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What the calculation should answer
A defensible calculation answers four questions:
- How many dollars did the agency spend to accept cards during the period?
- What was the average cost for each in-scope settled transaction?
- What percentage of card revenue did those costs consume?
- Which card products, channels, contracts or fixed charges drove the result?
The answer is agency-specific. Transaction count and value, credit-versus-debit mix, rewards and commercial cards, card-present versus card-not-present channels, merchant category, contract terms and the agency’s acquiring arrangement all change the result. A federal benchmark is useful context, but it is not a forecast for a state, county, city or federal bureau.
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These are transparent calculation conventions, not a single government-wide accounting standard. Publish the period, definitions, included cost categories and reconciliation method with the result so another reviewer can reproduce it.
Step 1: Set the scope before collecting numbers
Choose the reporting period
Use a complete, consistently defined period, such as a fiscal year or 12 consecutive months. State whether the period is based on transaction date, settlement date, invoice date or the accounting period in which the agency recognizes the expense. Settlement-date reporting is often easiest to reconcile to processor deposits, but the agency should use the basis required by its policy.
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Define which payment products are included
Decide whether “card processing” means credit cards only or all payment cards, including debit, prepaid and commercial cards. Use the same scope in both the cost numerator and the revenue denominator. If debit and credit data are available separately, report them separately rather than hiding their different rates in one blended figure.
Define transaction and revenue rules
Specify whether the transaction count includes only settled sales or also authorizations, declines, reversals, refunds and chargebacks. State whether card revenue is gross settled sales or net of refunds, credits and chargebacks, and identify any payment methods excluded. A percentage is not meaningful unless readers know exactly what its denominator contains.
Step 2: Assemble the agency’s source records
Request records for the same period and legal entity covered by the calculation:
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- Monthly statements, fee reports and detailed transaction files.
- Settlement reports showing deposits, adjustments and the dates funds were received.
- Invoices for gateways, software, terminals, equipment rental and related services.
- Chargeback, dispute, fraud and retrieval records.
- General-ledger extracts and internal cost records used by the agency’s accounting methodology.
- Volume, channel and card-type reports that identify card-present, card-not-present, credit, debit, rewards and commercial transactions where available.
Do not infer a fee from a marketing rate. The contract and statement should establish whether a charge is a pass-through, a markup, a fixed amount, a minimum or a separate invoice.
Which costs belong in total processing cost?
Build a cost register that maps each statement or invoice line to a category. The categories below cover the charges that commonly determine an agency’s all-in cost.
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| Cost category | What to capture | Typical evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Interchange | Amounts paid to issuing institutions, often varying by card type, channel, merchant category and transaction qualification. | Interchange detail, processor statement or pass-through schedule. |
| Network assessments and other network charges | Fees charged for use of the card network, including any volume- or transaction-based network items shown on the statement. | Network fee detail and contract schedule. |
| Processor or acquirer markup | The provider’s percentage markup, per-transaction charge and other acquiring or processing charges. | Contract pricing page and monthly statement. |
| Authorization, settlement and gateway charges | Per-authorization, batch, settlement, gateway, tokenization or software charges, including fees on transactions that do not settle when the contract bills them. | Fee report, gateway invoice and transaction detail. |
| Fixed account charges | Monthly account fees, annual fees, statement fees, PCI or compliance fees, minimums and other recurring commitments. | Invoice and contract. |
| Disputes and fraud | Chargeback fees, representment costs, fraud-screening services and other contractually charged loss-prevention or dispute costs. | Dispute report, fraud invoice and general ledger. |
| Hardware and terminals | Terminal purchase or rental, maintenance, replacement, connectivity and related equipment costs attributable to card acceptance. | Equipment invoice, lease schedule and asset records. |
| Other attributable operations | Software, network infrastructure or other acceptance expenses. Include internal labor or overhead only if the agency’s declared costing method treats it as attributable. | Accounting policy, internal cost records and vendor invoices. |
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) distinguishes interchange, network, processing and other fees and notes that software, fraud prevention and hardware can be processing expenses. The agency should document why each item is included or excluded; otherwise two departments may produce incompatible “total cost” figures.
Step 3: Reconcile charges to settlements and accounting
- Match statement periods. Record the statement date, service period and whether the provider bills in arrears or in advance.
- Tie transaction totals to source systems. Compare the processor’s settled count and value with the agency’s point-of-sale, payment portal or receivables report. Investigate timing differences, voids and duplicate records.
