Square POS vs QuickBooks POS

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Our analysts compared Square POS vs QuickBooks POS based on data from our 400+ point analysis of POS Software, user reviews and our own crowdsourced data from our free software selection platform.

QuickBooks POS Software Tool

Product Basics

Square is a cloud-based POS system for retail stores of all sizes. It automatically creates customer profiles and tracks their information and purchase histories. Its key capabilities include sales reports, online payment processing, inventory tracking control, marketing campaigns, digital receipts, sales management, e-commerce and more. It accepts offline payments and automatically syncs payment information when mobile devices reconnect.

It is available on Android and iOS devices and includes optional hardware such as terminals, cash drawers, scanners, scales and card readers. Users can manage order pick-ups from third-party services like DoorDash, Postmates and more.

Pros
  • Easy to use and set up
  • Affordable pricing plans
  • Mobile payments and online ordering
  • Integrates with Square ecosystem
  • Free basic plan available
Cons
  • Limited customization options
  • May not be suitable for high-volume businesses
  • Transaction fees can add up
  • Limited reporting features in free plan
  • Customer support could be improved
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QuickBooks POS is a retail point of sale designed for small, medium and large-sized businesses. It streamlines payment and return processing and inventory management, enabling users to track inventory and fast selling items and place restocking orders.

It provides customer information to monitor buying and acquiring history and eliminates manual entries by automating inventory updates. It supports on-premise, cloud-based and mobile deployment and offers additional hardware such as receipt printers, bar-code scanners and more. It serves businesses like franchises, gift shops, clothing and shoe stores and more.
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$29 Monthly, Freemium, Plus Transaction Fees
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Tailored to your specific needs
$1,200 One-Time
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Tailored to your specific needs
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Product Assistance

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Live Online
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Email
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FAQ
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Knowledge Base
24/7 Live Support
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Product Insights

