Payment Options in the Field: Card, ACH and What They Cost You

4 payment methods are available on a job and each trades cost against speed in a different direction. The cheapest method is the slowest, which makes the real question how many days of delay a percentage point is worth to you.

The short version

Taking payment on site is discussed as though the only variable is the processing fee. It is not.

What actually differs between methods is when the money arrives, how much administration each creates, and whether the customer can pay without asking somebody else first.

The third of those matters more in commercial foodservice than in residential work, because the person standing in the kitchen frequently cannot authorize anything.

The 4 methods and what each costs

Method	Cost shape	Speed	Best for
Card, tapped or keyed on site	Percentage per transaction	Days	Independents, smaller repairs
Bank transfer or ACH	Small flat fee or none	Days, once initiated	Larger invoices, regular customers
Invoice on terms	Free, and it carries credit risk	Weeks	Groups and chains, where it is required
Stored card on file	Percentage, and it removes the chase	Immediate on completion	Contract customers, recurring work

The percentage on card looks like the expensive option and frequently is not, once the cost of chasing an invoice for six weeks is counted against it.

The processing fee is not the comparison

The comparison is the fee against the cost of waiting.

An invoice paid in six weeks instead of on the day has cost you the use of that money for six weeks, plus whoever chased it, plus the share that needs chasing twice.

Set against a card fee of a couple of percent, the arithmetic frequently favors the card on smaller jobs, and the balance shifts as the invoice value rises.

Which produces a sensible rule rather than a single policy: card or transfer on site below a threshold you choose, terms above it for customers who have earned them.

The threshold is a business decision and having one written down beats deciding per job, which is what most service companies do now.

The authorization problem is specific to this trade

And it defeats on-site payment more often than cost does.

A kitchen manager watching a technician finish a repair frequently cannot approve a payment. The owner is elsewhere, the group has a procurement route, or the site simply has no authority to spend.

So the question to establish per customer is not how they prefer to pay, it is who is allowed to approve and up to what value. That is a two-line fact per account and it removes most on-site friction.

Where the answer is that nobody on site can authorize anything, on-site payment is not a policy that will ever work there and the effort belongs in fast invoicing instead.

Cards on file are the underused option

Particularly for contract customers.

A customer who has authorized a card for their agreement can also be charged for the small repairs, which removes the entire invoice-and-chase cycle on the work that is least worth chasing.

It needs a clear authorization, a stated rule about what will be charged without further approval, and a receipt every time. Handled loosely it damages trust quickly.

Handled properly it is the single largest reduction in administration available on small jobs, because the jobs that consume the most collection effort per dollar are always the smallest ones.

What terms actually cost when you offer them

Three costs, and only the first is usually considered.

The delay itself, which is a financing cost whether or not it appears as one.

The chasing, which is somebody's time every week and is rarely attributed to the customers who cause it.

And bad debt, which in restaurant work is a real risk. Restaurants close, and an unpaid invoice from a closed site is not recoverable in practice.

Offering terms is a credit decision rather than a service one, and it deserves the same thought as any other credit decision, particularly with a new customer whose site you have attended once.

4 things that speed up payment more than the method does

1. Invoice the same day. An invoice sent a week later is paid a week later, and often longer
2. Get the approval reference at the time, particularly for chains where an invoice without one is rejected
3. Name the equipment on the invoice, so an approver can recognize the work without calling anybody
4. Send to the person who pays, not to whoever was on site

The first outperforms every change of payment method. Most delay in this trade is created between the work finishing and the invoice being issued rather than between the invoice and the payment.

Roopairs holds jobs against equipment records with a QuickBooks integration that syncs on Online or Desktop, which is what lets an invoice leave on the day of the work rather than at the end of the week.

What to measure

Two figures, and they point at different fixes.

Days from work completed to invoice issued, which is entirely within your control and is usually the larger of the two.

And days from invoice to payment, split by customer type. Chains and independents behave differently and averaging them hides which one is the problem.

Where the first figure is more than a couple of days, no change of payment method will make much difference, and that is worth knowing before signing up to a percentage.

The pain starts around your third or fourth technician, which is where invoicing stops happening as part of somebody's evening and starts needing to happen on site.

Roopairs runs a product tour where you can see jobs, equipment records and the QuickBooks sync behind the invoice.

What service companies in the trade say

“The estimate and invoice reminders are a lifesaver, ensuring I stay on top of payments from my customers without a hassle.” — Lester Altman

Also worth reading

• Payments, Deposits and a Faster Month End
• Financing Growth in a Service Business
• Which field service management software do I choose

Frequently asked questions

What payment options work in the field?

Card on site, bank transfer or ACH, invoice on terms, and a stored card on file. Each trades cost against speed differently, and the cheapest method is the slowest.

Is the card processing fee too expensive?

Compare it with the cost of waiting rather than with zero. An invoice paid in six weeks costs you the use of the money plus whoever chased it, which frequently exceeds a couple of percent on smaller jobs.

Why does on-site payment often fail in commercial kitchens?

Authorization. The person watching the repair frequently cannot approve a payment. Establish per customer who can authorize and up to what value, which is two lines per account.

What is the underused option?

A card on file for contract customers, extended to small repairs. It removes the invoice-and-chase cycle on the jobs that consume the most collection effort per dollar, provided the authorization is explicit.

What do payment terms cost?

The delay as a financing cost, the chasing as somebody's weekly time, and bad debt. Restaurants close, and an unpaid invoice from a closed site is not recoverable in practice.

What speeds up payment most?

Invoicing the same day. Most delay is created between the work finishing and the invoice being issued, not between the invoice and the payment, and no payment method fixes that.