Payment Gateway Fees can be passed on to your patients using this in built SimpleClinic feature. Please read the important notes below, as passing on fees has serious legal implications. 


On this page: 

  • Important Notes
  • Set up an online payment surcharge
  • Online payment surcharge calculation example
  • Adding a surcharge to an invoice for in person payments
  • Examples of surcharges appearing for clients
  • Bank Transfers


Important Notes: 

  • If you are already using Square or EziDebit to pass on fees to patients, you will need to disable these and ONLY use the option in SimpleClinic. Stripe does not currently offer this option.
  • Surcharges will not apply to any existing Billing Schedules (for invoices or programs) - these recurring payments will not be changed. A new Billing Schedule will need to be created if you want to start charging. 
  • Your clinic must be using the new modules for online patient invoices, online booking, workshops and programs for this to be available.  Please contact support@simpleclinic.net if you have not been upgraded. 
  • Surcharges will only be automatically applied for online payments - invoices, workshops, programs and online bookings - see the steps below if you need to charge fees for in person payments. 
  • Bank Deposits must not incur fees, you will need to advise your patient to pay the Nett Total amount on the emailed invoice if they choose to pay via bank transfer as this excludes the fee. 
  • Because not all payment gateways offer a way to pass on fees, this feature is being implemented through SimpleClinic as the clinic charging a surcharge. 
    • These fees will appear on your sales report because it is the clinic (as the merchant) charging the surcharge and NOT the payment gateway adding a surcharge. This means it has to appear in revenue reporting as revenue received, since that is what it is. The clinic is charging a fee to cover the fees that will be incurred from the payment gateway (Stripe or Square). 
    • The clinic must familiarise themselves with the guidelines of either the ACCC (Australia) or the Commerce Commission (NZ) related to surcharging. The ACCC has strict guidelines around surcharging, including but not limited to the below: 
      • The fee MUST appear on the Tax Invoice, Online Booking or Sales Page for Programs and Workshops.  
      • The fee MUST be justifiable
      • The fee MUST directly relate to the charge from the payment gateway and NOT include any internal costs.  i.e. the clinic will need to work out what their average transaction size is and base calculations on that.  Over charging a surcharge will result in fines from the ACCC if reported. Please see an example below. 




Set up an online surcharge 


The surcharge value set in this step will apply to all online credit card payments via invoices, workshops, programs and online bookings. 


1. Go to Business Setup -> Your Clinic -> Invoice Settings -> enter your surcharge amount into the 'Online Payment Surcharge' field -> Save. 


READ THE IMPORTANT NOTES ABOVE FIRST




Online payment surcharge example


Please refer to your schedule of fees from your payment gateway to work out your own calculation. 


READ THE IMPORTANT NOTES ABOVE FIRST


Based on a rough calculation on a $100 sale with a payment gateway fee of 1.7% + 0.30c -> an online payment surcharge of 2.1% would cover it. 


Please note that the 0.30c is a fixed amount which means the actual fee charged by your payment gateway will vary. 


For example: If your Initial Consultation is set for a sell price of $200, a surcharge of 2.1% = $4.20   (200 x 0.021) 


This is how it will show on your online booking page: 





Adding a surcharge to an invoice


If you need to take credit card payments in person, then you need to add a line item for the surcharge to the invoice as below. This applies to in person payments using Stripe or Square on your phone, reader or terminal, or using saved credit card details on a patient record. 


2. Create an inventory item called 'Credit Card Surcharge' as below -> set the Sell Price to be $1, this will be edited on each invoice (see step 3). 



3. Create an invoice ->  add product and service items as needed -> calculate the fee based on the total for the invoice -> add the Credit Card Surcharge inventory item (created in step 2) -> edit the Unit Price to reflect the fee -> take payment in person as per your normal procedures, or using saved credit card details. 






Examples of surcharges appearing for clients


Below are examples of surcharges appearing for clients:



Online Booking: this shows an example of a $200 consultation prepayment fee with a 2.1% surcharge 




Invoice sent to patient: this shows an example of a $63.49 product with a 2.1% surcharge 




Prescription Order: this shows an example of a $29.03 online prescription order with a 2.1% surcharge 




Programs: this shows an example of a $45 one off fee and a $50 weekly fee with a 2.1% surcharge 




Workshops: this shows an example of an $80 workshop fee with a 2.1% surcharge. 




Adding a surcharge to an invoice for in person payments: this shows an example of adding a 2.1% surcharge manually to an invoice before taking an in person payment (via any method). 




Bank Transfers


Bank Deposits must not incur fees, you will need to advise your patient to pay the Nett Total amount on the emailed invoice if they choose to pay via bank transfer as this excludes the fee.