How Do I Add a Credit Card Fee to an Invoice?

If you have a credit card - and most of us do - you have to pay to use it.  And if you're a modern day business that accepts payment by credit card, you have to pay to get paid. You know what I mean, those processing fees. Processing fees are everywhere these days and no one - accept maybe the credit companies - likes them.  So we understand that you may need to pass them on to the consumer.  

But give us a moment before you whip out that calculator to show you an easy way to handle those fees.  

There are two common types of "Processing Fees" that we - as consumers - come across when using our cards: a flat fee and a percentage.  Both ways can be accomplished in ESC with just a little setup.

Flat Processing Fee

1. To create a flat fee for processing cards, head to the Sales menu and select Enter Billing Codes.
2. Click the Add New button.
3. Fill in the Code and Description fields with an appropriate name and description of the charge.  (Remember: the Description field will be visible on the printed invoice.)  Set the Type to "Other" and fill in the amount you want to charge in Rate (Price) field.  Uncheck the Calculate Commissions box.  
   
   
   
   
4. Click OK and then close the Enter Billing Codes screen.
5. Each time a customer needs to pay by credit card, you'll open the original invoice and add the billing code you just created to the end of the invoice.
6. Click the Tender button on the toolbar and tender the payment as you normally would.

Percent Processing Fee

1. To create a percent-based fee for processing cards, head to the Sales menu and select Enter Billing Codes.
2. Click the Add New button.
3. Fill in the Code and Description fields with an appropriate name and description of the charge.  (Remember: the Description field will be visible on the printed invoice.)  Set the Type to "Discount" and enter the percent as a negative number in the Rate (Price) field.  Uncheck the Calculate Commissions box.  
   
   
   
   
4. Click OK and then close the Enter Billing Codes screen.
5. Each time a customer needs to pay by credit card, you'll open the original invoice and add the billing code you just created to the end of the invoice.  This will calculate the percent of all items above it and add the total to the invoice.
6. Click the Tender button on the toolbar and tender the payment as you normally would.