When you enable Technology Fees on your Biller Genie account — whether you're using Surcharging or Dual Pricing — Biller Genie writes the fee back to your connected accounting software so your books reconcile cleanly. This article explains how the fee appears in your accounting software, why we recommend the Sales Receipts mode, and how each field maps under the two recording options.
For setup details on the Sales Receipts vs Line Items choice, see Setting Up Technology Fees on Your Account. For the chart-of-accounts mapping that controls where the fee posts in your accounting software, see Chart of Accounts: Mapping Your Accounts in Biller Genie.
How Technology Fees show up in your accounting software
Biller Genie supports two ways of writing the Technology Fee back to your accounting software, and you choose which one on the Add-Ons > Technology Fees page. Each has trade-offs:
- Sales Receipts mode — the fee posts as a separate sales receipt in the month of collection. Cleanest for GAAP, won't conflict with locked invoice periods. Recommended for most merchants.
- Line Items mode — the fee posts as an added line on the original invoice. Easier to spot on a single invoice, but can fail to sync if your accounting software locks invoices after a certain period.
The choice doesn't change what your customer sees or pays. It only changes the bookkeeping entry on your side.
Why we recommend Sales Receipts (the GAAP reason)
Generally Accepted Accounting Principles recommend that revenue be recorded in the month of collection. With Sales Receipts mode, every Technology Fee transaction gets its own dated sales receipt entry, so the fee is booked in the month the card payment cleared — independent of when the original invoice was issued.
With Line Items mode, the fee is added back onto the original invoice. If you follow GAAP and lock your books at the end of each period (a common practice), Biller Genie cannot edit the locked invoice to add the line item — the sync fails and the fee doesn't post. Sales Receipts mode avoids this entirely.
How fields map under Sales Receipts mode
When a card payment syncs and Biller Genie posts the Technology Fee as a sales receipt, each field maps as follows:
| Biller Genie field | Maps to in your accounting software |
|---|---|
| ACH Subtotal, Tax, and Invoice Amount | The invoice subtotal, tax, and total — the original amounts your invoice was created with. |
| Card Subtotal, Tax, and Invoice Amount | The subtotal, tax, and total with the Technology Fee included. |
| Previous Invoice Payments | The amount the customer has already paid toward the original invoice's total. |
| Previous Sales Receipts | The additional amounts the customer has paid because they used a card (i.e., the Technology Fees recorded as sales receipts). |
How fields map under Line Items mode
If you've chosen Line Items mode, the Technology Fee is added as a new line on the original invoice. Field mapping:
| Biller Genie field | Maps to in your accounting software |
|---|---|
| ACH Subtotal, Tax, and Invoice Amount | The original invoice subtotal, tax, and total. |
| Card Subtotal, Tax, and Invoice Amount | The subtotal, tax, and total with the Technology Fee included (the new line item is what makes up the difference). |
| Previous Invoice Payments | The amount the customer has already paid toward the invoice's total. |
Tax treatment of the Technology Fee line item
When Biller Genie first sets up the Technology Fee item in your accounting software, it creates it as non-taxable. If you want the fee to be taxed:
- Set the Technology Fee item to taxable in your accounting software.
- Enter the tax rate in Biller Genie's Technology Fees settings.
Biller Genie will then automatically apply that tax rate to the Technology Fee on every transaction and reconcile it back to your accounting software. Tax rules vary by state — check with your accountant before turning this on.
Partial payments and Technology Fees
If you allow partial payments on an invoice, the Technology Fee applies only to the amount the customer is paying by card in that specific payment — not to the full invoice. The fee posts to your accounting software per-payment, not per-invoice.
When you reconcile, the invoice payments plus the sales receipts (or line-item add-ons) for that invoice should match the total your customer paid. That keeps your books GAAP-compliant even when the invoice has multiple part-payments using different payment methods.
When the Technology Fee line item is added
The Technology Fee line item or sales receipt is only added after the card payment has successfully synced to your accounting software. If a card payment hasn't synced yet, the fee won't appear in your books. Once the sync completes, the fee line item is visible in both your Biller Genie Merchant Portal and your accounting software.
Reconciling in your specific accounting software
The mappings above describe how Technology Fees flow into any connected accounting software. For the actual sync mechanics, chart-of-accounts setup, and deposit reconciliation steps specific to your accounting platform, see the linked articles:
- Chart of Accounts: Mapping Your Accounts in Biller Genie — where the Technology Fee line item lives in your chart of accounts and how to remap it.
- How to Connect QuickBooks Online — sync mechanics for QBO.
- Recording Deposits and Reconciling Bank Feeds — QuickBooks Desktop deposit reconciliation.
- How to Connect Xero — sync mechanics for Xero.
Frequently asked questions
Why isn't the Technology Fee showing up on my invoice in my accounting software?
The fee line item or sales receipt only appears after the card payment has successfully synced. If the sync hasn't run yet, or if you're on Line Items mode and the invoice has been locked by your period close, the sync will fail. Switch to Sales Receipts mode to avoid the locked-invoice issue.
Can I rename the Technology Fee item in my accounting software?
It depends on your mode. Under Surcharging, the item name and description are fixed at "Surcharge" — card-brand compliance requires the name be unambiguous and consistent across all transactions. Under Dual Pricing, you can customize the item's name and description through your Biller Genie Items management area; the changes flow into your accounting software on the next sync. See Setting Up Technology Fees on Your Account for details.
Can I switch from Line Items to Sales Receipts (or back) after the fact?
Yes. The mode setting on the Technology Fees page applies to future transactions from that point onward. Existing transactions stay in whichever mode they were originally recorded in.
Does the Technology Fee count as revenue?
Yes. The Technology Fee is recorded as additional revenue in your accounting software — separate from your invoice subtotal — and is treated as a normal income item. Check with your accountant on the specific GAAP treatment for your business.
Related articles
- Outbound Sync Queue (when Tech Fees don't sync)
- Payment Sync Queue and History
- Technology Fees: Dual Pricing and Surcharging at a Glance
- Setting Up Technology Fees on Your Account
- What Your Customer Sees: The Dual Pricing Checkout Experience
- What Your Customer Sees: The Surcharging Checkout Experience
- Chart of Accounts: Mapping Your Accounts in Biller Genie