Payments & Invoicing
Understand the Chester service fee
Chester adds a 5% service fee to online payments. By default your client covers it, so you keep your full rate - but you choose who pays.
The short version
- The fee is 5% of your service total (never on tips).
- By default the client pays it, so you keep 100% of your rate.
- You can absorb it or cap it instead, in Fee Settings.
How it shows up
On a client's online payment, the fee appears as its own "Service fee (5%)" line - separate from your services and any tip. It only applies to invoices paid online; cash or e-transfer payments have no fee, and there's no fee on the Free plan.
Who pays it (your choice)
In Fee Settings you pick one of three:
- Client pays fee (default) - 5% is added to the client's total; you receive 100% of your rate.
- I absorb the fee - the client pays your rate, and the 5% comes out of your payout.
- Cap the client fee - the client pays the fee up to a limit you set; you cover the rest.
Find Fee Settings on the web under Settings, then Service fee. On your phone it's under Settings, then Subscription, then Service fee.
Good to know
- Tips are never part of the fee. The 5% is only on your service total.
- The fee only appears when online payments are set up and the invoice is payable online.
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