General Contractors Payments & Square Setup

General contractors juggle deposits, draw schedules, change orders and dozens of subcontractors. Square Invoices handles milestone billing and e-signed contracts, and Roots adds ACH, surcharging and payouts when project sizes make card fees painful.
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Payment solutions for general contractors

How these solutions fit general contractors

See what each option adds to the way your business takes and tracks payments.

Square Invoices

For general contractors: Send itemized invoices for project deposits, progress invoices and final balances and track deposits, due dates and outstanding balances. Build each draw as a milestone on one Square invoice so the homeowner sees the full schedule and pays each phase as it's reached. Square Invoices sends estimates and invoices by email, SMS or a shareable link and tracks what's paid, unpaid or overdue. Roots configures the templates, payment schedules and reminders around how you bill.
  • Build your service catalog, tax settings and branded invoice and estimate templates
  • Set up deposit and milestone schedules that match your contracts and any state limits you operate under
  • Connect Square to QuickBooks Online or Xero so paid invoices reconcile automatically
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Square Contracts

For general contractors: Document the scope, payment schedule and customer approval for project deposits, progress invoices and final balances before work begins. Attach the signed scope and change-order terms to the estimate so approvals are on record before work starts. Square Contracts builds contracts with e-signature that attach to Square estimates, invoices and appointments, free of charge.
  • Adapt Square's templates to your scope, change-order and warranty language
  • Attach contracts to estimates and bookings automatically
  • Coordinate with your attorney on state-specific terms
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Square Payroll

For general contractors: Organize payroll for builders, project managers and office teams, using staff and time records to prepare pay runs. Run payroll for your own crew and pay 1099 subs on Square's contractor-only plan. Square Payroll runs full-service payroll with automated tax filings, or contractor-only payments, connected to Square timecards.
  • Set up employees, 1099 subcontractors and pay schedules
  • Connect timecards from Square team management
  • Walk through labor-cost reports by job type
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Square Integrations

For general contractors: Connect Square transaction data with the tools used to manage job codes, change orders and milestone invoices, reducing repeated data entry. Sync Square invoices and payments to QuickBooks Online so job costing stays accurate. The Square App Marketplace connects third-party apps to your Square account, from accounting to industry software.
  • Pick the apps that fit your workflow and connect them
  • Map items, taxes and payment types for clean accounting sync
  • Test and document the integration for your team
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Custom Development on Square

For general contractors: Build a Square-based payment workflow around project deposits, progress invoices and final balances, with custom software for your operating process. Push draws and change orders from your construction management software into Square Invoices automatically. Roots builds custom apps and integrations on Square's public APIs. This is Roots' work, not a Square product.
  • Scope and build the integration between Square and your construction management
  • Two-way sync of jobs, invoices and customers
  • Dashboards and automations Square doesn't offer natively
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ACH Payments

For general contractors: Offer bank-account payments for project deposits, progress invoices and final balances, with authorization and invoice matching built into the workflow. Steer large draws to ACH so a $120,000 progress payment doesn't carry card-level fees. ACH moves money straight from the customer's bank account, which usually costs far less than a card on a large invoice.
  • Set up ACH on invoices and payment pages
  • Write authorization language
  • Explain return and settlement timing
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Transfer initiated

$15,450.00 · ref ACH-7731

Credit Card Surcharging

For general contractors: Plan credit-card surcharge disclosures for project deposits, progress invoices and final balances, keeping eligible card payments distinct at checkout. Where allowed, pass the cost of credit on large draws to customers who choose to pay by credit card. A surcharge adds a disclosed fee to credit card payments only. Visa caps it at 3% or your cost of acceptance, whichever is lower, and some states ban or cap it.
  • Check your states and card mix before you start
  • Configure terminals, invoices and receipts
  • Provide compliant signage and invoice language
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Level 2/3 Processing

For general contractors: Include purchase-order references and itemized invoice data for business-card purchases of project deposits, progress invoices and final balances. Commercial and property-management clients paying with purchasing cards can qualify for lower Visa Product 3 rates with line-item data. When business customers pay with commercial cards, passing detailed invoice data can qualify for lower interchange. Visa's Commercial Enhanced Data Program changed the rules in 2025–2026.
  • Review your commercial card mix to see whether enhanced data pays
  • Configure line-item data from invoices
  • Monitor Visa data-quality results
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Payouts

For general contractors: Distribute amounts owed to subcontractors and project crews, with payment references matched to job codes, change orders and milestone invoices. Pay subs by bank transfer when their phase is signed off, instead of cutting checks. Roots Payouts sends bank payments to subcontractors, crews and vendors. Provided through our licensed banking and money-transmission partners. Roots Payments is not a bank or money transmitter.
  • Set up payee onboarding
  • Connect payouts to job completion or approvals
  • Reconciliation reporting
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Merchant Account

For general contractors: Arrange a processing account for project deposits, progress invoices and final balances, with checkout methods matched to how customers pay. Get pricing and limits set for large single payments when Square isn't the right fit. A dedicated merchant account gives you custom pricing and processing limits set during underwriting. Roots uses it when Square isn't the right fit.
  • Statement review and a pricing quote
  • Underwriting and application support
  • A named support contact after go-live
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Consumer Financing

For general contractors: Present financing options for project deposits, progress invoices and final balances alongside the purchase or service estimate. Roots connects your business with buy-now-pay-later options for customer purchases.
  • Discuss your business goals on a free consultation
  • Coordinate your provider introduction and setup
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General Contractors payment questions

Start with the workflows your business needs. Options on this page include Square Invoices for General Contractors, Square Contracts for General Contractors, Square Payroll for General Contractors. Roots helps compare the setup, software and processing requirements around how you operate.
Yes. Bring your current POS, checkout or billing tools and recent processing statements. We review job estimates, deposits, field payments and final invoices, then plan the changes your general contractors business needs.
Request a quote for your business. The review covers your payment mix, locations, software, hardware recommendations and implementation work. Consultations and payment reviews are free.
Bring recent payment statements, the systems you use and a record of how a customer places an order, receives a service or pays a bill. Tell us which general contractors workflows need to improve so we can scope a practical setup.

Let’s set up payments for your general contractor business

Book a free 30-minute payment review to compare costs, address payment problems and plan your next steps.
Talk to a contractor payments specialistExplore construction & remodeling contractors solutions