Payment processing fees can feel like a black box. You know money is coming out, but the statement is packed with abbreviations, rate tiers, and line items that do not always make sense. The good news is that you do not need to be a payment expert to audit your fees. You just need a method.
A solid audit helps you spot hidden costs, catch billing mistakes, and understand what you are truly paying in 2026. At No Merchant Service Fees, we’re here to help Jacksonville business owners learn the ropes, flesh out fees, and keep the profits flowing. Here’s our step-by-step guide!
Gather the Right Documents Before You Start
Start by collecting the last three to six months of merchant statements. If you use more than one payment platform, pull statements for each one. This includes your point of sale provider, online payment gateway, invoicing platform, or any separate terminals your business uses.
Next, find your merchant processing agreement if you have it. Many Florida businesses do not, and that is okay. A statement audit still reveals most of what you need. If you can access your monthly processing summary inside your dashboard, download that too so you can compare it to your statement.
Once everything is in one place, you can start looking for patterns instead of guessing.
Step 1: Identify Your Effective Rate
Your effective rate is the easiest way to understand what you are truly paying. It is your total fees divided by your total processed volume.
To calculate it, take the total fees on your statement for the month and divide by the total sales volume. Then multiply by 100.
If you processed $25,000 and paid $1,050 in total fees, your effective rate is 4.2 percent.
This number matters because it cuts through confusing pricing models. It reflects your real cost after interchange, assessments, and markup.
Step 2: Separate the Types of Fees You Are Being Charged
Merchant statements typically include three broad categories of fees. When you separate them, you can see where the biggest opportunities are.
Interchange fees are set by card networks and vary by card type and transaction method. You usually cannot eliminate interchange, but you can influence it through the way you accept payments.
Assessments are also network-related and are typically smaller.
Processor markup is where many businesses overpay. This includes percentage markups, per transaction markups, monthly fees, and a long list of add-ons.
As you scan your statement, look for recurring charges like statement fees, PCI fees, monthly minimums, batch fees, and equipment fees. These can quietly raise costs even when your sales volume dips.
Step 3: Check for Tiered Pricing and Downgrades
If your statement includes terms like qualified, mid-qualified, or non-qualified, your Jax business may be on tiered pricing. This model can make it difficult to predict costs and often results in higher rates when transactions do not meet strict criteria.
Downgrades are another red flag. These happen when transactions are processed in a way that triggers higher pricing, such as keyed-in payments, missing address verification data, or delayed batch settlement.
If you see frequent mid or non-qualified charges, it is worth investigating why. Often, the fix is a simple change in process or payment setup.
Step 4: Review Your Refunds, Chargebacks, and Disputes
Chargebacks and disputes can increase your overall processing costs, even if they are rare. Look for line items labeled dispute fee, chargeback fee, retrieval request, or representment.
Also, review your refund activity. Refunds typically do not reverse interchange fees, which means you can lose money even when you do the right thing for a customer.
If refunds are common in your business, it may be worth tightening policies or adjusting product descriptions and customer expectations to reduce returns.
Step 5: Compare Card Present vs Card Not Present Costs
If you accept both in-person and online payments, separate those totals and compare the fee impact. Card-not-present transactions often carry higher interchange rates due to increased fraud risk.
If your online costs are significantly higher, it may be time to upgrade your fraud tools, ensure your checkout uses verification options, and confirm your gateway settings are optimized.
Small changes in e-commerce configuration can reduce costly risk-based pricing and disputes.
Step 6: Look for Junk Fees and Billing Errors
Some fees add little or no value. Others may be mistakes.
Watch for duplicate monthly fees, unexpected rate increases, equipment lease charges you did not approve, or add-ons you never requested. If your pricing model is not transparent, it becomes easier for these charges to blend into the background.
One of the biggest benefits of an audit is catching what should not be there at all.
Step 7: Create a Simple One-Page Audit Summary
Once you have reviewed your statements, summarize your findings on one page.
Include your average monthly volume, average total monthly fees, effective rate range, top recurring monthly charges, and any red flags such as downgrades, tiered pricing, or frequent chargeback fees.
This summary makes it much easier to compare providers or negotiate better terms because you can speak clearly about what you are paying now.
What to Do After Your Audit
A proper fee audit gives you options. You may discover you can reduce costs through better payment acceptance methods, equipment upgrades, compliant cash discount programs, or switching to a more transparent pricing model.
If you want a second set of eyes on your statements, No Merchant Service Fees can review your current setup, explain what you are paying in plain language, and help identify ways to reduce costs in 2026 without disrupting the customer experience.
Contact No Merchant Service Fees in North Florida to request a fee audit review and start keeping more of what you earn.
