Which payment workflow does your firm need?
Start with the work your team needs to complete: sending an invoice, collecting a payment, matching the deposit and recording the fee. Our comparison favors CPACharge when an accounting firm wants a dedicated collection workflow; it favors Stripe when the firm needs to configure an online checkout or integrate payments into its own application. Those are workflow recommendations, not a claim that one provider is cheapest for every firm.
CPACharge vs Stripe: published US fees
Pricing checked November 11, 2026. These are standard published terms, not a personalized quote. International cards, currency conversion, disputes and optional software can change the total.
| Charge | CPACharge | Stripe |
|---|---|---|
| Standard online cards | Visa, Mastercard and Discover: 2.99% + $0.30 | Domestic cards: 2.9% + $0.30 |
| American Express | 3.90% + $0.30 | Included in the standard domestic-card rate |
| Bank debit | eCheck: 1%, capped at $10 | ACH Direct Debit: 0.8%, capped at $5 |
| Foreign cards | An additional 1.75% | An additional 1.5% for international cards |
| Monthly program charge | $10, no contract, billed monthly; the pricing page also lists a $7.99 card-brand pass-through allocation and other card network fees | No monthly fee for standard Payments; additional products have their own pricing |
Sources: CPACharge pricing, Stripe US pricing and Stripe bank-payment pricing. Compare an itemized quote rather than treating a headline rate as your effective cost.
Worked example: 50 invoices of $1,000
Assume $50,000 of domestic Visa, Mastercard or Discover online payments, split into 50 transactions. CPACharge’s transaction subtotal is $1,510: $50,000 × 2.99% + 50 × $0.30. Stripe’s is $1,465: $50,000 × 2.9% + 50 × $0.30. The $45 difference excludes every monthly, pass-through and additional-product charge. It is an illustration, not a complete bill or savings forecast.
If all 50 invoices instead use bank debit, the stated caps give transaction subtotals of $500 for CPACharge and $250 for Stripe. Do not substitute those numbers for a full quote: payment failures, verification, software and operating costs still need checking. Use your actual card mix and invoice sizes in our processing-fee calculator.
How do collection and reconciliation differ?
CPACharge says the full payment amount arrives in your checking account within 1 to 2 business days, with no processing fees debited until the following month. That helps a firm match each deposit to an invoice. Confirm that its integration supports your exact accounting-software edition and the reports your bookkeeper uses. See the provider’s workflow description.
Stripe offers hosted payment links and checkout alongside APIs for custom integrations. Its Invoicing and Billing products have separate pricing. In a demonstration, trace one paid invoice, one refund and one failed payment into your ledger. A feature list alone does not establish how much manual work your team will retain.
Do not confuse CPACharge with LawPay
CPACharge is positioned for accounting firms. LawPay’s pricing page lists the same 2.99% + $0.30 card rate at $19 a month and names “Trust account protection and IOLTA compliance” as a feature. The CPACharge pricing page makes no trust-account statement. Shared ownership does not establish that both products have the same banking configuration. This comparison does not establish either provider’s suitability for your client trust funds. Get the required account and fee-debit arrangements confirmed before collecting those payments.
What should you ask before signing?
- Which recurring charges and card network fees appear outside the quoted transaction rate?
- Does the integration reconcile payments, fees, refunds and failed bank debits in your software?
- Which account receives deposits, and which account is debited for fees or disputes?
- What are the bank-payment limits, settlement schedule and return charges for your account?
- What data can you export if you change providers?
Bring a recent statement and your invoice-size distribution to the comparison. Our processing-fees guide explains the cost categories, and the contract questions checklist helps structure the quote review.