Small businesses need smart solutions to keep everything streamlined and under control. Square steps forward to provide them. Square is well known for its online payment processing and mobile credit card payment solutions, but it also offers powerful online payroll services with add-ons and integrations that make it easy and fast for business owners to pay freelancers and employees.

Square makes it easy and fast to manage payroll. You just enter your business name and payment details, set up an account for each of your payees – or invite them to do it themselves – and choose whether you want to run payroll weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly. You can still run payroll, without messing up the fixed cycle of payments.

When it’s time to process payments, you simply enter employee hours – or better yet, import the information from integrated time-tracking tools like Square POS. Square handles multiple pay rates, pro rata wages, and tips without missing a beat. The Square system calculates the correct monthly salary, taking into account overtime, days off, employee deductions, etc., and waits for you to confirm that it’s time to send payment.

Square also has the option for automatic payroll, which imports employee hours, calculates salaries, and sends payments without your input. You can just set it and wait for the notification to appear in your email inbox each month.

Square helps small businesses punch above their weight when it comes to employee benefits. Through Square, you can offer 401(k) retirement savings plans, pre-tax benefits, SUI, and health insurance plans. Employee and employer contributions are automatically deducted from salaries, and the deductions are shown on Square's paystubs. Employees can keep an eye on their benefits through the Square employee self-service portal.

Square supports payroll payments by check or through direct deposit.

Square takes care of the time-consuming tax side of payroll management. It calculates state and federal taxes, payroll taxes, and supports pre and post-tax deductions and reimbursements. Square tracks and records sick leave and paid time off to demonstrate that you're remaining compliant with employment law, and through its partnership with AP Intego, Square also manages your workers' compensation program.

Square isn't a full HR platform, but it does include a number of HR tools that are highly valuable to any small business trying to handle HR without a full HR department. Square handles federally-mandated new hire reporting on your behalf; generates, files, and mails customized W-2 and 1099 forms at the end of each tax year and manages requests for time off and sick leave. You can also easily track employee productivity through the integrations with timecard and POS tools.

Square’s pricing is refreshingly simple and straightforward. There are no complicated pricing plans or add-ons – you simply pay $29 per month for your subscription, and then $5 per month for every person on your payroll. What’s more, Square is the only payroll service that gives a discount if you only pay contractors and freelancers. In that situation, you won’t have to pay a monthly subscription fee, just a clear charge of $5 per payee, per month. When you pay for Square, you get all the Square features – no extra charges for certain tools. Finally, Square has a 30-day refund guarantee for any hardware that you buy from them.

Square is an incredibly easy to use payroll service. The payroll side of the platform integrates smoothly with Square’s timesheets and online POS system, so you don’t need to enter employee hours or expenses. Square automatically unites work hours, vacation time, days off, expenses, and overtime to produce a complete paystub with the click of the button.

Square is easy to use for employees, too. There's a dedicated employee portal that allows them to submit hours, update their personal details, and check up on recent payments. It also holds their paystubs securely for future reference and holds details about benefits and tax forms.

Square has a vibe that's young, friendly, and highly supportive. It's aimed at small businesses and offers advice and guidance for all types of issues, not just those relating to payroll and HR. You'll find an interesting and entertaining blog, a full support center with FAQs, troubleshooting tips, video tutorials, and more, and fast, responsive customer service agents. The user forum is quite lively and full of other small business owners who are happy to share all of their experience and guide you through common issues.

Square provides individual manned customer service over the phone, through email or the online web form, or via social media channels. Agents are available for support from Monday to Friday, between 6:00 AM and 6:00 PM.

Square’s payroll platform shows that it is far more than just a mobile payments processor. With Square, you can simplify and even automate payroll processing so that you don’t need to waste time on manual data entry and payroll calculations. Square integrates with a number of different business apps, including the Square POS platform which unites payroll data with your sales, timekeeping, and tips data, keeping all data secure and helping to combine it all. While Square’s solutions aren’t likely to be powerful enough for huge enterprises, those aren’t the businesses that it aims to serve. Square comes to add value and make life easier for small business owners, and with the flexible, competitively-priced platform, it certainly succeeds.