- Reconcile every fee line. Sum detailed interchange, network, markup, fixed and operational charges and compare the sum with the statement total and the general-ledger posting.
- Trace settlement deposits. Match net deposits, adjustments and refunds to the treasury or bank records. A provider may deduct fees before depositing funds, but that is not universal.
- Check for separate billing. Some arrangements settle transactions at par and bill acceptance costs separately. GAO notes that the federal Treasury arrangement can work this way, so a deposit equal to gross card receipts does not prove that processing was free.
- Resolve timing and scope exceptions. Document invoices paid outside the period, annual fees allocated across periods, chargebacks originating in another period and costs shared with non-card payment channels.
Retain the reconciliation workbook and a written sign-off identifying the preparer, reviewer, period, systems used and unresolved differences.
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Step 4: Calculate the three core measures
Total cost
Total cost = all included variable charges + all included fixed charges + all included attributable operating costs. Present the result in dollars for the reporting period and show a category subtotal. If internal labor or overhead is excluded, say so; if it is included, explain the allocation method.
Average cost per transaction
Cost per transaction = total in-scope cost ÷ number of in-scope settled transactions. State whether the count includes credit only or all cards and how refunds, reversals and chargebacks are treated. A fee report that counts authorizations while the denominator counts settled sales will overstate or understate the metric.
Fees as a share of card revenue
Cost percentage = total in-scope cost ÷ in-scope card transaction revenue × 100. Identify whether revenue is gross or net of refunds and whether the denominator includes debit, prepaid or other payment products. Keep the percentage tied to the same period as the cost total.
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Illustrative calculation
The following example shows the method only; it is not a benchmark or a prediction. Suppose an agency’s defined 12-month scope contains 200,000 settled credit transactions and $20,000,000 in gross settled credit revenue. Its reconciled costs are $2,700,000 of interchange, $180,000 of network charges, $260,000 of processor and acquirer charges, $90,000 of gateway and authorization fees, $120,000 of fixed account and terminal charges, and $50,000 of chargeback and fraud costs.
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|---|---|---|
| Total cost | $2,700,000 + $180,000 + $260,000 + $90,000 + $120,000 + $50,000 | $3,400,000 |
| Average cost per settled transaction | $3,400,000 ÷ 200,000 | $17.00 |
| Cost as a share of card revenue | $3,400,000 ÷ $20,000,000 | 17.0% |
The high percentage in this hypothetical example illustrates why scope and classification matter: a large fixed or operational allocation can materially change the result. An agency should not compare this metric with another agency unless both use comparable categories and denominators.
Analyze the result instead of stopping at a blended rate
Separate fixed and variable costs
Variable costs rise with transaction value or count; fixed costs remain largely unchanged as volume moves. Report both. A volume increase can reduce fixed cost per transaction while increasing total interchange and network charges.
Segment by channel
Show card-present and card-not-present transactions separately when records permit. Card-not-present payments can carry higher fees because fraud and chargeback risk is greater. Online portals, telephone payments and in-person terminals may also have different gateway, hardware or security charges.
Segment by card type
Credit transactions generally cost more than debit. Rewards cards can have higher interchange than non-rewards cards, and commercial cards and merchant category can affect rates. Verify these effects in the agency’s own interchange detail rather than applying a presumed rate.
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Use effective rates carefully
An effective rate—total cost divided by card revenue—is a useful summary, not a pricing explanation. Pair it with cost per transaction, transaction count, average ticket, channel mix and card-type mix. A year with many small transactions can have a higher cost per transaction even when its percentage of revenue is lower.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Federal context: a benchmark, not an agency estimate
In a 2025 report using fiscal year 2023 data, GAO reported that more than 85 federal entities collected over $43 billion in payment-card revenue and paid about $784 million in fees. The reported average was $1.06 per transaction, and fees were 1.8% of revenue. Interchange represented nearly 90% of total fees for the selected entities.
Those figures describe selected federal entities and should be used as context, not as a universal government rate or a local-agency forecast. GAO’s analysis included seven selected entities and selected Internal Revenue Service analysis; named entities included Amtrak, the Treasury Department’s Bureau of the Fiscal Service, the Smithsonian Institution, the U.S. Postal Service and three Department of Defense nonappropriated-fund entities. The Bureau of the Fiscal Service manages card acceptance for an estimated 81 federal entities, while other entities maintain their own card-company relationships. Differences in volume, card mix, channel, contracts and cost scope can produce a very different result for another agency.
