Square Payroll FAQ | Square Support Center (2024)

Square’s Employee and Contractor online payroll service is available to employers located in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

Square’s Employee and Contractor payroll is $35 per month plus $6 per employee or contractor paid that month. This price includes all Square Payroll features. Square’s Contractor Only Payroll has no base subscription fee and is just $6 per month per contractor paid.

You won’t be charged the $6 per employee or contractor fee for team members that you don’t pay during the monthly billing cycle, though. The $6 per employee or contractor fee only applies to team members paid during the month.

Learn more about Square Payroll pricing and features.

• Pay your whole team: W-2 employees and 1099 contractors.
• Automatic tax calculations
• Tax payments and filings to the IRS and your state tax agencies
• Pay employees and contractors by direct deposit or manual check
• Set up Automatic Payroll to ensure on-time payments
• Employee self-onboarding and online accounts
• Employee and contractor time tracking and overtime calculations
• Calculating and importing of credit card tips
• Enroll and set up employee benefits to automatically calculate employee deductions and company contributions for 401(k), health insurance, and more.
• Reimburse employees for expenses
• Calculate final pay for terminated employees
• Integration with our partner Workers Compensation Insurance broker
• Set up and track paid time off (PTO) and Sick Pay
• Generate and file W-2s at year end
• Set up recurring post-tax deductions and garnishments
• Sync Square Payroll with QuickBooks Online
• Off-Cycle Payments to pay your employees outside of your typical payroll schedule.
• Generate and file 1099-NEC at year end

If you’re new to payroll, visit Get Started with New Employers for a detailed list of information needed to get started.

If you’re switching payroll providers, visit Get Started with Switching Providers for a detailed list of information needed to get started.

If you’re looking to pay contractors only, visit Get Started with Square Payroll for Contractors for a detailed list of information needed to get started.

You can sign up for Square Payroll even if you do not have an existing Square account. We do not require you to process payments or use any other services with Square to use Square Payroll.

Square Payroll is currently only for businesses that file Form 941 or Form 944. Square Payroll does not support paying household employees or agricultural employees.

You have the option to set up your employees’ pay type as either hourly or salaried. To pay salaried employees, you must provide the annual salary and average weekly hours. Salaried employees will have their pay automatically calculated each pay period. Hourly employees will need to have their hours entered for each pay period, either manually or by importing time cards. Salaried employees will have their pay automatically calculated each pay period.

Square Payroll comes with free timecards that allow your team to clock in and out from the Square Point of Sale app. Seamlessly import your team’s hours into payroll with the click of a button.

You can pay your employees once per week (weekly), every two weeks (bi-weekly), two days each month (semi-monthly), or once per month (monthly). The semi-monthly pay periods are set as the 1st - 15th, and 16th - last day of the month; these pay periods are currently not editable. Contractors do not have a set pay schedule and you can send them pay whenever you want.

You can pay your employees and contractors as many times as you need within the month at no additional fee.

Your employee’s and contractor’s pay date is four business days after payroll is processed. For example, if you run payroll on Monday by 8pm PST, your employees will receive their pay on Friday by 5pm PST. You can also opt to pay your employees and contractors faster via manual check. Learn more about the Square Payroll payment schedule.

There are also alternative methods that you and your team can use to send and receive pay:

• With Square Payroll Instant Payments, you can choose to have your team member’s direct deposit debits come directly from your stored balance. If using your Square balance to get your team paid, you can wait until the business day before the pay date to submit payroll. If your team members have a traditional bank account linked, they will receive their pay by the next business day, or instantly if they use Cash App to receive their pay.
• You can apply for two-day payroll, which shortens the processing time needed to submit payroll to two business days instead of four.
• Once your team members are set up on Square Payroll, they can also opt to have their direct deposit split between two different bank accounts. Learn more about navigating your Square Payroll Employee Dashboard.
• Eligible team members that use Cash App can use the Instant Deposit feature to access their pay two calendar days before the original pay date. So, if you submit payroll on Monday for a Friday pay date, your team can access their funds on Wednesday for free. Team members can initiate an Instant Deposit by clicking the Deposit Instantly button in the “Your pay is on the way” email that is sent out two calendar days before the original pay date. They can also access Instant Deposit through the Team App. The Instant Deposit feature is available in all states except CA, MA, NJ, NM, NY, PA, VT, and WV. If your team members do not have Cash App, they can link a supported debit card and pay a fee of 1.75% of their net pay to access their funds early.

For instructions on finding your employees’ YTD gross pay through a previous provider, visit Employee Year-to-Date Gross Pay. You can find your employee’s YTD gross pay through Square Payroll by creating a custom payroll report.

You are required to add all employees you’ve paid this year, including those who have been terminated, to ensure that your year-end filings are prepared correctly. Square will generate and file W-2s for terminated employees at the end of the year. Only one entity can file on your behalf at the end of the year.

This information is required to ensure your year-end tax filings are accurate. YTD information is needed to generate a Form W-2 for each employee to be filed with the state and Social Security Administration. For information on finding your employees’ YTD gross pay, visit Employee Year-to-Date Gross Pay.

No, you must have both an EIN and SEIN Number to use Square Payroll.

You can learn more about how to locate or obtain an EIN in our Support Center.

In order to obtain your SEIN number, you will need to register online with your state tax agency. Visit our list of state payroll tax resources for directions on how to obtain your SEIN number through your state website.

You can edit your pay period and payroll schedule before you make your first pay run. This can be done from the Overview tab by selecting Edit next to your current pay period. If you have already paid employees and need to edit your pay periods or pay schedule, navigate to your Payroll Settings tab to update your cadence. For more information visit our Edit Payroll Period and Schedule support page.