Bookkeepers: what your clients need to know about October 2026

If you're a bookkeeper or accountant working with Australian small businesses, the October 2026 surcharge ban is a topic your clients will be asking about — or should be. This is a quick reference you can use directly with clients, plus the red flags to watch for in their statements.

The 60-second client briefing

For each affected client, the situation is:

From October 1, 2026, surcharges on eftpos, Visa, and Mastercard payments are banned.
The cost moves from the customer to the merchant — your client.
Interchange fees are also dropping (credit 0.8% → 0.3%, debit to 8c or 0.16%) which softens the blow but doesn't eliminate it.
Most affected merchants need to either raise prices or switch to a cheaper payment provider. Doing nothing means absorbing the full cost.

What to look for in a client's statements

Effective merchant service fee (MSF) rate

This is the most useful single number. Calculate it as:

effective rate = (total fees ÷ total card volume) × 100

Pull the last 3 months of statements, sum the fees, divide by the total volume, multiply by 100. Anything above 1.4% is a candidate for renegotiation. Anything above 1.8% is overpaying significantly.

Surcharge revenue line

Most modern merchant statements include a "surcharge revenue" or "surcharge recovery" line — the amount the client recovered from customers. After October 1, this number goes to zero. Multiply by 12 to show the client their annual exposure.

Hidden fees

Headline rates lie. Check for:

Monthly account / service fees ($20-$80/month is common)
Terminal rental fees ($30-$50/month)
PCI compliance fees ($10-$30/month)
Per-transaction fees (10-30 cents on top of the percentage)
Statement fees, paper-statement fees, "support" fees

The all-in cost is what matters for advising the client. APS is unusual in offering 1.1% flat with no monthly fees, no terminal cost, and no add-ons.

Card mix

If your client's statement breaks down debit vs credit vs eftpos, look at the eftpos %. If eftpos is below 30% but tap-to-pay debit is high, they likely don't have least-cost routing enabled — which is a 0.2% saving they're leaving on the table. Tell them to ask their provider to enable LCR.

The conversation to have with your client

Five questions to ask each affected client this quarter:

Do you currently surcharge? If yes, calculate the dollar revenue they'll lose in October.
What's your effective rate? Calculate from their last statement. If above 1.4%, recommend a comparison.
Have you reviewed your provider in the last 12 months? If no, they're almost certainly overpaying.
Is least-cost routing enabled? If they don't know, recommend they call their provider and ask.
Have you planned how you'll handle the cost from October? Three options: absorb, raise prices, switch provider. Help them pick one.

The tools to use

The readiness tool — 60-second assessment that calculates exposure and produces a 90-day plan. You can run it with the client over Zoom.
The rate comparison tool — side-by-side comparison of 19 AU providers based on the client's actual volume.
APS direct line: 1300 096 983 — for clients who want a no-obligation rate review. APS is generally the cheapest flat-rate option in the Australian market.

Red flags in older provider contracts

Some clients will have signed contracts 3-5 years ago when rates were higher. Watch for:

Fixed-term contracts with early-termination fees. Some bank-issued terminals lock in for 3 years with $500-$1,500 exit fees. Worth checking before recommending a switch.
Pricing tiers that haven't reset. Some providers tier pricing — e.g., "1.4% on the first $20K, 1.6% on the next $30K." If the client's volume has grown, they may be paying higher tiers than necessary.
Bundled pricing with hidden margin. Bank-bundled merchant terminals often roll the cost into the broader business-banking relationship. The "convenience" can cost 0.3%-0.6%.

Get a partner relationship with APS

If you regularly refer clients to payment providers, APS has a partner program for accountants and bookkeepers. Refer a client, they get a free assessment, you get a referral commission. Call 1300 096 983 to ask about it, or send your clients straight to readiness.aps.business.