What do you really pay to accept payments?

Start with one full month

Find the reports showing guests' payments and the amounts paid into your bank account. Also collect the invoices relating to those same payments.

Some fees are deducted before the money reaches your account. Others appear on a separate invoice. If you look at only one part, you may miss some of the cost.

Look for percentage fees, per-payment fees, card charges and the provider's markup. Add up what you were actually charged. Remember that a fee may appear in both the report and the invoice without having been charged twice.

Separate payment costs from other costs

Keep payment fees separate. Put terminal rental, the POS system and commissions to ordering services on their own lines. They are costs too, but it helps to see what each part costs.

Money refunded to a guest is not a fee. A separate charge for processing the refund, however, may be.

If the invoice includes VAT, show it separately. This avoids mixing fees with and without VAT when comparing.

Calculate what payments actually cost

Here is an example with hypothetical figures. The fees exclude any applicable VAT.

Guests have paid NOK 500 000 through one payment solution during the period. This is the amount they actually paid, including VAT on their purchases.

Payout reports show NOK 5 000 in payment fees. A separate invoice shows another NOK 1 500 in charges and markups for the same payments.

You have paid NOK 6 500 in total.

6 500 divided by 500 000, multiplied by 100, is 1.30 percent.

That is the total payment cost in this example. It is more useful for comparison than a single low percentage rate in a quote.

Use the payment amount from the same solution and period. Do not divide by the restaurant's entire turnover if it also includes cash or payments through other providers.

Use the figures to negotiate a better deal

Once you know what you pay, you are in a better position to discuss pricing.

Ask for a quote calculated on the same payments. Include the amount, number of payments and payment methods guests use. This makes it easier to see whether a lower percentage actually means lower costs or whether other fees cancel out the difference.