Excavation Contractors on Square pay $29/month — $348/year. Over three years, that's $1,168. Nexa is $279 once. Break-even runs about 9.6 months. The median Excavation Contractor earns $55,000/year, so Square's annual cost is roughly 0.6% of typical revenue — every year, forever.
That's $1,168 gone. And you don't own anything. Stop paying, lose access.
You're not the only one who's had enough.
Excavation Contractors face unique challenges: Hitting unmarked utilities despite an 811 ticket - a clipped gas line or fiber bundle is a shutdown, a fine, and a repair bill, and private lines past the meter aren't on the locate. Unknown soil and rock conditions on a fixed-price dig - quoting topsoil-and-clay and finding ledge rock or a high water table that needs a hammer, dewatering, and trucking that blows the bid. OSHA trench safety and cave-in liability - any trench over five feet needs a box or sloping, and skipping it to save time is the kind of shortcut that buries a worker. Spoil and import logistics - estimating cut-and-fill balance wrong leaves you either paying to haul off excess dirt or paying to import fill, with truck time eating the margin either way. On top of all that, Square charges $29/month ($348/year) — money that comes directly from your revenue. The median Excavation Contractor earns $55,000/year. Software at $348/year is a meaningful percentage of that income, every year, forever. And you do not own anything.
Your Excavator and a compact track loader is yours. You bought it once. Nexa works the same way — $279 once for invoicing, scheduling, CRM, time tracking, and full accounting. All connected. All offline-capable. You own it like you own your tools.
Square is just one piece. What else are you losing money on?
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Your exact Square cost, full stack total, and what switching saves. 10 seconds.
| Feature | Square | Nexa |
|---|---|---|
| Invoicing | ✓ | ✓ |
| Scheduling | ✗ | ✓ |
| CRM | ✗ | ✓ |
| Time Tracking | ✗ | ✓ |
| Full Accounting | ✗ | ✓ (SIMPL) |
| Task Management | ✗ | ✓ |
| Price | $29/mo forever | $279 once or 3 × $99 |
| 3-Year Cost | $1,168 | $279 |
| Stop paying? | Lose everything | Keep everything forever |
Most excavation contractors are fully switched before the weekend.
Go to Square Dashboard → Customers → Export. Also export transactions and item library.
15-minute setup. Import your customer list and service/product catalog.
Run both for 1-2 weeks. Test invoicing and booking through Nexa.
Cancel paid subscriptions. Keep free account for records access.
We can't break ground until I confirm the 811 marks are still good and I've located the private lines the ticket doesn't cover - the propane run and the well line that aren't the utility's problem but become mine if I clip them. Today is a foundation dig and a sewer lateral. I set grade with the laser, start the excavator on the footprint, and immediately the bucket pulls up shale ledge that the soils report soft-pedaled - so now I'm hammering rock on a price I quoted for clay. The sewer trench goes past five feet, so the trench box goes in before anybody steps down to lay pipe; that's not optional, that's a life. By mid-day I'm balancing the math in my head: this cut is making more spoil than the site can use, so I'm scheduling trucks to haul off instead of stockpiling fill I won't need. Afternoon is fine-grading the building pad, compacting in lifts with the plate so the slab doesn't settle and crack, and proof-rolling. I shoot grades to make sure the pad drains away from where the house goes. Last hour is the part that decides if I made money: tallying truck loads, photographing the ledge for a change order, and writing up the rock and dewatering as extras. Then invoicing, scheduling tomorrow's tracks, and calling the customer about the change order before they see it on a bill.
Real excavation contractors near you who run their business on Nexa — book directly, no platform fee. Are you an excavation contractor? Post your business and get found in your area — $2.99 one-time. Or browse every excavation contractor on Nexa →
For solo operators and small teams (1-5), yes. Nexa includes invoicing, scheduling, CRM, time tracking, task management, and full accounting. Square may be better if you have a large team (10+) or need enterprise-specific features.
It's $7.75/month over 3 years. Square is $29/month — that's $1,168 over 3 years. Which is more? And if you'd rather split it, Nexa is also available as 3 payments of $99.
Yes. Nexa is $279 as a one-time payment, or 3 payments of $99 ($297 total). Either way it's a one-time purchase — no subscription, no recurring fees ever.
30-day money-back guarantee. Full refund. If Nexa doesn't save you $500 in year one, you get every penny back.
Export your data from Square as CSV, import into Nexa in about 5 minutes.
The average solo operator there spends about $1,700/year on software — and Excavation Contractor face their own version of that math. Oklahoma income tax up to 4.75%. OKC has no city income tax. Overall tax burden is below national average. Oklahoma requires contractor licensing through the CIB for projects over $50,000. OKC requires a general business license.
Numbers reflect typical solo operators in the Oklahoma City metro. Your situation will vary.
Specific gaps Excavation Contractors run into with Square, and what Nexa does instead.
$1,168 over 3 years. Or $279 once (or 3 × $99). Own your tools.
Get Nexa — $279 Once