Not only does MaterioPay offer competitive rates for accepting online payments, we also provide a variety of options for you to cover the associated costs. These options include:
Adding a client-facing "Platform Fee" onto each invoice when you bill your client.
Adding a project-level "Administrative Fee" to be applied on each invoice.
Incorporating the cost of online payments into your standard markup.
You may consider a variety of factors when deciding which option is best for your business, including how you want to position your firm's services when communicating with clients. We recommend working with a CPA, business coach, or other knowledgeable professional to decide which approach works best for your business.
No matter how you choose to cover your costs, Materio's QuickBooks integration syncs all the details into QuickBooks and fully automates your reconciliation process.
1. Adding Client-Facing "Platform Fees" to Invoices
This feature is coming September 1st, 2025!
Materio allows you to optionally add a client-facing "Platform Fee" onto any invoice where MaterioPay is enabled, to cover the cost of convenient and secure online billing for your project. By default the added platform fees exactly cover your costs:
To turn off client-facing platform fees entirely and cover the cost of online payments via other means, simply uncheck the toggles next to the platform fee options:
Platform fees can be customized per payment method to help cover the cost of secure online billing infrastructure, and you are free to charge your clients a different rate from what MaterioPay charges you. For instance, in the following example:
MaterioPay charges you 3.65%
You charge your client 3.00%
You receive payment proceeds less the 0.65% difference, so be sure your margins account for that difference.
Platform fees are clearly displayed to your client at checkout both before they initiate the payment as well as on the email receipt they receive afterwards:
2. Adding a Project-Level "Administrative Fee"
An alternative option for covering the cost of accepting online payments is to use a project-level fee. You agree to this fee together with your client at the start of the project.
It is your choice how to name and describe the fee, and this will depend on how you position your services. Typical names include "Administrative fee", "Service fee", "Technology fee", etc., and typical descriptions include mention of covering "administrative costs, online payments, and modern software tools."
To add a project-level fee, navigate to the project, click to open the bottom dock in the scope of work, then click "Edit fees."
Click "Add fee" to add a new project-level fee, then enter the fee name, your chosen rate (typically 5% or lower), and any sales tax rates that apply, then click "Save." It should look like the below image when you have finished. Review and click "Save Changes" to finalize the fee.
Materio will automatically add the fee onto all future project invoices:
And will clearly display the fee to the client at checkout:
3. Covering Costs Using Standard Markup
The third and simplest option for covering the cost of online payments is simply to bake these costs into the standard markup that you apply to all of your services. In this setup, you set your markup to a rate that allows you to absorb these costs similarly to any other overhead expense at your business. Work with your CPA or professional business coach to determine the exact markup rate you need to charge to ensure you are covered.
When you choose to cover online payment costs by incorporating them into your markup, there is no special display or callout to clients at checkout.
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Have questions? Chat with us from your project dashboard or email us at support@materio.co.