Square’s widely used free invoicing software is poised to become the company’s next major subscription service. The firm is expected to announce Invoices Plus, a paid membership service that will provide sellers with a set of sophisticated features, including some that were previously only available with the free service. Individual sellers had been surreptitiously introduced to the service, but it had not yet been made public.
Some Square Invoices users were recently notified of the planned changes through email.
The new membership will contain a number of features that were offered as part of a limited trial last year, according to a notice shared with select sellers (information can also be found here on a Square Seller Community forum). Multi-package estimates, bespoke invoice templates, and custom invoice fields are all examples of this. These, as well as two other capabilities, will now be included in Invoices plus: the ability to automatically convert accepted estimates to invoices and the option to create milestone-based timetables (three-plus installment invoices).
According to Square’s release, a “trial” button will be added to these functionalities in the Square Invoices software to notify consumers of the impending possibilities (see below). According to the news, Square’s free invoicing software would not be phased out. With the free plan, sellers will be able to submit an unlimited number of invoices, as well as estimates and contracts. Invoice monitoring, reminders, and reporting capabilities will be available to free users as well.
Processing fees have always been the source of revenue for the free plan. According to Square’s website, this is currently 2.9 percent + $0.30 for each invoice paid online by check or debit card, plus a 1% fee per ACH transaction. (Fees for in-person transactions are significantly lower, whereas fees for “card on file” transactions are slightly higher.) The cost of the new paid subscription has not yet been revealed. On the community discussion site, a Square staffer explained why the modification was made. Many of Square’s other products, such as Square Online, Appointments, Square for Retail, and Square for Restaurants, also have a free and premium tier, according to them.
Square imposes processing fees for Square Invoices, but they aren’t enough to keep the company afloat. They claim that with Invoices Plus, the company is attempting to compete more directly with paid invoicing applications and solutions, as well as the more advanced capabilities that these companies provide.
Square confirmed to TechCrunch that Invoices Plus is a software subscription that the company will reveal soon. However, the corporation did not want to provide any other information until the news was made public. References to the new subscription have also made their way into the Square app’s code, which iOS developer Steve Moser discovered.
