Feature Removal - Client pays Stripe fees & Open Ticket timer

wrongecho

After careful consideration we have decided to remove two features from ITFlow:

Client Pays Fees (Stripe Integration)

While this feature allowed for passing transaction fees onto clients, we have reconsidered its implications. We believe in transparency and fairness, and passing fees onto clients doesn't align with these principles. Additionally, we recognize that this practice is illegal in some countries. Thus, we're sunsetting this feature to maintain integrity and fairness.

Open Tickets Time Tracking Overview

While it may be helpful to see tickets you're working on, feedback suggests this modal just clutters the UI and causes confusion by showing every ticket you've ever opened (including closed tickets) - prompting you to clear the timer if you want to remove it from the list. Time tracking will still work as before, but we're (once again) removing the overview button & modal.

These changes will go live in a few weeks. Please let us know if you have any questions or concerns.

Bigbug

wrongecho I think we should ask the people

I personally use the "Client pays fee" feature. in my opinion it's fairly transparent, as it says clearly that they'll pay a gateway fee if they choose this option. in my company credit card is the 3rd payment option, so customers usually don't have an issue at all with the "Client pays fees".
Legalwise, I think it should be in the hand of the owner of the ITFlow instance if he wants to forward CC fees onto customers as in the USA it's legal as long as you clearly disclose it.

Regarding the "Open Tickets Time Tracking Overview" i agree that it clutters the UI
originally when i brought that idea here in the forum my intention was not to clutter up the UI, i think the problem was that it was never implemented and tidied up properly, that's why it's a mess.

Bigbug

wrongecho I tried looking back here on the forum, i wasn't able to find even once that someone should complain about the client pays fees. So, what's the reason of the removal of the Client Pays Fees feature?

wrongecho We believe in transparency and fairness, and passing fees onto clients doesn't align with these principles.

I don't think that's the case here, as it states everything very transparent, and if my clients are OK with that, this should be on my head to control. also, that's why it's not on by default.

With utmost respect to the ITFlow Devs
You guys owe me nothing, and I'm thankful for everything you've done!

wrongecho

Hey @Bigbug

Appreciate your note but, respectfully, this was an FYI.

Johnny and I never wanted either of these features in the first place. I'm not going to get into the details but there is no interest to improve or even maintaining the code for them from our side (hence why the ticket timer is still unfinished). Both features shouldn't have been added in the first place in my view. We've learnt a lot in the last few months about accepting third party contributions, and that it's OK to say "no" to things that don't align with our vision for ITFlow.

I'm sorry if you see things differently.

aftechro

Agreed with @wrongecho

Absolutely! As a managed service provider, it's important to prioritize transparency in pricing. Instead of passing on payment system charges to clients, consider including a margin in your service fees to cover these costs. This approach fosters trust and simplifies billing. In Europe, it's not allowed to directly charge clients for payment fees, but adding a margin to your service cost is fair and acceptable.

I wouldn't add that option on the system. But having ITFLOW as open-source, leaving anyone to customize it as they wish. :d

JosephWithCOR

@ everyone on this string, passing the transaction fees off to the client so the processor collects it directly means that I don't pay tax on the fee because it is not revenue to me. If the client is aware it will add 2.5% or whatever the transaction fee is to the transaction to use a card a $100 bill will hit for $102.50.$

Completely transparent.

We don't accept plastic at my office so it makes no never mind to me. But I can see it's use and for what it is worth, would suggest leaving it up to the end user to configure.

Now, I am just a guy with idea's and no real skill to assist.

@wrongecho, thank you for the heads up and reasoning behind the decision.

Brantlab

I’m not trying to beat a dead horse here—I understand your stance after reading through this post. However, I have a suggestion: could you add a calculation on the invoice page showing the exact amount a client would need to pay to cover the Stripe processing fee?

I don’t have many clients who pay by card, but for the few who do, they’re happy to cover the fee in exchange for the convenience of not writing a check. If the system displayed this calculation, I could simply add a line item for the fee, making it easier for both me and my clients.

I get that it may not be worth the extra coding effort, but to me, this feels like a good compromise. It keeps the default stance unchanged while still accommodating those clients who don’t mind paying extra for the convenience.

The calculation would be straightforward:
If a client wants to pay $100 via Stripe, the total charge should account for Stripe’s 2.9% + $0.30 processing fee. The formula to determine the correct amount is:

So, the client would need to pay $103.34 for you to receive exactly $100 after Stripe’s fees.

Would this be possible to implement? It wouldn’t automatically add the fee, but it would at least provide the correct calculation for those clients who prefer to pay by card.

ChatGPT code but surely it would be possible
<?php

// Function to calculate total amount including Stripe fee

function calculateStripeTotal($amount) {

$stripe_fee_percentage = 0.029; // 2.9%

$stripe_fixed_fee = 0.30; // $0.30 per transaction

// Formula to get the correct total amount

$total_with_fee = ($amount + $stripe_fixed_fee) / (1 - $stripe_fee_percentage);

return number_format($total_with_fee, 2, '.', '');

}

// Example: Fetch invoice amount dynamically

$invoice_total = 100.00; // Replace this with the actual invoice total

$stripe_total = calculateStripeTotal($invoice_total);

?>

<div class="invoice-payment-info">

Original Invoice Total: $<?php echo number_format($invoice_total, 2); ?>

Amount to Cover Stripe Fee: $<?php echo $stripe_total; ?>

(This ensures you receive exactly $<?php echo number_format($invoice_total, 2); ?> after Stripe fees.)

</div>