Ways an agency may manage costs—and the trade-offs
After establishing a reliable baseline, evaluate changes against the same transaction sample and period. GAO reported examples of entities reducing fees by meeting transaction-volume thresholds. It also reported one entity limiting card types for certain transactions and another limiting transaction amounts. Such measures can reduce expense, but they may reduce payment convenience, alter program access or require operational changes.
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Two selected entities described difficulty navigating network rules. Before changing card acceptance, obtain written guidance from the acquirer and review network, accessibility, statutory and program requirements. A restriction that appears inexpensive may create more exceptions, manual work or abandoned payments.
How to compare processors or acceptance arrangements
Use a common transaction file or a representative sample and require each proposal to price the same scope. Compare:
- Total dollars for the same period and transaction mix, not only an advertised percentage.
- Interchange and network pass-throughs separately from processor or acquirer markup.
- Card-present and card-not-present rates, credit and debit treatment, rewards and commercial-card assumptions.
- Authorization, settlement, gateway, chargeback, equipment, minimum, annual and monthly charges.
- Volume thresholds, tier changes, caps, minimum commitments and conditions that trigger a different rate.
- Settlement timing and whether fees are netted from deposits or billed separately.
- Reporting, reconciliation, fraud controls, dispute handling and operational requirements.
- Contract term, termination or migration costs, data access, service continuity and public procurement constraints.
Require bidders to disclose every assumption. Recalculate each offer using the agency’s actual count, average ticket, channel mix and card-type mix; otherwise a low headline rate may simply reflect a favorable assumed mix.
Can the agency pass processing costs to the payer?
Do not assume that a government entity may add a surcharge or convenience fee. Authority varies by jurisdiction, entity type, the obligation being paid, card type, card-network rules and contract terms.
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For example, Illinois law permits a local governmental entity’s governing body to authorize a surcharge or convenience fee up to the discount or processing fee incurred, subject to card-network rules. Nebraska provisions for the state and political subdivisions impose their own conditions. Florida Statutes § 215.322 contains separate provisions for state agencies and local governments. These examples demonstrate variation; they do not establish authority for an unspecified agency.
Before proposing a payer fee, document:
- The agency’s jurisdiction and legal form.
- The type of debt, tax, license, fine or other obligation being paid.
- The card products and channels covered.
- Applicable state and federal law, regulations and card-network rules.
- Contract language governing surcharges, convenience fees and disclosure.
- How the amount will be calculated, disclosed and accounted for.
Obtain legal and procurement review. A processor’s charge is not automatically recoverable from the payer.
Common errors and corrective checks
- Using a national average as the agency’s answer: replace it with reconciled agency data and use benchmarks only for context.
- Counting only the percentage markup: add interchange, network, fixed, gateway, equipment, dispute and other in-scope costs.
- Mixing periods: align transaction, settlement, invoice and ledger periods or disclose the allocation.
- Using incompatible denominators: match the transaction and revenue scope to the cost scope.
- Ignoring separate invoices: search accounts payable and equipment records, not only net settlement reports.
- Blending channels and card types: segment where data permit and explain any residual blended rate.
- Hiding refunds and chargebacks: state whether they reduce revenue, transaction count, cost or none of these.
- Assuming a surcharge is lawful: verify jurisdiction-specific authority and network rules before presenting a payer-fee option.
A reporting format reviewers can reproduce
Publish a one-page summary with an attached reconciliation schedule containing:
- Legal entity, reporting period and accounting basis.
- Included payment products, channels and transaction statuses.
- Settled transaction count and card revenue, with gross or net treatment.
- Each cost category, source document and amount.
- Fixed-versus-variable split and any allocation method.
- Total cost, cost per transaction and percentage of card revenue.
- Material variances from the prior period and their documented causes.
- Unresolved exceptions, assumptions and reviewer approval.
This format lets finance, payments, procurement and program managers use the same number without silently changing its meaning.
Bottom line
The total cost of government credit-card acceptance is the reconciled sum of all in-scope transaction fees, fixed charges and attributable operating costs for a defined period. Report that total alongside cost per settled transaction and cost as a percentage of consistently defined card revenue. Segment the result by channel and card type, compare contracts on all-in dollars, and treat federal benchmarks and payer-fee examples as context—not substitutes for the agency’s records, governing law and contract.
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