Processor Switch Break-Even Planner for Wholesale Distributors
Wholesale distributors often run large invoices, phone orders, and corporate cards, so a small change in your rate can matter more than any single exit fee. Enter your contract, lease, and statement numbers to see your break-even month before you commit to a switch.
Your break-even
One more number needed. Enter your expected monthly savings, or your average ticket size so we can estimate savings, to see your months to break even and net gain or loss.
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Your first 5 steps
- Find the termination clause in your merchant agreement (search 'termination', 'cancellation', 'liquidated damages', 'auto-renew') and note any notice period.
- Check your equipment lease end date and whether it is a separate, non-cancelable contract.
- Download your last 3 months of processing statements.
- List every integration that touches payments: POS, gateway, shopping cart, invoicing, recurring billing.
- Set a target cutover date and work backward from it.
If your lease is owed either way
Switch now or wait out your contract
24 months at a glance
- - - Cumulative cost if you stay —— Cumulative cost if you switch
A specialist can review your statement and agreement with you. This planner is not a quote.
Why the break-even math is different for wholesale distributors
A distributor's statement usually looks nothing like a retail shop's. Tickets are larger, many payments are keyed in from phone or email orders or paid through an invoice link, and a meaningful share of buyers pay with business, corporate, or purchasing cards. Those cards often carry higher interchange than consumer cards, and on a keyed transaction the processor may downgrade them further if the right data is not passed.
Because your tickets are large, per-transaction fees barely move your total. The percentage you pay on volume is what drives cost. That is also why the savings figure you enter matters more than the exit fee: on high volume, a modest rate difference can cover a termination fee quickly, and a vague quote can just as quickly overstate your savings.
If you leave Expected monthly savings blank, the tool estimates your new cost from your average ticket using a single B2B interchange assumption plus a markup and per-transaction fee. It is labeled 'Estimated savings (assumption-based)' for a reason: it cannot see your actual split between consumer and commercial cards, or whether your current setup sends Level 2 and Level 3 invoice data. A statement review is the only way to firm it up.
Worked example: a hypothetical wholesale distributor
All numbers here are hypothetical and chosen only to show how the planner works. Picture a food-service supply distributor processing $80,000 a month on cards and paying $2,400 a month in total processing fees. Its contract has a $495 early termination fee with 10 months left, it leases two countertop terminals at $79 a month with 18 months remaining, and it expects $300 in one-time costs to reconnect its invoicing software to a new gateway. A quote it received suggests $400 a month in savings.
Exit cost is $495 plus 18 x $79 ($1,422), or $1,917. Add the $300 setup cost and the total upfront cost is $2,217. At $400 a month, break-even is month 6, which the tool rates 'Likely pays off within a year.' The 12-month net is a $2,583 gain and the 24-month net is a $7,383 gain. The current effective rate is 3.00%, shown next to the 2.80% B2B industry average assumption.
The gated view adds two checks. If that lease is a separate non-cancelable contract owed either way, upfront cost drops to $795 and break-even moves to month 2. And because waiting out the remaining 10 months would forgo $4,000 in savings against a $495 fee, switching now comes out ahead by $3,505 in this example.
Estimates are based on published industry averages and are not a quote. Actual rates depend on card mix, ticket size, industry, and underwriting.
Fees and contract terms wholesale distributors should check before entering numbers
Pull your last three to six statements, not just one. Look for line items that tend to pile up on B2B accounts: 'non-qualified' or 'mid-qualified' surcharges on tiered pricing (commonly triggered by commercial cards and keyed transactions), PCI non-compliance fees, annual or semi-annual account fees, gateway and batch fees, and monthly minimums. Include all of them in Current total monthly processing cost, because the planner only works if that number is complete.
Seasonality matters for distributors. If you supply retailers ahead of the holidays, or landscaping and HVAC customers in spring and summer, a single month can overstate or understate your real average. Use a twelve-month average for volume and cost, and check whether your current contract charges a monthly minimum that bites during slow months.
Read the termination clause closely. Some contracts set a flat fee, others calculate a fee based on months remaining, and many renew automatically unless you give notice within a set window. Check the lease separately: it is often a different company with its own agreement, which is exactly why the planner shows both the 'lease counted as switching cost' and 'lease owed either way' views.
Operational details for wholesale distributors that affect a switch
Stored cards are the biggest practical risk. If repeat accounts have cards on file for standing orders or net-terms payments, those tokens live with your current gateway or processor. Check the box for saved cards or recurring billing and the gated checklist adds a token migration section, including what to ask your current provider before you give notice.
Plan for returns and credit memos. A refund for an order paid on your old account generally has to go back through that account, so many distributors keep it open, or at least confirm how refunds will be handled, until the return window on recent orders has passed. The same applies to deposits taken on large or custom orders that ship after the switch date.
If you are considering passing card costs to buyers or steering large invoices to ACH, model that separately. Surcharging and cash discount rules vary by card brand and by state, so confirm with the card brands and your state before changing your invoices. If you plan to move volume to ACH, lower both your card volume and current cost in the planner so the break-even reflects what will actually stay on cards.
A good result for a distributor is a break-even inside 12 months with a savings figure backed by a line-by-line statement review, not just a headline rate. Unlock the full breakdown, the 24-month chart, and a checklist tailored to your terminals, gateway, and cart, or talk to a payments specialist to have your statements reviewed.
Frequently asked questions
Should I enter my peak-season month or an average month?
Use a twelve-month average for both volume and cost. Distributors with seasonal swings can get a misleadingly fast break-even from a peak month or a slow one from an off-season month. If your current contract has a monthly minimum, note which months it applies in, since that cost will not show in an average.
Most of our buyers pay with corporate or purchasing cards. Does the estimate account for that?
Not precisely. If you leave savings blank, the estimate uses one B2B interchange assumption for all cards. Commercial cards can cost more, and keyed transactions without Level 2 or Level 3 invoice data may cost more still. Treat the estimate as a starting point and confirm with a statement review that breaks out your actual card mix.
What happens to the customer cards we keep on file for repeat orders?
Card tokens are usually tied to your current gateway or processor. Before giving notice, ask whether they will export your card data to a new PCI-compliant provider and how long that takes. Checking the saved cards box in the planner adds a migration section to your gated checklist so repeat accounts are not disrupted.
How do we refund a return on an order that was paid before we switched?
Refunds generally go back through the account that processed the original sale. Confirm with your current provider how long the old account can stay open for refunds and whether any fees apply, and time your cancellation around your return and credit-memo window.
We are thinking of moving large invoices to ACH. How do I reflect that in the planner?
The planner models card processing only. Reduce Monthly card volume and Current total monthly processing cost to reflect only what will stay on cards, then enter savings for that remaining volume. Running it both ways shows how much of your payoff depends on the switch itself versus the move to ACH.