  • Streamlined Operations: Simplify day-to-day tasks like sales, inventory management, and employee management with an intuitive interface and mobile accessibility. Square POS offers a clean and user-friendly interface that minimizes the learning curve for new users and streamlines operations for established businesses. Additionally, its mobile app allows you to manage your business on the go, whether you're taking inventory, processing payments, or checking sales reports.
  • Omnichannel Engagement: Facilitate seamless omnichannel experiences by offering mobile payments, online ordering, and click-and-collect options. In today's digital age, customers expect a smooth and consistent experience across all channels. Square POS empowers you to meet these expectations by providing omnichannel features that bridge the gap between physical and online storefronts.
  • Scalability and Flexibility: Adapt to your evolving business needs with a range of pricing plans and integrations with Square's broader ecosystem of tools. Square POS doesn't lock you into a one-size-fits-all solution. With its flexible pricing plans and vast ecosystem of integrations, you can tailor the system to your specific needs and budget, whether you're a small startup or a growing enterprise.
  • Data-Driven Decisions: Gain valuable insights into your business performance with sales reports, inventory tracking, and customer analytics. Square POS equips you with the data you need to make informed decisions. Its comprehensive reporting and analytics suite provides insights into sales trends, customer behavior, and inventory levels, empowering you to optimize your operations and marketing strategies.
  • Enhanced Customer Experience: Delight your customers with features like loyalty programs, gift cards, and email marketing tools. Square POS goes beyond just processing transactions. It helps you build stronger customer relationships by offering tools to implement loyalty programs, send personalized marketing campaigns, and offer convenient gift card options.
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  • Streamlined Sales Processes: QuickBooks POS simplifies the checkout experience, enabling faster transactions and reducing customer wait times. This efficiency can lead to increased customer satisfaction and repeat business.
  • Accurate Inventory Management: The software provides real-time tracking of inventory levels, helping businesses avoid stockouts and overstock situations. This accuracy ensures that popular items are always available, enhancing sales opportunities.
  • Comprehensive Financial Integration: QuickBooks POS seamlessly integrates with QuickBooks accounting software, automating the transfer of sales data. This integration reduces manual data entry errors and provides a holistic view of the business’s financial health.
  • Improved Customer Management: The system allows for the creation of customer profiles, including purchase history and preferences. This information can be used to personalize marketing efforts and improve customer service, fostering loyalty.
  • Enhanced Reporting Capabilities: With its advanced reporting features, QuickBooks POS enables businesses to generate detailed sales, inventory, and customer reports. These insights can inform strategic decisions, helping to drive growth and profitability.
  • Flexible Payment Solutions: The software supports a variety of payment methods, including credit cards, debit cards, and mobile payments. This flexibility meets the diverse preferences of customers, making it easier for them to complete purchases.
  • Scalability: QuickBooks POS is designed to grow with your business. Whether you’re expanding product lines or adding new locations, the software can scale to meet your evolving needs without sacrificing performance.
  • Time-Saving Automation: By automating routine tasks such as sales tracking and inventory ordering, QuickBooks POS frees up time for business owners and staff to focus on customer service and other high-value activities.
  • Reduced Training Time: The intuitive interface of QuickBooks POS makes it easy for new employees to learn the system, reducing training time and costs. This ease of use can help businesses quickly adapt to staffing changes.
  • Enhanced Security: QuickBooks POS includes robust security features designed to protect sensitive customer and business data. This security helps to build trust with customers and comply with regulatory requirements.
  • Mobile POS Capabilities: With mobile POS options, businesses can process transactions anywhere in the store or at off-site events. This mobility can enhance the customer experience and capture more sales opportunities.
  • Customizable Interface: The software allows businesses to customize the POS interface to match their specific workflow and preferences. This customization can improve operational efficiency and ease of use.
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  • Intuitive Register Interface: Easy-to-use touch-screen interface with customizable menu items, modifiers, and employee permissions.
  • Payment Processing: Accept all major credit cards, debit cards, contactless payments, gift cards, and cash.
  • Inventory Management: Track stock levels, set low-stock alerts, and generate purchase orders.
  • Employee Management: Track employee hours, create schedules, and manage payroll.
  • Customer Relationship Management (CRM): Store customer information, track purchase history, and send targeted marketing campaigns.
  • Sales Reporting: Generate reports on sales, inventory, employee performance, and customer behavior.
  • Mobile App: Access Square POS from your smartphone or tablet to process payments, manage inventory, and view reports on the go.
  • Online Ordering: Allow customers to order and pay online for pickup or delivery.
  • Loyalty Program: Reward customers for repeat business with points, discounts, and special offers.
  • Gift Cards: Sell physical and digital gift cards to boost sales and customer loyalty.
  • Integrations: Connect Square POS with other business tools, such as accounting software, payroll providers, and email marketing platforms.
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  • Inventory Management: Operate the business online with an easy-to-use, web-based platform. Manage products across multiple channels, pay bills, receive instant alerts, refill merchandise, track orders, maintain stock volume and access reports for real-time insight into company sales. 
  • Electronic Bills: Oversee finances with a secure and integrated payment solution. Schedule and track payments, store receipts, import transactions from the bank account, manage company payments and more with a virtual transaction system. 
  • Visual Reporting: Enhance business growth with data-backed insights into crucial performance metrics and business KPIs. Make strategic decisions with informative reports like income statements, accounting stats, spending roadmaps, custom tags and sales trends. Get access to total sales, vendor purchases, inventory valuation, payroll summary and more. 
  • Flexible Payments: Make contactless, online payments using credit cards, debit cards and ACH bank transfers. Manage transactions with consolidated invoices, get alerts about deposits and use the mobile application for an easy-to-access accounting experience. 
  • Project Monitoring: Examine projects and make decisions based on business performance to maximize profits. Use the dashboard to monitor income and costs, get profitability insights with updates, track total spends and revenue and use time-tracking to update labor costs and expenses automatically. 
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Product Ranking

#13

among all
POS Software

#38

among all
POS Software

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Analyst Rating Summary

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Analyst Ratings for Functional Requirements Customize This Data Customize This Data

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Compliance And Security Customer And Loyalty Management Employee Management Inventory Management Items And Service Management Payment Transactions And Cash Management POS Hardware Reporting And Insights Sales And Marketing Management Store Management Types Of POS 100 100 100 98 100 100 74 100 74 69 100 0 25 50 75 100
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User Sentiment Summary

Excellent User Sentiment 2169 reviews
Good User Sentiment 259 reviews
93%
of users recommend this product

Square POS has a 'excellent' User Satisfaction Rating of 93% when considering 2169 user reviews from 3 recognized software review sites.

79%
of users recommend this product

QuickBooks POS has a 'good' User Satisfaction Rating of 79% when considering 259 user reviews from 4 recognized software review sites.

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4.3 (19)
4.6 (495)
4.1 (79)
4.7 (1637)
3.9 (157)
4.5 (37)
2.5 (4)

Awards

SelectHub research analysts have evaluated Square POS and concluded it deserves the award for the Best Overall POS Software available today and earns best-in-class honors for Compliance and Security, Customer and Loyalty Management, Items and Service Management, Payment Transactions and Cash Management and Types of POS. Square POS stands above the rest by achieving an ‘Excellent’ rating as a User Favorite.

