Payments: Convenience Fees
Convenience fees let you offset part of the processing cost for eligible RoasterPay credit-card payments. The fee does not apply to ACH Debit, debit cards, checks, Stripe payment methods, or other non-credit-card payment methods. Enable ACH Debit for participating customers when you want to give them a no-fee payment option.
Convenience fees are calculated automatically from the selected payment method. They are separate from fees that you manually add to an order.
Access required: Convenience fees are available by request. Email support@roastertools.com to request access. After access is granted, an account admin can complete the setup below.
After convenience fees are enabled for the account, contact Support if you need to turn the account-level setting off.
Overview
Video walkthrough
This walkthrough shows account configuration, enabling one customer, the RoasterTools invoice view, and the customer payment experience.
Jump to a section:
- 0:00 Configure your account
- 0:27 Choose a customer
- 1:05 What you’ll see in RoasterTools
- 1:52 Customer payment flow
- 2:30 Paid invoice and print view
- 3:03 Confirm you’re ready
How they work
A convenience fee is added to an order only when all three of the following are true:
- Convenience fees are enabled on your account.
- The customer has convenience fees turned on in their customer settings.
- An eligible RoasterPay credit card is selected as the payment method.
If any one of these is off, no fee is added.
Enable convenience fees on your account
An account admin completes this setup:
- Open your name menu and select Settings.
- Go to Sales > Convenience Fee.
- Turn on Convenience fee.
- Enter the fee percentage. The page displays the maximum allowed for your account, which is the lower of your card-processing percentage or 3%.
- Accept the authorization.
- Select Save Convenience Fee Settings.
Enabling the account setting does not turn convenience fees on for every customer. Customers are enabled individually.
After setup, an account admin can change the fee percentage up to the maximum shown on the settings page.
Map the convenience fee to accounting
If your account has a supported accounting connection, an Accounting Mapping section appears after convenience fees are enabled. Select the appropriate accounting item and save the mapping so convenience-fee revenue posts to the correct revenue account.
Choose the payment method before syncing the invoice. Selecting an eligible credit card adds the convenience fee and updates the invoice balance before payment is collected.
If a fee changes after an invoice has already synced, update the invoice in your accounting platform before syncing the payment so the totals match.
This is especially important for customers on payment terms when invoices are normally synced before payment is collected.
Choose which customers pay a convenience fee
Start with one customer before enabling convenience fees more broadly:
- Open Customers and select the customer.
- Under Payment Methods, make sure Credit Card is enabled. The convenience-fee setting is not available until the customer can pay by credit card.
- Enable ACH Debit when you want the customer to have a no-fee payment option.
- Under Convenience Fees, turn on Charge a convenience fee on credit-card payments.
- Select Save Convenience Fee Preference.
Communicate the change to the customer, then repeat these steps for additional customers when you are ready.
How fees apply to orders
For a customer with convenience fees enabled:
- New orders inherit the customer’s default payment method. An eligible credit card adds the convenience fee.
- Turning convenience fees on for a customer does not automatically change existing orders.
- On an existing unpaid order, selecting an eligible credit card adds or recalculates the fee. Selecting ACH Debit, a debit card, check, or another non-credit-card method removes it.
The convenience fee is calculated from goods and shipping after discounts, before tax. Free shipping contributes $0 to the fee calculation. It appears on the order and updates the balance before payment is collected.
If the customer is taxable, the convenience fee is included in the tax calculation, so adding, removing, or changing the fee can also change the tax total. Tax-exempt customers are not taxed on the fee.
When the Partial payment option is available, enter the amount to apply to the invoice. RoasterTools sizes the convenience fee to that payment’s eligible share of goods and shipping, adds the fee to the entered amount, and shows the estimated total card charge before collection.
Orders that are being processed or have already been completed cannot have their payment method changed. If an eligible order cannot be updated, RoasterTools reports it in the notification after the change.
Change a customer’s default payment method
When you set a new default payment method for a customer with convenience fees enabled, RoasterTools may show a dialog titled “Update convenience fees on unpaid orders?”. The dialog lists eligible unpaid orders and, for customers with Prepay terms, eligible unsubmitted portal carts.
Applying the new payment method may add, remove, or recalculate the convenience fee on each listed item:
- Apply to All updates the payment method and resulting fee on every item listed in the dialog, then keeps the new default for future orders.
- Don’t Apply keeps the new default for future orders only. The listed orders and carts keep their current payment method and fee.
Setting a default payment method never collects a payment. It only changes which payment method is selected for later use.
If convenience fees are not active for the customer, eligible orders may receive the new default automatically because there is no fee change to review.
Why the convenience fee doesn’t fully cover processing costs
The convenience fee is intended to offset most of the credit-card processing cost, but it may not cover the entire cost:
- Fixed processing costs. Your processor may charge a fixed amount for each card payment in addition to its percentage. A percentage-based convenience fee does not recover that fixed amount.
- Different calculation bases. RoasterTools calculates the convenience fee from goods and shipping after discounts, before tax. The processor calculates its percentage from the full amount charged to the card, including any tax and the convenience fee itself. This means the processor also charges its percentage on the convenience-fee amount.
The fee generally offsets most of the processing cost. The recovered share varies by payment amount because the processor’s fixed transaction cost has a larger effect on smaller payments. Enabling ACH Debit gives customers a no-fee payment option and avoids credit-card processing costs.
Examples: These examples assume a 3% convenience fee and processor pricing of 3% of the full card charge plus $0.30.
- Small order without tax ($50.00). The $1.50 fee produces a $51.50 card charge. Processing costs about $1.85, so the fee offsets about 81%.
- Average order without tax ($350.00). The $10.50 fee produces a $360.50 card charge. Processing costs about $11.12, so the fee offsets about 94%.
- Average taxable order ($350.00 at 8% tax). The $10.50 fee increases the taxable amount to $360.50, making tax $28.84 and the total card charge $389.34. Processing costs about $11.98, so the fee offsets about 88%.
- Large order without tax ($1,000.00). The $30.00 fee produces a $1,030.00 card charge. Processing costs $31.20, so the fee offsets about 96%.
These examples illustrate how payment size and tax affect recovery. Actual recovery varies with the payment amount, tax, and processor pricing.
Refunds
Full refund. Leave the refund amount at the maximum to return the payment’s complete remaining refundable amount, including the convenience fee.
Partial refund. Enter the exact total amount you want the customer to receive. RoasterTools does not ask you to divide the refund into product and convenience-fee amounts. It updates the order’s recorded fee proportionally so the remaining balance stays accurate.
Cancelling a paid order. Cancelling an eligible paid order automatically attempts to refund each payment’s remaining refundable amount, including its convenience-fee portion. Check the confirmation message to make sure every refund succeeded; the order can still be cancelled if a refund fails. Follow the reported error and, when the Refund action remains available, retry from the cancelled order’s payment history. Contact Support if the refund cannot be retried there.