The treatment is finished. Whether the invoice is too gets decided at the front desk.
Self-pay services at the doctor’s office, higher fees under Germany’s veterinary fee schedule: more and more is paid directly in the practice — and every invoice that leaves the building instead is a risk. A good terminal at the front desk turns treatments into paid treatments: discreet, immediate, no collections. Which one fits your practice is what our free comparison shows.
What makes the difference in your business
Discretion is part of the treatment
At the front desk, the waiting room is listening. A self-pay service that has to be discussed up front and settled in exact cash quickly becomes an awkward moment — for patients and team alike. Card payment reduces the transaction to a brief tap. Placement is what matters: if the device faces the patient, nobody has to say an amount out loud — and discretion doesn’t end at the counter.
After the fee schedule revision: collect while the patient is still there
Since Germany’s veterinary fee schedule was revised in 2022, vet invoices are noticeably higher — and the old habit of sending the invoice home has become correspondingly more expensive. The best moment for payment is right after treatment: the animal is cared for, the service fresh in mind, willingness to pay high. A terminal makes that the default — including in emergency service, when hardly anyone carries three-figure amounts in cash.
On three-figure invoices, every decimal counts
Terminal rates like to be sold on small sample amounts. In practice it’s the other way around: on a €600 surgery invoice, it’s not the minimum fee that decides but the percentage — and whether payment runs through girocard (Germany’s debit card) or a credit card makes a noticeable difference at those sums. If you know your typical invoice sizes, you negotiate different rates than the average customer.
No collections is the best collections
Every open receivable costs three times over: liquidity, staff time — and the relationship with people who will be sitting in your waiting room again next week. If you collect at the front desk, there’s nobody to send reminders to. The rest is workflow: ideally the amount travels from your practice software to the terminal rather than from memory to the keypad, and the daily close reconciles cleanly with your statement. If a cash register runs alongside, Germany’s Cash Register Security Ordinance applies — in a practice too.
Germany’s veterinary fee schedule was revised in 2022, and fees have risen since. The higher the invoice, the more expensive every one that leaves the building unpaid.
Send us your latest terminal statement — or simply tell us your typical invoice amounts. We’ll work out which rates are realistic for your practice: free, independent, no strings attached.
Get your comparison