Card Fee Impact Calculator for Dental Practices
Dental practices don't collect tips, but they do collect large card payments for crowns, implants, and ortho plans, and every one of them carries a processing fee. Set the tip field to 0% and this calculator shows what card fees cost your dental practice per patient payment, per month, per year, and per location.
Your fee impact
Note on method: one blended effective rate is applied to both the tip and the pre-tip portion of each check. Fixed per-transaction fees are charged once per transaction regardless of the tip, so if your statement includes significant per-item fees, fees on tips may be slightly overstated and fees on the pre-tip portion slightly understated.
Estimates are based on published industry averages and are not a quote. Actual rates depend on card mix, ticket size, industry, and underwriting.
Estimates are based on published industry averages and are not a quote. Actual rates depend on card mix, ticket size, industry, and underwriting.
A payments specialist can price your actual statement in dollars so you can compare effective rates side by side. No obligation.
How this works: the math and the assumptions
Every figure comes from your inputs and the assumptions listed below. S is monthly card sales including tips, C is the average pre-tip check, t is your average tip as a decimal, r is your effective rate, and L is your number of locations.
- Charged amount per check = C × (1 + t)
- Pre-tip card sales = S ÷ (1 + t); monthly card tips = S × t ÷ (1 + t)
- Estimated card checks per month = S ÷ (C × (1 + t))
- Estimated monthly card fees = S × r; annual = monthly × 12
- Monthly fees on tips = monthly card tips × r; annual = monthly × 12
- Share of fees paid on tips = t ÷ (1 + t)
- Fee cost per check = C × (1 + t) × r, split into C × r (pre-tip) and C × t × r (tip)
- Card fees as a percent of pre-tip sales = r × (1 + t)
Assumptions
How Dental Practices Should Fill In This Calculator
This tool was originally built for restaurants, so a few fields need translating. Enter 0 for average tip. Use your total monthly card collections for monthly card sales, including front-desk, phone, patient-portal, and recurring payment-plan charges. Use your average card payment per patient visit or transaction as the average check before tip. For restaurant type, pick any option; it only controls which guide section appears first and does not change the math.
Enter your own effective rate if you can. If you leave it blank, the tool uses an assumed 2.75% restaurant industry average, which is not a dental figure. To find your actual rate, divide total processing fees on last month's statement by total card volume processed. Check two or three months, because fees can shift with card mix.
With tips at 0%, the tip-related outputs read zero and the fees-on-tips share disappears. What remains is useful to a dental practice: estimated card transactions per month, monthly and annual fees, fee cost per patient payment, and, in the full report, a per-location breakdown and a rate sensitivity table.
What Makes Card Fees Different for Dental Practices
Ticket size varies widely. A cleaning copay and a multi-implant case can sit in the same month's volume, so a single average payment hides a lot. Large single payments carry large single fees, which is why the fee cost per patient payment figure is worth watching.
Card mix matters. Many dental patients pay with HSA or FSA cards, rewards credit cards, and standard debit cards, and these can price differently depending on your agreement. Card-not-present payments, such as balances paid over the phone, through a patient portal, or by text-to-pay link, often cost more than card-present payments at the front desk. If a large share of your collections happen after the visit, that can raise your blended rate.
Recurring billing is common: orthodontic payment plans, in-house membership plans, and stored cards for balances after insurance processes the claim. Refunds are also routine when an insurer pays more than estimated. Depending on your processing agreement, the original fee may not be returned when you refund a patient, so frequent overpayment refunds quietly add cost.
Timing shifts too. Many practices see patient responsibility change as deductibles reset early in the year and as patients use remaining benefits late in the year. Run the calculator with a slow month and a busy month rather than a single snapshot.
Worked Example for a Hypothetical Dental Practice
Hypothetical numbers for illustration only: a two-location dental practice collects $60,000 a month on cards, the average card payment is $250, tips are 0%, and the entered effective rate is 2.90%.
Results: about 240 card payments per month, estimated monthly card fees of $1,740, and estimated annual card fees of $20,880. Fee cost per patient payment is $7.25, and card fees equal 2.90% of collections. Fees on tips are $0.
In the full report, assuming volume is split equally, each location processes about $30,000 and 120 payments a month, with roughly $870 in monthly fees. Each 0.25 percentage-point change in effective rate is worth about $1,800 a year for the practice, or $900 per location. Compared with the assumed 2.75% average, this practice would pay about $1,080 more per year; that is a comparison to an assumption, not a quote.
Estimates are based on published industry averages and are not a quote. Actual rates depend on card mix, ticket size, industry, and underwriting.
Junk Fees and What a Good Result Looks Like for Dental Practices
The calculator works from one blended rate, so it will not separate out line items. Look on your statement for PCI non-compliance fees, monthly minimums, statement or batch fees, annual fees, gateway or practice management software integration fees, and non-qualified surcharges if you are on tiered pricing. These all inflate your effective rate.
A good result is not a specific number. It is knowing your true effective rate, knowing what each 0.25 point is worth to your practice in dollars, and being able to explain every line on your statement. If your rate is higher than you expected, the sensitivity table shows how much is at stake before you call anyone.
If you are considering passing card costs to patients through a surcharge or cash discount, rules vary by card brand and by state, and debit and HSA cards may be treated differently. Confirm with the card brands and your state before making changes. To review your statement with someone, talk to a payments specialist at https://touchsuite.com/contact.
Frequently asked questions
We don't take tips. Is this calculator still useful for a dental practice?
Yes. Enter 0% for tips and the tool becomes a straightforward card fee calculator: transactions per month, monthly and annual fees, fee cost per patient payment, and, in the full report, per-location figures and a rate sensitivity table.
Do HSA and FSA card payments cost my practice more or less than regular cards?
It depends on how those cards are categorized and on your pricing agreement. Pull a statement and look at how HSA and FSA transactions are priced compared with other debit and credit transactions. The calculator uses one blended rate, so it shows the combined effect rather than per-card pricing.
Should I include orthodontic payment plans and membership plan charges in monthly card sales?
Yes. Include every card charge that runs through your processor, including recurring ortho installments, membership plan dues, and balances paid after insurance. Leaving them out will understate your fees.
We refund overpayments when insurance pays more than estimated. Does that affect my fees?
It can. Depending on your agreement, the original processing fee may not be returned when you refund a patient, so a practice with frequent overpayment refunds may pay fees on money it never keeps. The calculator does not model refunds, so review your statement for that cost separately.
How do I compare locations if one office does far more large-case work than the other?
The per-location breakdown assumes volume is split equally. If your offices differ a lot, run the calculator separately for each location using its own card volume, average payment, and effective rate for a more accurate view.