Charging a Program Fee - shopVOX Pro

Crystal Richard Updated by Crystal Richard

To help businesses offset the cost of processing fees, shopVOX offers the ability to automatically apply a surcharge when customers pay using a credit card, referred to as a Program Fee. This feature gives you the flexibility to specify a percentage or set transaction fee for each credit card type you accept, ensuring you can recover transaction costs directly at the time of payment.

Once set up, the fee is automatically added to the total amount when a credit card payment is processed through your connected payment gateway.

Please be advised that determining the appropriate handling of Program Fees, if applicable, is reliant upon individual compliance with federal, state, and local regulations, and is the sole responsibility of the user. All related inquiries should be directed to your accountant. Program Fees are subject to modification at any time.

This guide walks you through the steps to define and customize Program Fees on your payment methods.

Program Fee Setup Video

Step 1: Access Program Fees in Settings

Before accessing Program Fees, confirm you are successfully connected with shopVOX Pay by visiting Settings -> Connect Payment Gateway and view the green circle checkmark.
  1. Navigate to Settings
  2. Navigate to Accounting
  3. Navigate to Program Fee

Step 2: Configure the Program Fee per Payment Type

  1. From the "Program Fee" section, select or deselect the individual Program Fees you wish to charge.
  2. Once the check box is selected, enter the desired Program Fee amount in dollars or a percentage.
    Enter the percentage surcharge you want to apply for that payment type (e.g., 3.5 for a 3.5% fee) and select the proper icon for dollars vs percentage.
The Program Fee is capped at 4%. This is subject to change. The Program Fee can be edited at any time. The system will use the current Program Fee when payments are processed.

  1. If you would like to set a debit card terminal Program Fee that is different than the regular terminal fee, this requires a separate type of payment.
Please note, the terminal itself will not vary Program Fee amounts based on credit card vs debit card. A new payment method for "Debit Terminal" can be added and selected when the new payment is created to determine the correct Program Fee for the individual transaction.

Inquire from the customer if they plan to use a debit card prior to selecting which terminal the payment is for so the desired Program Fee is charged.
Please note, the proper method for adding new payment methods is to create the new payment method in the accounting platform FIRST, and copy into shopVOX.

If you are not following this and instead using "Add New Payment Method" directly in shopVOX, you MUST create a matching payment type in your accounting platform or it will prevent payments from successfully syncing to the accounting platform.
  1. Save Program Fee as Taxable or Non-Taxable.
  2. Use "Show Fee Disclosure on PDFs" for a customer disclaimer if desired.
  3. Save all Program Fee changes.
  1. If this is your first time using Program Fees, scroll up to the section to the Chart of Account Mapping section. This is an income account type.
    (Navigate to the Accounting settings, by visiting Settings -> Accounting -> Chart of Account Mapping. Be sure to map the correct Chart of Account to the new field titled "Program Fee Charges")
  2. Use the Payment Receipt for a clear indication of total sales, program fees and total amount paid.

To ensure everything is working correctly:

  • Make an invoice with a line item as an example
  • And Email it to yourself from shopVOX
Ensure you have selected "Include Link for Payment".
This can be set to a default under Settings -> Transactions.
  • Check your Email
  • Click on the "You can make payment here"
  • You will see the New Payment screen
  • Select Credit Card for the Payment Method and complete transaction.
You can update the program fee percentage in shopVOX at any time. When a customer clicks the payment link, the most current percentage set in the field will be applied to their total.

Utilize the "Show Fee Disclosure in PDFs" option to explain or clarify Program Fees on transactions if desired.

Conclusion

If you have any questions or need help setting this up, our support team is happy to assist!

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