A monthly minimum appears on a low-volume statement
Read the minimum clause to identify its amount, period, account or service scope and the fee categories that count toward it. Match the actual fee rows to that definition, then compare their eligible total with the provider's stated calculation. Low sales volume alone cannot explain the line, and total fees paid are not automatically the eligible amount. Use a shortfall calculation only if the agreement actually defines the minimum that way.
For: The owner or finance contact of a research-only business whose processing statement contains a monthly-minimum charge.
Locate the minimum-charge provision in the agreement or fee schedule that applies to the statement period. Copy the minimum amount and currency, which account or service it covers, the period it measures and the words defining which fees count. Check for any applicable amendment or written waiver. Do not substitute a public tariff or the label on the statement for a missing definition.
A minimum fee commitment is not automatically a sales-volume commitment, and a line called monthly minimum does not reveal its calculation on its own. Establish whether the written clause describes an additional shortfall charge, a fixed recurring amount or another stated arrangement before doing arithmetic. If the wording does not answer that question, the formula is unresolved; a low-volume month does not supply the missing term.
Stripe's Services Agreement says written fee agreements can differ from public pricing, and the applicable agreement includes service and regional terms. That supports looking at the account's real terms. It does not establish that Stripe charges this minimum, or that another provider counts fees in the same way.
Sort the fee rows by contractual eligibility
Build a private list of the actual charge rows for the covered account and period. For each row, retain the provider's category, description, amount, currency and source record. Classify it as eligible, excluded or unresolved by reference to the clause. Keep an unresolved category out of the confirmed eligible total while making its amount visible separately; otherwise a guess can make the minimum appear reconciled.
Do not assume all payment-related amounts count. Fees, taxes, fee credits and invoices for other services need whatever treatment the clause specifies. Identify whether the statement displays the minimum itself among total charges so you do not count that line toward its own calculation without a contractual basis. If the definition names a particular service or fee category, a broadly labeled total is insufficient evidence of eligibility.
On Stripe, the Fees report separates product or feature information from amount, tax and currency, and transaction reconciliation can contain several fee rows associated through incurred_by. Several rows related to one payment are therefore not automatically duplicate fees, and one payment is not automatically one eligible fee. Those report fields help identify records; the agreement still decides whether they count toward a particular minimum.
Align the period and report coverage before totaling
Use the period and date basis the agreement specifies. Stripe documents that fee-incurred dates and balance-transaction dates answer different questions. A calendar-month export based on when amounts affected the balance need not contain the same rows as one based on when fees were incurred. Preserve the export's date basis and range beside the contractual period so a boundary difference is visible.
Check whether the records cover all fee categories the minimum uses. Stripe's Fees report covers most fees paid from the balance but excludes Terminal devices, Capital, Atlas and fees invoiced after use. Its fee data may take up to 96 hours after the balance effect to become available. A recent or incomplete export cannot establish that an absent eligible charge is zero. Use the relevant invoice or report where the contract requires it, and keep missing records marked as missing.
Combine only comparable amounts from the covered account and currency. Retain credits and tax as identifiable components and follow the clause's treatment of them rather than silently netting everything. Once coverage and definitions are established, total the confirmed eligible rows. Keep excluded rows and unresolved categories visible so another person can see exactly how you reached that total.
Compare the provider's calculation with a reproducible one
If the agreement expressly defines an additional amount needed to reach a fee floor, calculate the difference between that floor and the eligible fees under its stated conditions. Do not apply that operation to a fixed charge or a clause with a different basis. Follow any written adjustment, credit or period rule; do not invent proration for an incomplete month.
Compare the result with the minimum line separately from the statement's total fees. A matching figure is an arithmetic match using the identified clause and records. A difference should be described by its source: a disputed category, a missing fee record, a date-basis mismatch or an unexplained provider input. If the provider has supplied only the final amount, ask for its included categories, covered dates and calculation so the disagreement can be located.
For a Prism processing consultation, summarize the fee arrangement and the specific definition or calculation that remains unresolved. Confirm any requested statement-analysis work, responsibilities and fees within the engagement scope. Prism does not set the provider's prices, promise a credit or determine whether the contract is enforceable.
Minimum-charge reconciliation
Use one agreement, covered account, currency and period at a time. Keep detailed fee rows in your own records and enter only non-sensitive findings here. Eligible, excluded and unresolved are separate classifications; reconcile the minimum only after its definition and record coverage are clear.
Worksheet entries are not submitted by Prism’s worksheet and are not saved by the site. Use record types, availability, anonymized observations, or match/mismatch results. Do not enter government identifiers, customer names or addresses, customer messages, receipt-access links, card or bank details, passwords, or keys. Send sensitive documents only through the provider’s verified secure channel.
Minimum-charge reconciliation. The last column is for temporary notes.
Reconciliation input
Record to examine
Decision it supports
Your finding
Minimum clause
Record to examineApplicable agreement, fee schedule, amendments or waiver, with the stated amount and currency.
Decision it supportsEstablish whether the line is a defined shortfall, fixed amount or another arrangement; do not assume a standard formula.
Covered account and service
Record to examineThe account or service scope in the clause and the scope of the statement or export.
Decision it supportsExclude unrelated account totals unless the written minimum expressly combines them.
Covered period
Record to examineThe contractual measurement dates and the export's date basis and range.
Decision it supportsResolve incurred-date versus posted-date differences before totaling the rows.
Eligible fee categories
Record to examineThe clause's inclusions and exclusions mapped to actual provider fee descriptions.
Decision it supportsAssign eligible, excluded or unresolved status to each category without relying on similar names alone.
Recorded eligible charges
Record to examineThe itemized amounts, currency and underlying report or invoice for each included row.
Decision it supportsSum only defined eligible amounts and retain distinct fee rows rather than deduplicating solely by payment reference.
Credits, tax and minimum line
Record to examineTheir separate statement entries and the agreement's stated treatment.
Decision it supportsAvoid unsupported netting or counting the minimum toward itself; leave unspecified treatment unresolved.
Report coverage
Record to examineExport availability, omitted categories and any separate invoices required by the fee definition.
Decision it supportsIdentify missing evidence without treating an unavailable or excluded report row as zero.
Provider calculation
Record to examineThe provider's categories, inputs and arithmetic compared with your reproducible calculation.
Decision it supportsRecord a match or name the exact missing input or difference; an unmatched amount does not by itself prove an improper charge.
These are temporary notes. Leaving or reloading this page may clear them. Worksheet entries are not sent automatically. If you copy notes into the consultation message and submit the form, Prism receives them as part of your request.
Limits
No monthly-minimum amount, eligible-fee definition or universal formula is established by this page. The merchant's actual agreement supplies those terms.
Stripe's agreement and report descriptions apply to Stripe. They neither establish a minimum on a particular account nor define another provider's statement.
This is an evidence comparison, not a tax or legal determination or a promise of reduced fees. Keep bank details, private account information and unredacted statements out of the worksheet and public form.
Stripe Services Agreement general terms — checked 2026-09-29. Written fee agreements can differ from public pricing. General, service, incorporated and applicable regional terms must be considered for the account. This does not establish a monthly minimum or its calculation for any merchant.
Stripe Fees report — checked 2026-09-29. The report separates product or feature, amount, tax and currency, and can contain multiple fee rows linked through incurred_by. Incurred and balance-transaction date bases differ. It covers most balance-paid fees, excludes Terminal devices, Capital, Atlas and after-use invoiced fees, and data may take up to 96 hours after the balance effect. Report fields do not establish contractual fee eligibility.
Discuss my processing options
Want to talk through your own processing situation?