templates, law alerts, a resource library, access to HR experts, and an HR assessment. It costs $60 per location per month or $540 per location per year. The company works with Guideline for retirement plans and Simply Insured for health insurance.

Is Square Payroll Safe to Use?

All Square products are engineered for security from the ground up, according to the company. Its proprietary system ensures that no unencrypted payment data touches you. Square stress-tests its systems. The company is also committed to the highest standards of information security governance. Square security is evaluated in part by public bounty researchers. 

Is Square Payroll Right for Your Business?

We recommend Square Payroll to businesses that already use Square POS or other related Square apps, or SMBs that primarily employ hourly workers in a vertical industry, like a restaurant. If you need more depth and flexibility, there are much better choices, some of which don’t cost much more. Our Editors' Choice winners are Gusto for novices, OnPay for larger SMBs and those in vertical industries, and ADP Run for small businesses that are poised to grow quickly.