$ FairRate Audit
I run a:Retail storeRestaurantQuick-service / caféHotelGrocery / convenienceServices / salon

Interactive tool · Canadian small business

What should your tech stack cost?

Pick your sector, tell us about your business, and build your stack item by item. Every figure comes from published pricing and is labeled by confidence — then see what the numbers say and get a free audit of your real costs.

Start building your stack

1 · Pick your sector

The catalog, suggestions, and floor-plan map reconfigure for each sector.

Estimate is fine — or skip it. If you enter it, every cost below is also shown as a % of revenue, benchmarked against sector norms.

2 · Answer 3 quick questions

We build a realistic starting setup from your answers — every number stays adjustable below.

Drives handhelds, POS stations, kitchen screens.
Adds a bar POS station.
Apps add aggregator tablets + commission math.

Your business basics

These drive per-location / per-employee pricing — not the auto-build above.

Auto-set from your answers — editable.
Auto-set from your answers — editable.
From your processor statements if you have them.
Your effective rate. Don't know it? 2.65% is a typical flat rate — an estimate, not your number.

3 · Build your stack

Tick what you have (or plan to get). Quantities adjust per item.

Official vendor's own price Reported reputable third-party Estimate our reasonable estimate Illustrative purchase ÷ 36 mo
Zero-effort path: fills in a normal configuration for your sector. A starting point — not a recommendation. Adjust to match yours.

✅ What you actually need

The core stack — real, verified, useful. Start here.

🔌 Infrastructure — the network layer

Wires, Wi-Fi, firewall, internet. Upfront costs shown as monthly equivalents (÷ 36), clearly labeled.

How things connect — handled for you
Fixed gear (POS stations, terminals, kitchen screens, printers, scanners, scales) is wired by default — reliability beats everything at the till. Tablets go on Wi-Fi. Guest Wi-Fi is on or off depending on what's normal for your sector (toggle it below). We add the cable runs and switch ports automatically — every auto-added item tells you why it's there.

🧸 Toys — nice to have

Genuinely useful for some, a luxury for most. Same honest pricing, visually de-emphasized.

Your floor plan

Schematic — icons appear as you add items. Not to scale.

Estimated total$0/mo

Estimates from published pricing (see confidence labels). Hardware shown as illustrative monthly equivalents (purchase ÷ 36). Not quotes — your free audit measures your real numbers.

Illustrative — not a promise

What you're paying in processing fees right now

$0 / month

Based on the volume and rate you entered above. A 0.5% saving is a common audit finding used here only to show the math — your statements decide the real number.

Know your real numbers?

This simulator runs on published prices and estimates. Your statements tell the true story — send us 3–6 months and we'll measure exactly what you're paying, free.

Get your free processing audit