Analysts' Pick Award
User Favorite Award
Compliance and Security Award
Customer and Loyalty Management Award
Items and Service Management Award
Payment Transactions and Cash Management Award
Types of POS Award

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Synopsis of User Ratings and Reviews

User-Friendly: 96% of users who reviewed this element said the software is flexible and mobile with a clean user interface.
Economical: According to 70% of users who mentioned this aspect, the pricing is fair and competitive.
Card Payments: 80% of users who reviewed payments said the platform is useful for processing cashless transactions with cards and sending invoices.
Invoicing: Regarding this feature, 95% of users said it’s easy to create, add and send invoices to clients.
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Inventory Management: QuickBooks POS excels at simplifying inventory management tasks, such as tracking stock levels and generating purchase orders. The software offers features like setting reorder points to automatically trigger purchase orders when inventory runs low, ensuring you maintain optimal stock levels and prevent stockouts.
Sales Tracking and Reporting: QuickBooks POS provides robust sales tracking and reporting capabilities, enabling businesses to gain valuable insights into their sales performance. Users can easily generate reports on various metrics, including sales by item, customer, or employee, allowing them to identify trends, analyze profitability, and make data-driven decisions to optimize sales strategies.
Customer Relationship Management (CRM): The software includes CRM functionalities that help businesses effectively manage customer interactions and build stronger relationships. Users can track customer purchase history, preferences, and contact information, enabling personalized marketing campaigns and targeted promotions to enhance customer loyalty and satisfaction.
Employee Management: QuickBooks POS simplifies employee management tasks, such as tracking employee hours, managing payroll, and setting permissions. The software allows businesses to monitor employee performance, calculate wages accurately, and control access to sensitive information, streamlining HR processes and improving overall efficiency.
Integration with QuickBooks Accounting Software: One of the significant advantages of QuickBooks POS is its seamless integration with QuickBooks accounting software. This integration eliminates the need for manual data entry, as sales, inventory, and customer information automatically sync between the two systems, saving time, reducing errors, and providing a comprehensive view of the business's financial health.
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Costly for high-volume transactions: The per-transaction fees become significant as your business grows, pushing Square beyond cost-effective for many merchants.
Limited reporting and inventory: Users find Square's reports lack depth and flexibility, making detailed sales analysis and inventory management challenging.
Unreliable customer support: Users report difficulty reaching support, long wait times, and frustrating email-only communication, leaving them feeling helpless when issues arise.
Account holddowns and closures: Square's automated fraud detection can lead to sudden account freezes and closures, causing business disruptions and difficulties resolving the issue.
Clunky hardware: Some users find the Square hardware, particularly the chip reader, clunky and frustrating to use, impacting checkout workflow and customer experience.
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Limited Hardware Compatibility: The software is primarily designed for specific hardware, potentially necessitating additional expenses for compatible equipment.
Learning Curve: Users transitioning from other POS systems may find QuickBooks POS to have a steeper learning curve due to its unique interface and workflows.
Customer Support: Obtaining timely and effective customer support can be challenging, leading to frustration when encountering issues or seeking assistance.
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Square POS shines for its ease of use and affordability for small businesses, especially those starting out. Users praise its intuitive interface, seamless setup, and mobile accessibility, making it a breeze to ring up customers and manage basic sales. It also integrates well with popular tools like email marketing and accounting software, offering a centralized platform for managing various aspects of their business. However, Square's appeal wanes as businesses grow. Users lament its limited reporting and inventory management features, lacking the depth and customization offered by competitors like Shopify POS or Clover. Square's higher transaction fees for larger volumes also become a drawback compared to options like Stripe, which offer lower rates based on monthly transaction volume. Furthermore, Square's customer support receives mixed reviews. While some appreciate its responsiveness, others face frustrating wait times and limited communication channels, especially compared to the dedicated phone and live chat support offered by competitors. Overall, Square POS is a strong contender for solopreneurs and micro-businesses seeking a user-friendly and affordable POS solution. However, its limitations become apparent as businesses scale, pushing them towards more robust and feature-rich platforms. The choice ultimately boils down to prioritizing ease of use and affordability in the early stages versus scalability and advanced features as a business grows.

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QuickBooks POS users highlight its seamless integration with QuickBooks accounting software as a major strength, saving them considerable time and effort by eliminating the need for manual data entry and ensuring consistency between sales and accounting records. This integration simplifies financial management, especially for businesses that handle a high volume of transactions or have complex inventory management needs. Users also appreciate the software's comprehensive inventory management features, which allow them to track stock levels, manage purchase orders, and generate reports to gain insights into sales trends and inventory performance. However, some users find the initial setup process to be complex and time-consuming, requiring careful planning and potentially additional support from Intuit or a qualified consultant. Additionally, while QuickBooks POS offers various hardware options, some users find the costs associated with hardware and ongoing software subscriptions to be a significant investment, particularly for smaller businesses with limited budgets. Despite these drawbacks, QuickBooks POS stands out for its robust features, scalability, and integration capabilities, making it a suitable choice for established businesses with evolving needs. Its ability to streamline operations, improve accuracy, and provide valuable insights makes it particularly well-suited for retail businesses, especially those with multiple locations or a growing customer base.

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