Lead Paint Inspectors 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 Lead Paint Inspector 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.
Lead Paint Inspectors face unique challenges: XRF instrument compliance - the analyzer's radioactive source requires licensing, daily calibration checks against the standard, and documented readings, and a skipped calibration can invalidate an entire inspection's results. EPA/HUD protocol and liability - lead risk assessments and clearances on pre-1978 housing carry strict federal and state rules, and a missed component or wrong wipe count exposes a licensed inspector to real legal risk. Lab turnaround on dust wipes and chips gating clearance - after an abatement you can't issue a clearance until the lab reports lead-loading, holding up families waiting to move back into their home. Distinguishing the inspection types clients conflate - lead inspection vs. risk assessment vs. clearance are different deliverables with different scopes and prices, and clients (and even some contractors) order the wrong one. On top of all that, Square charges $29/month ($348/year) — money that comes directly from your revenue. The median Lead Paint Inspector 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 XRF analyzer for in-place lead-paint readings 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 lead paint inspectors 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.
Day starts with the calibration check - I shoot the XRF against the known standard three times before I take a single billable reading, because an instrument that drifted invalidates everything I do after it. First job is a risk assessment on a pre-1978 rental with a small child, the trigger for most of my work. I go component by component with the XRF - window sills, troughs, door jambs, baseboards, the porch rails - logging each reading against the floor plan, because lead hides on the friction and impact surfaces. The sills read hot, so I take dust wipes with templates to measure how much lead-loaded dust is actually on the surfaces a toddler touches, and a soil sample from the drip line under the old painted siding. Everything's labeled and chain-of-custody is filled out, because the wipes go to the lab and the clearance hinges on lead-loading numbers I can't read in the field. Afternoon is a clearance at a unit that just finished abatement - the family's in a hotel waiting to come home, and they legally can't until my wipes come back under the HUD limits. I document the visual, take the clearance wipes, and explain to the anxious tenant that it's the lab's timeline now, not mine. End of day is writing the risk-assessment report around the pending dust-wipe results, logging XRF readings, invoicing, and making sure tomorrow's client ordered a clearance and not the inspection they think they need.
Real lead paint inspectors near you who run their business on Nexa — book directly, no platform fee. Are you a lead paint inspector? Post your business and get found in your area — $2.99 one-time. Or browse every lead paint inspector 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 $2,352/year on software — and Lead Paint Inspector face their own version of that math. FL state licensing requirements apply.
Numbers reflect typical solo operators in the Tallahassee metro. Your situation will vary.
Specific gaps Lead Paint Inspectors 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