Square vs QuickBooks Comparison

Payroll is an absolutely crucial business process, and because it’s often complex and tedious many entrepreneurs rely on a professional payroll service to do the job. 

Two of the leading online services to consider are Square and QuickBooks. To help you determine which is better, and which might be best for you and your business, we have thoroughly reviewed their services by putting ourselves in the shoes of an entrepreneur. 

Read on to make the choice that will keep your business on the surest path to success. 

• Simplified and comprehensive payroll processing
• Full-service payroll mobile app
• Good value for the number of features that it offers

• Easy to use software
• All plans include health insurance and 401K administration
• Part of the Intuit product suite (easy integration with Quickbooks accounting)

QuickBooks is the winner, because it offers more important features and more value for the price.

Explore Quickbooks

Pros and Cons

Square

QuickBooks

Features and Services Overview

Square has essentially one full-service payroll plan that includes tax filings. They also have a contractor-only plan that you can use to pay contractors and generate 1099s.

QuickBooks has three plans, all of which include full multi-state payroll services. Their plans include health care benefits and 401K plans.

Plans Pricing

The full service payroll plan offered by Square is $35 plus $5 per employee per month, and includes tax filings. Their Contractor-only plan is $5 per month per person paid.

QuickBooks has three plans. The QuickBooks base plan is $45 per month plus $5 per employee per month. It offers full-service payroll, including W-2s and 1099s and tax filings, and health insurance benefits and 401K plans.

QuickBooks’ middle plan, at $75 per month plus $8 per employee per month, offers same-day direct deposit and mobile time tracking for employees. You’ll also have HR support and workers’ compensation administration. 

QuickBooks’ top-tier plan is $125 per month plus $10 per employee per month. It has the unique benefit of tax penalty protection: if you’re fined for late tax filings, QuickBooks will cover it up to $25,000, subject to terms and conditions. You’ll also have a personal HR advisor. 

Core Plan vs Employee and Contractor Plan 

The Square Plan is less expensive than the QuickBooks plan, but QuickBooks offers health care benefits and 401K plans. 

Square Payroll Website Interface and Navigation

The site is user-friendly. The plans are easy to find, with good detail on features and pricing. You can even get more information on each individual service. It’s laid out well and easy to understand.

Once you view the plans, you can select one to get started.

How’s the signup process navigation?

Once you make your selection you’ll enter your name, email, and a password. 

Then you’ll go through a series of questions about your business, starting with your business name and type, business address, and number of employees.

Once you enter all the information, your account setup is complete and you’re taken to your dashboard.

To start the service, you’ll enter your tax information, employee details, and bank account information. The whole process was quite simple and streamlined.

We received a welcome email within a few minutes of signing up.

How’s the mobile experience?

Square Payroll has a mobile app for employers, where you can manage your payroll, import hours, and view the details of your account including tax filings. They also have an app for employees to clock in and clock out, manage their schedule, and view their earnings.

Both apps are convenient and offer more than some competitors. 

In Summary

The site is quite user-friendly overall, and information is easy to find. If you have all your information handy, you can complete the signup and start the service within about 30 minutes. The site does not try to upsell you any products during the process.

Square Payroll Customer Support

We tested all three forms of Square Payroll customer support. 

Chat support

The chat feature on the site is automated and just gives you various topics you can choose from to get more information. It was not very helpful. However, you can type in “contact” and it will take you to a form on which you can ask your question.

We asked:

“Do you offer the option of both direct deposit and paper checks with your payroll service?”

We asked the question early on Friday afternoon and by Monday midday we had still not received a response. 

Support Rating:

Response time:

Reasonable

Phone support

The only way we could find a phone number for Square was through the automated chat feature. When you type in “contact” it gives you the option of email or phone contact. When you select phone, it gives you the number. 

Support Rating:

Response time:

Reasonable

We were on hold for about one minute before our call was answered. We asked the same question about paper check and direct deposit options. 

The representative put us on hold for less than 30 seconds before returning to tell us that yes, both are an option. She was very friendly and professional. 

Email support

There is no email support other than the form we filled out to get an email response when we tested the chat feature. 

Support Rating:

Response time:

Reasonable

QuickBooks Website Interface and Navigation

The site is quite user-friendly. The plans are easy to find, with good detail on features and pricing. You can even get more information on each individual service. It’s laid out well and easy to understand.

How’s the signup process navigation?

When you view all the packages, you’re advised to select one to set up an account. After you select your plan, you’re offered bundled plans that include QuickBooks accounting features. You can select one of those plans, or select “just payroll”. 

Then you go to checkout, where you’ll set up your account and password. The next step is to enter credit card information, which is unusual, as most competitors do not charge clients until the first payroll run. 

This means that with Quickbooks you need to be absolutely certain of your choices when you’re setting up your account. 

How’s the mobile experience?

QuickBooks has a robust mobile app for employers. You can enter employee hours, submit payroll, view payroll taxes and forms, and even pay payroll taxes. They also have an app for employees to track their hours and clock in or clock out. 

Th employers’ app is far superior to those of competitors. Many payroll services do not even have an app for employers to manage payroll. 

In Summary

The site is quite user-friendly and information is easy to find. The only issue was that new clients must pay immediately when they sign-up, which seems a bit aggressive. Otherwise, the site is not very “salesy” and just guides visitors to the optimal plan. Overall, a pleasant customer experience.

Quickbooks Customer Support

We tested all three forms of QuickBooks customer support, as detailed below.  

Chat support

We asked chat support a simple question – do you offer the option of paying employees by direct deposit or paper check? She asked us several questions before saying she had to route us to a sales person, and asked for our email and phone number. 

This was disappointing as we just wanted a simple answer – which we never got. 

Support Rating:

Response time:

Reasonable

Phone support

Phone customer support is only available if you have an account. Non-customers can only contact sales, so we did and asked the same question. The answer was yes, both are available, but we were also pressed to sign up.

Support Rating:

Response time:

Reasonable

Email support

Again, email support is only available if you have an account. 

Support Rating:

Response time:

Reasonable

Verdict

After a thorough assessment, we have determined that QuickBooks has broader service offerings and more options. With QuickBooks you’ll receive better overall support. The main advantage of Square is their lower price, but QuickBooks gives you more for your money. 

Our approach

As a leading human resources advisory site, we take our responsibilities seriously. We understand that countless entrepreneurs, and potential entrepreneurs, rely on our judgments and insights, particularly when it comes to managing their business.

As a result, our writers do their utmost to gain a comprehensive understanding of the services offered and the actual customer experience. In this case, we:

• Examined every single page of both the Square and QuickBooks websites
• Reviewed all of their offerings
• Put ourselves in the customer’s shoes, creating accounts
• Communicated with customer service via chat, email and phone
• Gained a full understanding of the customer experience and service value

Thanks to this full immersion in the actual customer experience, our reviewer and team are able to provide the most complete and insightful comparison of Square and QuickBooks payroll services.