Amanda Devos 
Many e-commerce sellers use Merchant One for credit card processing without any issue. However, others find that the company’s fee transparency is lacking, and the costs often run higher than intended. Even though the site lists out qualifying rates and monthly fees, the fine print states that your merchant processing agreement overrides the published rates, … Read more
A credit card is often a business owner’s payment method of choice. You can save money with generous points and cashback rewards, and they offer distinct advantages for your overall cash flow strategy, like float — the time between making a purchase and the funds leaving your bank account. Also, paying with a card is … Read more
If you’ve been using Gravity Payments for a while but are looking to switch to a different processor, you’re not alone. While it works for many small business owners, you may encounter hiccups that prompt you to seek another solution. Gravity Payments’s integrations are limited and complex, its pricing transparency is lacking (particularly for online … Read more
Magento has been a mainstay in e-commerce for a long time. Whether you’ve been around since before Magento Commerce rebranded to Adobe Commerce, use Magento Open Source, or are new to the platform entirely, you’re in good company — particularly with larger enterprises desiring personalization and scalability. But the choice of storefront is only one … Read more
Cash flow is a constant worry at small businesses. Even if you’re maintaining a cash buffer and smartly using credit for purchases, there’s only so long that these strategies will work on their own. It’s common sense, but if you want your business to survive, you’ll need to collect payment from your customers. Of course, … Read more
If you’ve spent any amount of time curating the optimal finance stack for your business, you’ve probably come across both Melio and Relay. Relay is mostly known for its bank accounts and credit card, but it can also take care of a lot of the basics on the AP and AR sides. Melio isn’t a … Read more
In August 2024, Google Ads made a drastic policy change: certain high-growth accounts were suddenly no longer permitted to pay with a credit card. Unfortunately, this was the preferred payment method for many due to the ability to earn points and rewards. When you’re spending hundreds of thousands on ads each year, rewards add up … Read more
On April 1, 2026, Meta made a drastic change to its payments policy for select advertisers by no longer accepting credit cards. Those affected received very short notice (less than a month) and scrambled to reconfigure their AP processes. If your business was caught up in this change and you’re missing the rewards and flexibility … Read more
For the most part, only businesses with gross receipts beyond a certain threshold ($32 million for 2026) are required to use accrual accounting for tax purposes, so it’s not surprising that most SMBs maintain cash books instead. However, accrual accounting paints a more accurate picture of financial health compared to cash. It allows for detailed … Read more
The U.S. Bank—owned Elavon is one of the largest and most established payment processors out there. With over 30 years in the industry and more than 1.5 million merchant customers worldwide, it has a proven track record of reliability. Elavon supports a wide range of payment types, including credit, debit, mobile, and contactless, and its … Read more
Stax is a leading payment processor that’s unique from many others in that it uses subscription-based pricing. You pay a fixed monthly fee each month to keep transaction fees low, with the idea being that if your transaction volume is high enough, it will more than pay for the subscription fee and save you a … Read more
Braintree has earned its place as a strong payment processor that supports a wide range of payment methods, has a powerful and developer-friendly API, and comes with a global reach that makes it a natural fit for cross-border transactions. For businesses that fit squarely within its sweet spot, it’s a capable and well-documented platform. However, … Read more
Many small business owners are moving away from traditional bookkeeping solutions like QuickBooks and toward AI-native accounting software platforms, which have become particularly appealing to SMBs due to their ability to streamline manual work, save time, and improve accuracy. Several competitors have emerged to meet this demand, with a couple of the most prominent being … Read more
Recurring revenue is the backbone of any SaaS business, so having reliable MRR tracking is non-negotiable. Most analytics platforms simply won’t cut it in this area. They tend to be tailored toward your run-of-the-mill mom and pops that want to look more at gross margin and operating cash flow, not cutting-edge startups that need rich … Read more
On the surface, Nickel and Melio look pretty similar. Both payment platforms are geared toward SMBs, let you pay your vendors and collect payment from customers, and integrate with accounting and bookkeeping software. But while they have a lot of the same capabilities, there are also some notable distinctions between the two. Here’s a look … Read more
False declines (when legitimate customer transactions get blocked) can silently drain your revenue and hurt customer trust. You’re working hard to attract and retain customers, only for your payment processor or bank to flag a real purchase as suspicious. The most obvious impact is lost revenue, but the ripple effects go further. False declines can … Read more