Transaction fees can quickly add up for businesses, eating into profits and affecting overall financial health. As more businesses seek ways to reduce these costs, surcharging has emerged as a strategic method to offset the expenses associated with credit card processing fees. In Acumatica, surcharging can be effectively implemented to pass on these costs to customers, allowing businesses to maintain their margins without increasing prices across the board.
Integrating surcharging with Acumatica streamlines the entire process, ensuring that surcharges are applied accurately and in compliance with regulations. Payment integration plays a critical role in automating surcharging, reducing the manual effort required, and ensuring that all transactions are recorded correctly.
Let’s explore how surcharging works in Acumatica and how it can help businesses reduce transaction costs.
What is Surcharging?
Surcharging refers to the practice of adding a fee to a customer’s payment to cover the costs associated with processing credit card transactions. This fee is typically a percentage of the transaction amount and is intended to offset the expenses that businesses incur when accepting credit card payments. Surcharging is especially useful for businesses that operate on thin margins, as it allows them to pass on the processing fees to customers without absorbing these costs themselves.
In Acumatica, surcharging is best set up with payment integration. Payment integration automates the process of applying surcharges, ensuring that the correct fees are added to each transaction based on the payment method used. This automation eliminates the need for manual calculations and ensures that surcharges are consistently applied in compliance with state and federal regulations. Additionally, integrated payment systems in Acumatica automatically record surcharges in your accounting system, making it easier to track and reconcile these fees.
How Surcharging Reduces Costs in Acumatica
Surcharging reduces transaction costs in Acumatica by allowing businesses to recoup the fees associated with credit card processing. When a customer pays with a credit card, the surcharge is automatically added to the transaction, covering the processing fees that would otherwise be absorbed by the business. This approach enables businesses to maintain their profit margins without raising prices for all customers—only those who choose to pay with credit cards bear the additional cost.
In Acumatica, implementing surcharging through payment integration ensures that the process is seamless and accurate. The integration allows you to set specific surcharge rules based on payment types and transaction amounts. For example, you can set different surcharge rates for different credit card brands or only apply surcharges to transactions over a certain amount. These customizable rules help businesses tailor surcharging to their specific needs, maximizing cost savings.
Payment integration also simplifies compliance with surcharging regulations. In many jurisdictions, there are strict rules about how surcharges can be applied, including disclosure requirements and caps on surcharge amounts. Acumatica’s integrated payment system ensures that your surcharging practices comply with these regulations, reducing the risk of penalties and ensuring a smooth customer experience. For instance, if you set a 2.5% surcharge on credit card payments, Acumatica will automatically calculate and apply this fee at checkout, ensuring transparency and accuracy.
Sample Scenario: Imagine a retail business that processes $100,000 in credit card sales each month, with an average processing fee of 2.5%. Without surcharging, the business would incur $2,500 in monthly fees. By implementing a 2.5% surcharge, the business can offset these costs, resulting in significant savings over time. In Acumatica, this surcharge is automatically applied to each transaction, and the corresponding records are updated in real-time, reducing manual efforts and errors.
Explore how to customize surcharging in Acumatica.
Benefits of Surcharging in Acumatica
Enhances Profit Margins
By implementing surcharging in Acumatica, businesses can protect their profit margins from being eroded by credit card processing fees. Instead of absorbing these costs, businesses can pass them on to customers who choose to pay with credit cards. This strategy helps maintain healthy profit margins without the need to increase prices for all customers, which could potentially drive them away.
Integrating surcharging with Acumatica ensures that these fees are applied consistently and accurately, allowing businesses to focus on growth rather than worrying about shrinking margins due to transaction fees.
Improves Cash Flow
Surcharging can have a positive impact on cash flow by reducing the financial burden of credit card processing fees. With surcharging, businesses receive the full amount of the sale, rather than a reduced amount after fees are deducted. This improved cash flow can be reinvested into the business, helping to fund operations, pay down debt, or invest in growth opportunities.
Acumatica’s payment integration simplifies this process by automatically applying surcharges and updating financial records in real time. This automation ensures that businesses always have a clear picture of their cash flow, enabling better financial planning and decision-making.
Encourages Alternative Payment Methods
When customers are aware of surcharges on credit card payments, they may be incentivized to choose alternative payment methods, such as debit cards, ACH transfers, or even cash. These alternatives often come with lower or no processing fees, further reducing transaction costs for the business. By encouraging customers to use these methods, businesses can save on fees while still providing flexible payment options.
Acumatica’s integrated payment system can easily accommodate a variety of payment methods, ensuring that customers have multiple options at checkout. This flexibility enhances the customer experience while helping businesses manage transaction costs more effectively.
Simplifies Compliance
Surcharging is subject to various regulations, and non-compliance can result in penalties. Acumatica’s payment integration ensures that surcharging practices are compliant with all applicable laws. For example, Acumatica can automatically apply surcharges only to credit card transactions and ensure that fees do not exceed legal limits.
This compliance automation reduces the risk of costly fines and helps businesses navigate the complex landscape of payment regulations with confidence. By using Acumatica’s integrated system, businesses can focus on their operations, knowing that their surcharging practices are compliant and transparent.
Increases Transparency with Customers
Transparency is key to maintaining trust with customers. By clearly communicating surcharges at the point of sale, businesses can ensure that customers understand the additional costs associated with their payment method. Acumatica’s integrated payment system can automatically display surcharges on invoices and receipts, making the process transparent for both the business and the customer.
This transparency reduces the likelihood of disputes and enhances the customer experience. When customers see that surcharges are applied fairly and consistently, they are more likely to accept them, which in turn helps the business maintain its pricing structure.
Reduces Administrative Burden
Manually calculating and applying surcharges can be time-consuming and prone to errors. Acumatica’s payment integration automates this process, reducing the administrative burden on your staff. Once surcharging rules are set up, the system takes care of the rest, ensuring that surcharges are applied correctly every time.
This automation frees up your team to focus on other important tasks, such as customer service and sales, rather than dealing with the complexities of payment processing. The reduction in manual effort also decreases the likelihood of errors, further enhancing operational efficiency.
Supports Business Growth
As businesses grow, the volume of transactions they process increases, making surcharging an even more valuable tool for managing costs. Acumatica’s scalable payment integration ensures that surcharging remains effective as transaction volumes rise. The system can handle large volumes of transactions without compromising accuracy or efficiency, making it an ideal solution for growing businesses.
By implementing surcharging through Acumatica, businesses can reduce transaction costs and allocate resources toward expansion and development. This strategic approach to cost management supports long-term growth and profitability.
Conclusion
If your business is ready to reduce transaction costs through strategic surcharging in Acumatica, Paygration can help you set up the payment integration you need. By incorporating surcharging into your payment processes, you can protect your profit margins and streamline your financial operations.
If you’re ready to get started with surcharging to reduce your credit card processing costs in Acumatica, call us at 866-949-7267 or click the link below to sign up for a free demo with one of our experts.
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