Square vs Stripe Fee Conventions: Why They Matter for QuickBooks

Square records fees as negative numbers (e.g., -$0.30) while Stripe records them as positive numbers (e.g., +$0.30). This seemingly minor difference breaks QuickBooks imports if you don't handle it correctly.

TL;DR - The Key Difference

Stripe: Gross - Fee = Net (fees are positive: $100 - $3.20 = $96.80)
Square: Gross + Fee = Net (fees are negative: $100 + (-$2.75) = $97.25)

Both conventions produce the same result - the net is less than the gross - but the sign of the fee value differs.

Why This Matters for Accountants

When you export CSV data from Stripe and Square, the fee column has opposite signs. This causes three major problems:

QuickBooks imports fail because negative fees don't match positive fee conventions (or vice versa)
Reconciliation breaks when you combine Square and Stripe data in the same spreadsheet
Journal entries are wrong if you treat both the same way in your accounting software

Side-by-Side Comparison

Aspect	Stripe	Square
Fee Sign	Positive (+$3.20)	Negative (-$2.75)
Formula	Gross - Fee = Net	Gross + Fee = Net
Example	$100 - $3.20 = $96.80	$100 + (-$2.75) = $97.25
CSV Column Header	`fee`	`Fee` or `Processing Fee`
Refund Fee Behavior	Fee = $0 (original fee NOT refunded)	Fee = $0 (original fee NOT refunded)

Stripe's Positive Fee Convention

Stripe stores fees as positive numbers. In the Balance Transaction CSV export, you'll see:

gross,fee,net
100.00,3.20,96.80

The formula is: gross - fee = net (100.00 - 3.20 = 96.80)

This convention treats the fee as an absolute cost that gets subtracted from revenue. It's mathematically clearer for most people.

Square's Negative Fee Convention

Square stores fees as negative numbers. In the Transactions CSV export, you'll see:

Gross Amount,Fee,Net Amount
100.00,-2.75,97.25

The formula is: gross + fee = net (100.00 + (-2.75) = 97.25)

This convention shows the fee as a negative adjustment to your balance - it directly represents the impact on your cash.

Impact on QuickBooks Imports

QuickBooks Online's bank transaction import expects negative amounts for money OUT. This creates a problem:

Square fees are already negative (-$2.75) - they work naturally with QBO's expectation
Stripe fees are positive (+$3.20) - they must be converted to negative before import

Common Mistake

Importing Stripe fees without converting them to negative values causes fees to appear as income instead of expenses. This will make your books wildly inaccurate.

How TrestleFinance Handles This

TrestleFinance automatically detects which payment processor you're using and applies the correct conversion:

Stripe Processing

Detects positive fee values
Converts to negative for QBO bank import
Creates proper expense journal entries

Square Processing

Detects negative fee values
Preserves sign for QBO bank import
Creates proper expense journal entries

Manual Conversion (If You Must)

If you're converting manually in Excel or Google Sheets:

For Stripe: Multiply the fee column by -1 (e.g., =B2*-1)
For Square: No conversion needed - fees are already negative
Verify your totals: gross - |fee| should equal net

Using Both Square and Stripe?

Many businesses accept payments through both Square and Stripe. When combining data:

Normalize first: Convert Stripe fees to negative before combining
Keep separate: Tag transactions with the source processor
Reconcile individually: Match each processor to its bank deposits

TrestleFinance exports include a "Provider" column in the normalized CSV, making it easy to filter and reconcile separately.

Summary

Key Takeaways

Stripe uses positive fees with subtraction (gross - fee = net)
Square uses negative fees with addition (gross + fee = net)
QuickBooks expects negative values for money OUT
Convert Stripe fees to negative before importing to QBO