How Much is the Square POS System

No doubt, you have stumbled upon glowing reviews of Square POS in your research on the best POS available. Square POS allows you to accept card transactions easily and optimizes your business activities. However, Square POS software is free; sounds too good to be through, right?

We will cover the important things you should know about Square POS, including the general cost of the components. Keep reading to find out.

What is the Square POS?

Square POS system is made up of both hardware and physical components. However, the term is often used to refer to the app that acts as the system software. This app allows you to accept card transactions and can be used on both Android and Apple devices.

According to POSQuote, the Square POS is one of the user-friendly POSs available and is compatible with any Square hardware you choose. To fully understand the Square POS, we must dissect the features that this POS offers your business. Let’s take a look at all it has to offer.

How Much Does Square POS Cost?

Square POS will cost you nothing to install and comes with zero monthly fees. However, you will be billed a percentage for each transaction you make. For swiped transactions, you will be required to pay 2.6% + 10 cardless transactions cost a bit more (3.5% + 15¢).

Where the cost starts to add up is for the hardware. You can start with a card reader or pay extra for a contactless card reader. Some package deals provide you with the basic hardware you need at a reduced price. Please don’t get confused; we will outline all you need to know about the cost of Square POS.

How Much Does Square POS Hardware Cost?

As we stated earlier, the Square software is free; the hardware, however, is not. The cost of hardware varies depending on which one you select. However, you can reduce the cost by using an iPad payment system or buying the package bundles.

We have provided the prices of some of these Square hardware devices below.

❖    Non-contactless Card Reader – $10. They offer you the first one free.

❖    Contactless card reader – $49

❖    Portable terminal – $299

❖    iPad stand and card reader – $149

❖    Register kit with stand – $646

❖    Full Square register and terminal – $1,329

Rather than buying the hardware components singly, you can save more by buying the software on your iPad. Using the iPad gives you added flexibility and mobility. All you need to get is a compatible card reader

What are the Advantages of Square POS?

The cost – the Square POS app is free. However, you still have to pay for the services per transaction. The amount you pay depends on which hardware you use and the volume of card transactions you process. Still, getting and setting up the Square POS app is completely free.

❖    Customizable Experience – the Square POS allows you and also your customers to customize their experience. Customers can select any of the tip options and also whether they want a print or digital receipt(source). On your part, it allows both you and your employees’ keep tabs open, take payments in various ways, and split tabs.

❖    Inventory Management – Square POS allows you to stay on top of your inventory. With it, you can track your bulk inventory easily. You are also provided with a daily stock alert report that summarizes your business inventory.

❖    Employee Management – Square POS track your employees’ performance via top-of-the-line employee management features. You can track when your employees’ clock in and out via the Square POS. Square POS also lets you track each transaction made by the employee by attaching their name to each.

❖    Access Level – Square POS allows you to assign different levels of access to your employees. You can assign them to view or interact with only areas concerning their work. Thus, you can significantly improve the security of Square. Another security feature it provides is that customers’ details are encrypted as soon as they swipe their card.

❖    Money Management – You can receive deposits almost immediately with your Square account. Lest we forget, this POS also allows you to make transactions remotely even when your account is set to offline.

Why Should I Get a Square POS?

1.    Square POS has something great to offer your business regardless of its size. With Square POS, you pay for a fraction of each transaction made rather than a monthly fee.

2.    Square POS offers solo traders card readers at very cheap rates and facilitates payment taking. The transaction fee of 2.6% plus additional ten cents helps keep the cost down.

3.    Square offers small and medium-sized businesses great value with its top-quality POS and cost-effective pricing. Restaurants and stores get the software free alongside a free card reader compatible with iPads. However, this does not eliminate the price of hardware they will need in their business. For small businesses like farmer’s markets, coffee shops, and food trucks, this POS can help you greatly improve your market dominance.

4.    Large business owners may not see the benefits of Square POS because the costs tend to build up faster than for other POS systems. However, the software and installation are still offered for free. This doesn’t mean large businesses that use Square POS are without benefits. Square POS provide custom rates for large scale businesses with over $250,000 total in transactions. So, if you process transactions above this stipulated amount and have an average ticket size of $15 and above; you qualify for this offer.

Are there Additional Software Features for Square POS?

Yes. The free Square software grants you access to only the basic features you will need. If your business requires additional features for its operations, you can get them at an extra cost. These features include:

❖    Employee Management – this feature allows you to enable clocking out and clocking in features, assign access levels, restrictions, and define employee roles. It also provides you with accurate timecard reports. This feature will cost you an extra $5 per month for each employee.

❖    Square Marketing – with this feature, you can create and monitor your email marketing campaigns. All you need to do is pay an additional fee of $15 per month.

❖    Square Loyalty – you can design a loyalty program for your customers. Your customers can sign up for digital punch cards or tiered level rewards. This cost for this feature starts at $25 a month.

❖    Gift Cards – with this extra feature, you can create tracking activations, gift cards, redemptions, and manage refunds easily. The physical custom cards come at an extra cost of 80 cents and 2.9% of the transaction fee plus 30 cents for the digital cards.

❖    Square Payroll – you can create an IRS compliant payroll system that can track the timecards of your employees automatically. This Square payroll feature comes at an extra cost of $29 monthly and $5 for each employee.

Conclusion

Getting a Square POS software is generally free, except your business needs extra features. Where the cost starts to mount up, however, is the hardware cost and transaction processing fee. To lower the amount spent on Square POS hardware, you can opt for an iPad system.