Overview
Taking card and bank payments costs money. This article explains the two different fees involved, who pays each one, and where to find your records at the end of the year.
The two get confused often, so it is worth separating them clearly before anything else.
The Two Fees, and Who Pays Them
Your processing cost. What your business is charged for accepting a card or bank payment. This comes out of your money.
The service fee. An optional 2.9% you can add to invoices so the customer covers the card cost instead of you. This comes out of the customer's money.
If you turn the service fee on, you are passing your cost along. If you leave it off, your business absorbs it.
The 2.9% Service Fee
MotionOps lets you add a 2.9% service fee to invoices so card processing costs are passed to the customer rather than absorbed by your business.
You can turn it on for all invoices by default, then switch it off on individual invoices where it does not fit.
Turning it on for all invoices
Go to Business Settings from the top right corner.
Select Payment Settings from the list on the left.
Under Processing Options, check the box to apply the service fee to all invoices.
Controlling it on a single invoice
Open the invoice and scroll to the bottom of the invoice creation screen. The checkbox is labelled Include a service fee for Credit Card payments.
Full detail is in Service Fee on Invoices.
Tell customers about the fee before they see it. An unexplained 2.9% on the final bill is one of the most common reasons a customer calls their bank instead of your office.
The service fee applies to online card payments only. It does not apply to ACH, cash, checks, or other payments you record by hand.
Finding Your Statements
You can access your payout statements in MotionOps Reports or the dedicated payments portal: payments.motionops.com
Year-End and Tax Reporting
Note that the amount on a payment processing tax form reflects gross payments processed, before fees and refunds. It will not match your revenue in MotionOps or your deposits. Your bookkeeper will reconcile the difference.
For sales tax collected rather than processing fees, see Tax Reporting.
Tips & Best Practices
Decide on the service fee once, then be consistent. Turning it on for some customers and not others creates awkward conversations when they compare invoices.
Put the fee in your proposal, not just the invoice. Customers accept it far more readily when they knew about it before the work started.
Build processing cost into your pricing if you don't pass it on. On a $8,000 job, absorbing card fees is real money.
Encourage bank payments on large invoices. Bank transfer costs are typically lower than card costs on high-value work.
Download your statement monthly. Reconciling twelve statements in April is a worse job than reconciling one every month.
Things to Know
The 2.9% service fee and your own processing cost are different things. The service fee is charged to your customer.
The service fee applies to online card payments only.
You must be onboarded for payment processing before the service fee option is available.
Online payment processing is available to United States businesses only.
The service fee default is set once in Payment Settings and can be overridden per invoice.
Troubleshooting
I don't see the service fee option.
You need to be signed up and approved for payment processing first. See How to Set Up Payment Processing Within MotionOps.
The service fee didn't apply to an invoice.
Check the checkbox at the bottom of that invoice. The business-wide default can be overridden per invoice, so it may have been switched off there. It also does not apply to payments recorded manually.
My customer paid by check and was still charged the fee.
That should not happen. The service fee applies to online card payments only. Contact support with the invoice number.
My deposits are less than my invoice totals.
Processing fees, refunds, and partial payments all affect the net deposit.
My tax form doesn't match my revenue in MotionOps.
It will not. Processing tax forms report gross payments processed, before fees and refunds, and only cover payments taken online. Cash and checks are not included.
Have questions? Reach out via the support chat or email support@motionops.com.