Your POS applies a surcharge. Your bank statement shows what you actually paid in merchant fees. Most operators assume the two match. They don't.
The monthly reconciliation
- Pull your merchant statement and find the total fees paid (usually labelled "merchant service fee" or "card processing").
- Pull your POS report for surcharge revenue collected in the same period.
- Subtract fees paid from surcharge collected. The result should be zero or slightly positive.
What you'll find
If the number is negative (you paid more in fees than you collected), your surcharge rate is set too low — common when Amex or commercial card mix is high. A 0.5% gap on $80K monthly card volume is $400/month walking out the door. Adjust the surcharge or renegotiate the rate. Either way, the statement tells you exactly where you stand.