How do I calculate payment processor fees?

Multiply the amount you charged by your processor's percentage fee, then add any fixed per-transaction fee. That total is what the processor keeps. Subtract it from the amount charged to find what actually lands in your account. The calculator above does this instantly — just enter your numbers.

What is a typical payment processing fee?

There's no single rate that applies everywhere — it depends on your processor, your plan, the card type, and the country and currency involved. Many processors structure pricing around a percentage plus a small fixed fee per transaction (fees like a 2.9% + $0.30 structure are common shapes you'll see quoted), but you should always check your own provider's current pricing rather than assume a number.

Why did I receive less than I invoiced?

The gap between what you charge and what you receive is the processor's fee — a percentage of the transaction plus, often, a small flat fee. On a $1,000 charge with a 2.9% + $0.30 fee structure, the fee comes to $29.30, leaving you with $970.70. The calculator shows this breakdown so the shortfall isn't a mystery.

Does the fixed fee matter much on larger invoices?

Less than you'd think, proportionally. A flat fee like $0.30 barely moves the effective rate on a $1,000 invoice, but it has an outsized effect on small charges — a $10 payment with the same $0.30 fixed fee plus a percentage cut loses a much bigger share to fees than a $1,000 one. This is why processing lots of small transactions can quietly erode margin.

Should I build processor fees into my prices?

Many freelancers and small businesses do, especially if a large share of their revenue moves through cards or online payment links. Run a few of your typical invoice amounts through the calculator to see your effective fee rate, then decide whether to absorb it, build it into your rates, or pass it on where your processor's terms and local rules allow.

Payment Processor Fee Calculator

Calculate the net amount you'll actually receive after payment processor fees. Enter the charge, fee rate and fixed fee — see the math.

When a client pays an invoice by card or through an online payment link, the amount that lands in your account is almost never the amount you charged. Payment processors take a cut — usually a percentage of the transaction plus a small fixed fee — before the rest reaches you. This page explains exactly how that fee is calculated and shows a worked example so you can see precisely where the money goes. This is plain arithmetic: multiply, add, subtract. No specialist knowledge required, just the numbers your own processor quotes you.

How the payment processor fee is calculated

The total fee on a transaction has two parts: a percentage of the amount charged, and a fixed fee added on top. The formula is:

Fee = (Amount charged × Processor fee %) + Fixed fee

Net received = Amount charged − Fee

Once you know the fee, you can also express it as a single effective rate — useful for comparing processors or transaction sizes on a like-for-like basis:

Effective fee rate % = (Fee ÷ Amount charged) × 100

The percentage component scales with the size of the charge — a bigger invoice means a bigger dollar fee, even though the percentage stays the same. The fixed fee doesn’t scale at all; it’s the same dollar amount whether you charge $10 or $10,000. That’s why the effective fee rate is always a little higher than the quoted percentage alone — the fixed fee pushes it up, and it pushes it up more on smaller transactions.

A worked example

Say you invoice a client for $1,000. Your payment processor charges fees like a 2.9% rate plus a $0.30 fixed fee per transaction — a common shape for online card payments, though you should confirm the actual numbers with your own provider.

First, the percentage portion: $1,000 × 2.9% = $29.00.

Add the fixed fee: $29.00 + $0.30 = $29.30 total fee.

Subtract that from the amount charged: $1,000 − $29.30 = $970.70 net received.

Finally, the effective fee rate: $29.30 ÷ $1,000 × 100 = 2.93% — slightly above the quoted 2.9%, because of the added $0.30.

Plug these same figures into the calculator above and you’ll see the identical breakdown: a $29.30 fee, $970.70 net, and a 2.93% effective rate.

The mistake: assuming the percentage is the whole fee

It’s easy to read “2.9%” and assume that’s the entire cost of accepting a payment, then be surprised when the deposited amount is a little lower than expected. The fixed fee is the part people forget, and on small transactions it matters a lot. Charge $20 instead of $1,000 at the same 2.9% + $0.30 structure, and the fee is $0.58 + $0.30 = $0.88 — an effective rate of 4.4%, well above the headline 2.9%. The percentage tells you part of the story; the fixed fee tells you the rest, and the two combined are what actually leaves your account.

What else affects the fee you actually pay

The numbers above are illustrative only. Real processor pricing varies by:

Processor and plan. Different providers, and different pricing tiers within the same provider, quote different percentages and fixed fees.
Card type and entry method. Premium rewards cards, international cards, and manually-keyed transactions often cost more to process than a standard domestic card tapped or swiped in person.
Country and currency. Cross-border payments and currency conversion frequently carry additional fees on top of the base rate.
Payout speed and chargebacks. Instant payouts, currency conversion, and disputed or refunded transactions can carry separate charges not captured by a simple percentage-plus-fixed formula.

Because of this variation, treat any rate you enter here as your own estimate, built from your processor’s published or quoted pricing — not a number this tool asserts on your behalf. SoloRateCalc is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by any payment processor; any company names used above are for illustration only, and all trademarks belong to their respective owners.

Use the calculator at the top of this page with your actual processor’s rate and fixed fee to see exactly what you’ll net on any invoice amount, and to compare how the effective rate shifts across different transaction sizes.