Nobody reads their merchant statement anymore... nobody. The number of times I have been told that [a client] doesn't have one and a half, two, or four hours to take a calculator and decipher their monthly statement is larger than I can count; and quite simply, is a fair thing to say. Granted, it's one's business and one should make time, but the monthly report is made to be so complex that it's actually designed not to be read.
Why? Because whatever gets measured gets improved. If one were to be able to quickly read through and understand their merchant statement, the travesty that would befall the industry would be great. The industry doesn't like a business to understand its fees, so they design it to be glanced at, (it seems to spill everything before you), and then be tossed aside. 84% of all businesses do not read their statements. This includes people that open it, copy a couple of numbers into a spread sheet, then file it forever. This is no reading. This is being a stenographer. Stenographers are great I'm sure. So are phlebotomists and sketch artists, but neither of these jobs help here. These should be read. If you can't do it, call the group that set you up and have them explain it ... line by line. If they won't do it, fire them and call me.
However, there is another way. It is not perfect, but it can help you keep an eye on what you do and where your money goes and all without you taking hours to decode, decipher, learn and re-learn how to do it every month when the new statement comes in. Here's how:
1. Start a file marked "Merchant Statement"
2. Put your copy of your merchant account contract in it. Don't have one? Don't be embarrassed. OK, be a little embarassed, but don't dwell on it. Maybe you have taken over for someone else and their records weren't the best. Call your group and have them send you a copy of the signed agreement, not a blank document. Do not re-sign anything. This is just for good record keeping and to establish a base line.
3. Take your monthly merchant statement and have someone you trust (I can even do this for you. Simply fax it into me and me and my team will help you track this at no costs. We just think you're that neat) circle your discount rate, per transaction fee, and monthly fee. This is the most important step because if you get this wrong, everything else is worthless.
4. Highlight those numbers in a bright highlighter. I Like Pink or Green as they fade very little over time. File it in the front of the file.
5. Every month, use the last month as a template and highlight those same numbers. File that month's statement in the front of the file.
6. Every month grab the last three or four statements. Flip through them and see if your numbers are descending as you flip through them. If they do get smaller, then you know your rates are increasing.
If you like, you can even write your starting numbers from your contract on the outside of your file. This will make it so you may compare immediately your original vs. current rate.
Warning; Do not drink anything while you are doing this. Neither I, nor Meridian Merchant Services are responsible for any fried keyboards, monitors, nor office cleaning, nor ruined documents when you spray everything with spewed coffee when comparing the differences.
