When comparing BILL, PayPal, and BizPayO, the best long term solution is pushing most clients towards ACH payment.  Seldom do business clients change business banking accounts.  BizPayO encourages most clients to pay by ACH.  

For this comparison, let's assume:

• Annual collections: $1,000,000
• 50% ACH payments = $500,000
• 50% Credit Card payments = $500,000
• The accounting firm accepts all major credit cards.
• BizPayO is configured with a 3.0% credit card surcharge, meaning the client—not the accounting firm—pays the processing cost.
• The accounting firm absorbs all fees with BILL and PayPal.

Annual Processing Cost Comparison

BizPayO Estimated Annual Savings

The savings come almost entirely from eliminating the firm's responsibility for approximately $15,000 in annual credit card processing fees.

Cost Breakdown

BILL

Typical costs:

• ACH: minimal per-transaction fee
• Credit Cards: approximately 2.9%

Estimated annual expense:

• ACH processing: approximately $100–200
• Credit card processing:
  • $500,000 × 2.9%
  • ≈ $14,500

Total: about $14,600

PayPal

Typical costs:

• ACH payments
• Credit cards approximately 2.99% + fixed transaction fee

Estimated annual cost:

• ACH fees
• Credit card fees

Total: approximately $15,000–16,000

PayPal's effective cost is generally slightly higher than BILL because of the per-transaction charge.

BizPayO with 3% Surcharge

Assumptions:

• ACH pricing: 0.89%
• Credit card surcharge: 3.0% added to the client's invoice

Firm cost:

ACH

• $500,000 × 0.89%
• $4,450

Credit Cards

• Client pays the 3% surcharge.
• Processing costs are offset by the surcharge.

Firm's annual credit card cost:

Approximately $0

Total annual processing expense

≈ $4,450

Five-Year Savings

Five-year savings

• vs BILL:
  Approximately $50,000
• vs PayPal:
  Approximately $55,000

Additional Advantages

BILL

Strengths

• Excellent AP automation
• Outstanding approval workflows
• Vendor management
• Large ecosystem

Weaknesses

• Higher payment processing costs
• Monthly platform fees
• Limited ability to eliminate merchant fees

PayPal

Strengths

• Familiar brand
• Easy implementation
• Fast client adoption

Weaknesses

• Highest effective processing costs
• Limited accounting practice features
• Less automation for accounting firms

BizPayO

Strengths

• Built specifically for accounting firms
• Automatic recurring billing
• Proposal acceptance with integrated payment collection
• QuickBooks integration
• Client payment portal
• Automated payment reminders
• Google Review automation after payment
• 3% surcharge capability to shift credit card costs from the firm to the client (or encourage clients to pay by ACH) 

Weaknesses

• Savings depend on client acceptance of surcharges.
• Surcharging is subject to state laws, card network rules, and disclosure requirements, so firms must ensure compliance before enabling it.

Overall Evaluation

For a $1 million accounting firm, the comparison is clear:

A firm processing $1 million annually with half of its collections by credit card can reduce its direct payment processing expense from roughly $15,000 per year to about $4,450 per year by using BizPayO with a 3% client-paid surcharge, resulting in annual savings of approximately $10,000–11,000 under these assumptions. These savings can be reinvested into hiring staff, expanding marketing efforts, upgrading technology, or increasing partner profitability.