Hidden Fee Finder for Contractors and Home Services

How this works: the assumptions behind your numbers

Every number above comes from the totals you enter plus the assumptions below. Assumptions are estimates, not verified rates.

• Industry average effective rate by segment: retail 2.55%, restaurant 2.75%, ecommerce 3.15%, services 2.90%, healthcare 2.65%, b2b 2.80%, high_risk 4.25%. Source: TouchSuite pricing assumptions file (estimates only; replace with verified figures before launch).
• Comparison tolerance band: ±0.25 percentage points counts as 'close to average'. Source: Tool design assumption to avoid flagging trivial differences.
• Last month is representative: Monthly fee amounts are multiplied by 12 to annualize. Source: Tool design assumption; seasonal businesses should treat annual figures as rough.
• Annual fee frequency: Annual fee entered as a once-a-year amount, multiplied by 1. Source: Tool design assumption.
• Early termination fee: Treated as a one-time cost, not annualized. Source: Tool design assumption.
• Fee classification tags: Interchange and card brand fees tagged 'typically pass-through'; listed account-level fees tagged 'typically processor-set'. Source: General industry structure; actual billing varies by processor and contract, so tags read 'typically'.
• Sanity check bounds: Warn if effective rate is above 15% or below 0.5%. Source: Tool design assumption to catch data-entry mistakes.

Estimates are based on published industry averages and are not a quote. Actual rates depend on card mix, ticket size, industry, and underwriting.

Why contractor and home services statements are harder to read

A plumbing, HVAC, roofing, or remodeling business rarely looks like a typical card merchant. Tickets are large, counts are low, and payments arrive in several forms: a deposit to book the job, a progress payment mid-project, and a final balance at completion. Some are tapped or dipped on a mobile reader in the truck, some are keyed into a virtual terminal when a homeowner calls the office, and some come through a payment link on an emailed invoice.

That mix matters. Cards keyed in or paid online are card-not-present transactions, which generally carry higher interchange than chip or tap payments. Commercial jobs add another layer: property managers and general contractors often pay with business or purchasing cards, which also tend to cost more to accept. If your statement is tiered, many of these transactions can land in the Mid-Qualified or Non-Qualified buckets, where the markup is hardest to see.

Because your tickets are large, the per-transaction fee is a small part of your cost. The percentage you pay on each dollar is what drives your bill, which is why the effective rate this tool calculates is the number to watch.

Worked example: a hypothetical HVAC contractor

These numbers are hypothetical and chosen only to show how the tool works. Imagine an HVAC company that processed $62,000 in card payments last month across 48 transactions and paid $2,170 in total fees. Its effective rate is $2,170 / $62,000 = 3.50%. Its average ticket is $1,291.67, and its cost per transaction is $45.21. Using the Professional services preset, the industry average (assumption) is 2.90%, so the gap is 0.60 percentage points, and the tool shows 'Above the industry average.' If that month were representative, the annual cost above the assumed average would be about 0.006 x $62,000 x 12 = $4,464, and annual fees overall would be about $26,040. Estimates are based on published industry averages and are not a quote. Actual rates depend on card mix, ticket size, industry, and underwriting.

Now suppose the same company pays $95 a month in fixed charges: a statement fee, a monthly service fee, and a PCI program fee. In that $62,000 month, those fixed charges add about 0.15 points to the effective rate. In a slow $15,000 shoulder-season month, the same $95 adds about 0.63 points. The fees did not change; the volume did. Estimates are based on published industry averages and are not a quote. Actual rates depend on card mix, ticket size, industry, and underwriting.

The takeaway for a seasonal trade: run the tool on both a busy month and a slow month. If your rate swings sharply, fixed fees and monthly minimums are likely the cause, and those are typically processor-set, which means they are negotiable questions rather than fixed costs.

Fees contractors and home services businesses should look for

Monthly minimum fees hit seasonal trades hardest. A landscaper, pool service, or snow removal company may sail past the minimum in peak months and then pay a top-up charge when work slows. If you see a minimum processing fee on a winter or summer statement, tick it.

Equipment leases are another common one. A mobile reader or countertop terminal on a multi-year lease can cost far more over the contract than the hardware itself. Leases and early termination fees are tagged as contract terms in the results, so you can see them separately from card costs before deciding whether switching is worth it.

Also watch for non-qualified surcharges on keyed-in sales, gateway fees if you send invoice payment links or use field service software, and chargeback or retrieval fees. Disputes in home services often come from disagreements over work quality, a canceled job after a deposit, or a homeowner not recognizing your business name on their card statement. Each one can trigger a fee whether or not you win.

What a good result looks like for contractors and home services

A healthy result is an effective rate close to or below the industry average (assumption) for the preset you pick, a short list of processor-set fees, and no surprises like PCI non-compliance charges you can clear by completing a questionnaire. If your pricing is interchange-plus and you enter your interchange and card brand totals, the gated breakdown estimates how much of your bill is markup, which is the part a processor actually controls.

If your rate is above average, do not assume you are overpaying until you account for your mix. A business that keys in most payments or serves mostly commercial accounts will naturally run higher than one that taps cards in person. The questions list in the full report helps you ask your processor about each line, and the savings calculator link carries your volume and transaction count over so you can compare pricing models. When you want a second set of eyes, talk to a payments specialist.

Frequently asked questions