Surcharges and Smokeball Payments

Smokeball Payments is compatible with credit card surcharges. You can notify credit card vendors of your intent to surcharge and then pass credit card processing fees on to your clients after a 30-day waiting period. 

Enable credit card surcharging

1. Navigate to Firm Settings > Payment Provider > Smokeball Payments > Credit Card Surcharging.
2. Select the blue Surcharge Intent Notification button.
3. A form will open in a new tab of your web browser. Complete all the required fields, including your firm information and how much you will surcharge.
4. Click submit.
5. Note: the Surcharge Intent Notification button in Smokeball may take a day or two to update after you have submitted your form. After the update completes, the button will be replaced with a notification on when the surcharge will be activated. 
6. Once the button disappears, you will have additional surcharge options to toggle on or off:
   • Request processing fee from client for invoice payments
   • Request processing fee from clients for deposits and retainers
   • Show processing fee on invoice
   • Request processing fee from client for payment plans
     • Selecting this checkbox will require you to acknowledge that you will notify your clients as it applies to active payment plans.

Changes to invoices and the web app interface

Invoices that show the processing fee will look slightly different. You will now see Total Balance Due (if paid by Credit Card) beneath "Total Balance Due." This new line also includes an asterisk informing the recipient that the amount displayed is accurate at the time the invoice was issued and may change based on payment method and/or other applicable adjustments. This ensures the invoice will remain compliant with New York state law.

The Credit Card payment pop-up window will now display a Review button instead of the Process button. Text indicating a surcharge will appear so long as the surcharge feature is enabled. Clicking on Review will display a payment information screen that includes the option to process the payment. 

Note: The processing fee is not recorded in Smokeball. The processing fee will also offset charges on your firm's Smokeball Payments invoice.