Payments & POS

Make it easy to pay you

Every additional step or option between 'I want to pay you' and 'you have been paid' costs you cash flow. The cheapest payment option is rarely the best one if it adds friction; the best payment option is the one that gets you paid fastest, with the least chasing, at a fee you can absorb in your pricing.

What modern payment options offer

• Card readers — Square, Tyro, Smartpay for in-person, tap-to-pay on phone.
• Online payment links — embedded in invoices via Xero, Stripe, or your job management tool.
• Direct debit — for recurring customers and retainers.
• BPAY — for customers who prefer it, especially larger commercial clients.
• Buy now, pay later — for some retail and consumer services, with mixed implications for margin.

Fees are negotiable, sort of

Card processing fees are often presented as fixed but are usually negotiable above certain volumes. Once you process more than $10,000 a month in card payments, it is worth asking your provider for a better rate. If they say no, get a competing quote — sometimes the existence of the alternative produces the negotiation that the request itself did not.

Surcharge thoughtfully

You are legally allowed to pass on payment processing costs as a surcharge. Whether you should is a strategic choice. Surcharging is more accepted in some industries (trades, hospitality) than others (professional services). The simplest rule: if surcharging is unusual in your sector, build the cost into your prices instead — customers respond better to the higher headline price than to a smaller surcharge at the end.

Reconcile, every week

Payment processing produces a steady stream of small fees, refunds, and transfers that quietly distort the picture if not reconciled regularly. A weekly reconciliation — usually automated through Xero or MYOB if set up properly — keeps the books clean and surfaces any unusual activity early. This is one of the more reliable areas where small fraud can hide for months if left unchecked.