specification: FinOps Framework
specificationVersion: '1.0'
schema: https://www.finops.org/framework/
provider: Dodo Payments
providerId: dodo-payments
created: '2026-06-21'
modified: '2026-06-21'
reconciled: true
tags:
- Payments
- Merchant of Record
- Subscriptions
- Billing
- Global Commerce
- FinOps
- Cost Management
- FOCUS
description: >-
  FinOps view of Dodo Payments merchant-of-record (MoR) cost of acceptance.
  Dodo deducts a percentage-plus-fixed fee per transaction with additive
  surcharges for international payments, subscriptions, and certain payment
  methods, then settles the net to the merchant. Refunds ($1), disputes
  ($30), and small/SWIFT payouts carry flat fees. Because Dodo is the seller
  of record, it also collects and remits global sales tax / VAT / GST, which
  is passed through rather than retained by the merchant.
notes: >-
  MoR fees are netted out of settlement, not invoiced monthly; reconcile
  actual fees against the per-payout breakup (and breakup CSV) from the
  Payouts API. Verify current rates on the Dodo Payments pricing page.
sources:
- https://dodopayments.com/pricing
- https://docs.dodopayments.com
- https://focus.finops.org/focus-specification/v1-3/
alignedWith:
  framework: FinOps Foundation Framework
  frameworkUrl: https://www.finops.org/framework/
  dataSpec: FOCUS
  dataSpecVersion: '1.3'
  dataSpecUrl: https://focus.finops.org/focus-specification/v1-3/
publisherName: Dodo Payments
serviceCategory: Payments and Commerce
billingModel:
  pricingCategory: Usage-Based
  billingFrequency: Per-Transaction
  billingCurrency: USD
  chargeCategories:
  - Usage
  - Purchase
  - Refund
  - Adjustment
focusColumns:
  ServiceName: Dodo Payments
  ServiceCategory: Payments and Commerce
  ProviderName: Dodo Payments
  PublisherName: Dodo Payments
  InvoiceIssuerName: Dodo Payments
  BillingCurrency: USD
  ChargeCategory: Usage
  PricingCategory: Usage-Based
meters:
- name: transaction_volume
  description: Gross transaction amount processed, billed at the base percentage rate.
  unit: currency
  aggregation: sum
  dimensions:
  - account
  - currency
  - geo
- name: transaction_count
  description: Number of transactions, billed at the fixed per-transaction fee.
  unit: transactions
  aggregation: sum
  dimensions:
  - account
  - product_type
- name: international_surcharge
  description: Additive 1.5% surcharge on payments outside the domestic region.
  unit: currency
  aggregation: sum
  dimensions:
  - account
  - geo
- name: subscription_surcharge
  description: Additive 0.5% surcharge applied to recurring subscription transactions.
  unit: currency
  aggregation: sum
  dimensions:
  - account
- name: payment_method_surcharge
  description: Additive surcharge for BNPL and PayPal payment methods (+3%).
  unit: currency
  aggregation: sum
  dimensions:
  - account
  - payment_method
- name: refund_fees
  description: Flat $1 fee per refund issued.
  unit: refunds
  aggregation: sum
  dimensions:
  - account
- name: dispute_fees
  description: Flat $30 fee per dispute / chargeback.
  unit: disputes
  aggregation: sum
  dimensions:
  - account
- name: payout_fees
  description: Payout fees ($5 under $1,000; $25 USD SWIFT) deducted at settlement.
  unit: payouts
  aggregation: sum
  dimensions:
  - account
  - payout_method
- name: usage_billing_events
  description: Metered usage events ingested, billed at $1 per 1M events.
  unit: events
  aggregation: sum
  dimensions:
  - account
  - meter
- name: tax_collected_remitted
  description: Sales tax / VAT / GST collected and remitted by Dodo as merchant of record (pass-through).
  unit: currency
  aggregation: sum
  dimensions:
  - account
  - jurisdiction
principles:
- name: Visibility
  description: Pull the per-payout breakup and breakup CSV from the Payouts API to see gross sales, fees, taxes, and net settlement per period.
- name: Allocation
  description: Tag payments and subscriptions with metadata (team, product, workload) and map settlement fees back to those cost centers.
- name: Optimization
  description: Steer customers toward lower-surcharge payment methods where appropriate, batch payouts above the $1,000 threshold to avoid the small-payout fee, and reduce disputes/refunds to cut flat fees.
- name: Accountability
  description: Review effective take rate (total fees / gross volume) monthly against forecast and assign owners per product line.
maintainers:
- FN: Kin Lane
  email: kin@apievangelist.com