RentalTide's fees are simple once you know which kind of sale you are looking at. This page shows every fee, who pays it, in what order it is worked out, and how it shows in your books.
Bookings carry RentalTide's booking fee, card payments carry a card fee, and that is all: POS products and slips carry only the card fee, memberships carry 1.25%, and you choose whether your customer or your business pays the booking and card fees.
The four kinds of sale
Every sale belongs to one of four kinds, and each kind has its own fees.
| What is sold | Booking fee | Card fee |
|---|---|---|
| Bookings, rentals, tours (walk-ups and booking balances paid at the POS included) | Your plan's rate, usually 4.9%, capped at $25 per booking on a paid plan, plus the recovery fee where it applies | Only when paid by card |
| POS products (any product rung up from your POS product list, even one you call a rental) | None | Only when paid by card. A cash POS sale costs nothing |
| Memberships | 1.25% | Yes, on card charges |
| Slips | None | Only when paid by card |
Fuel has no booking fee. Gift card purchases carry the card fee only.
How a booking's fees are worked out, in order
Fees on a booking are always worked out on the total, in this order:
- Booking total: the rental, tax and add-ons. Fuel is not included.
- Booking fee: your plan's rate on that total. On a paid plan it never goes over $25 for one booking.
- Recovery fee: Canadian locations only. It is the GST/HST on RentalTide's booking fee, so it follows the booking fee.
- Card fee: worked out last, on everything charged to the card, because the card networks charge on the full amount taken. It is only charged when a card is actually used.
Who pays: your customer, or your business
You decide, separately for the booking fee and the card fee, whether your customer pays it (it is added to what they pay) or your business covers it (it comes out of your payout). Both settings are under Store Settings > Pricing & Payments > Fees & Overages.
Two rules apply whichever you choose:
- A card fee is only ever charged on money paid by card. If you pass the card fee on, your customer pays it on the part they pay by card, never on a part they pay in cash or on account.
- In Australia the card fee can't be passed on (the Reserve Bank's surcharge ban from 1 October 2026). It always comes out of your payout. The booking fee setting works as normal.
A worked example
A $100 booking (rental, tax and add-ons) at a Canadian location (13% HST) on the 4.9% rate with a 2.7% + $0.30 card rate, paid in full by card:
| Both fees passed to the customer | Both fees covered by your business | |
|---|---|---|
| Booking total | $100.00 | $100.00 |
| Booking fee (4.9% of $100) | + $4.90 | (from your payout) $4.90 |
| Recovery fee (13% of $4.90) | + $0.64 | (from your payout) $0.64 |
| Card fee (2.7% of the amount charged + $0.30) | + $3.24 | (from your payout) $3.00 |
| Your customer pays | $108.78 | $100.00 |
| You receive | $100.00 | $91.46 |
The card fee is a little higher when it is passed on because it is charged on the larger amount your customer pays. Outside Canada there is no recovery fee.
Deposits, balances and cash
A booking's fee is charged once. When a booking is paid in parts, each payment carries its share.
- Card payments: RentalTide takes the booking fee share and the card fee from the payment as it goes through.
- Cash and cheque: there is no card fee. The booking fee share is recorded as fees owed to RentalTide and is recovered from your later card payments, never more than 10% of any one booking's total at a time.
- If you pass the card fee on, your customer only pays it on the card parts. In the example above, a customer who pays the balance in cash never pays a card fee on it.
A booking balance kept on a customer's account
A booking's balance can be moved onto the customer's account and paid later, at the POS or anywhere else. An account can also hold POS products and fuel bought on account.
The payment is split before anything is charged, so the booking fee is only ever charged on the booking part, and only once per booking. Payments go to the oldest debts first unless you pick a booking to settle.
Refunds and returns
When a booking is refunded or returned:
- The booking fee and the recovery fee come back in the same share as the booking is refunded: refund half the booking, and half of each is returned. If your customer paid them, they get that share back; if your business covered them, RentalTide returns them to you.
- The card fee does not come back. The card networks do not return processing costs on a refund. If your customer paid the card fee, it is not refunded to them; if your business covered it, it stays a cost.
Using the example above with both fees passed on, a full refund returns $105.54 to your customer ($100 + $4.90 booking fee + $0.64 recovery fee) and keeps the $3.24 card fee.
How it shows in your books
| Account | What goes there |
|---|---|
| 6545 Rental revenue (or your listing's own code) | The booking price. Never the fees |
| 6561 Booking fee collected | A booking fee your customer paid, when you pass it on |
| 6560 Card fee collected | A card fee your customer paid, when you pass it on |
| 8194 RentalTide fee | RentalTide's booking fee |
| 8192 Card processing | The card fee taken by the card networks |
| 2150 RentalTide fees owed | Booking fees on cash payments, until they are recovered |
When you pass a fee on, the fee collected (6561 or 6560) and the fee cost (8194 or 8192) match, so it nets to nothing and your rental revenue stays exactly the booking price.
Common questions
Is the booking fee charged on tax? Yes. Fees are worked out on the booking total, which includes tax and add-ons.
Do I pay a booking fee on cash bookings? Yes. The booking fee applies to every booking however it is paid. On cash it becomes fees owed and is recovered from your later card payments. There is no card fee on cash.
Do POS products ever carry the booking fee? No. Anything sold from your POS product list carries the card fee only, and nothing when paid in cash.
Where do I see my rates? Settings > Subscription shows your booking fee rate exactly as it is charged and your card processing rates.
What does a paid plan change? The rate stays the same; a paid plan caps the booking fee at $25 per booking. See Pricing.