Metal Building Erectors 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 metal building erector 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.
Metal Building Erectors face unique challenges: Anchor bolts set off-pattern by the concrete crew, so the base plates don't drop and the whole frame fights you from column one. Plumbing and squaring the steel with come-alongs before tightening primary bolts, racing wind that can't safely fly a rigid frame. Mis-shipped or short purlins, girts, and sheeting from the manufacturer with a crane already on the clock. Owners and GCs who underestimate the lift, rigging, and crew size a clear-span frame really needs. On top of all that, Square charges $29/month ($348/year) — money that comes directly from your revenue. The median metal building erector 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 impact wrench for structural bolts 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 metal building erectors 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.
You walk the slab first thing with the anchor-bolt template, and sure enough the concrete crew set one column's bolts a half-inch out, so before any steel flies you're shimming and slotting base plates to make the math work. The crane shows up and the day becomes a choreography of rigging: chokers on a rigid frame, the spreader bar leveling it, two guys on tag lines walking it upright while the connection crew flies the lift to the top to set the bolts. Nothing is plumb when it lands, so the come-alongs and turnbuckles come out and you rack the bays square and plumb, eyeballing the diagonals and the wall lines before you final-torque the primary connections. Wind is the boss; a gust above the threshold and the crane stops and the frame waits, bolted but not braced, while you watch the sky. Once the steel's standing the crew moves to purlins and girts, then sheeting with self-drillers, and that's when a short shipment of wall panels surfaces with the crane already gone. The GC keeps asking why this isn't a two-man job, and you point at the 50-foot clear-span frame and the crane bill. You leave the building braced and the open bays tied off so an overnight wind doesn't rack what you spent the day plumbing.
Real metal building erectors near you who run their business on Nexa — book directly, no platform fee. Are you a metal building erector? Post your business and get found in your area — $2.99 one-time. Or browse every metal building erector 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 $3,400/year on software — and metal building erector face their own version of that math. DC income tax up to 10.75%; Virginia and Maryland also tax. Solopreneurs often serve clients across all three jurisdictions. DC requires a Basic Business License. Virginia and Maryland each have separate requirements. Multi-jurisdiction compliance is common.
Numbers reflect typical solo operators in the Washington DC metro. Your situation will vary.
Specific gaps Metal Building Erectors 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