Setup Fee
The setup fee is the one-time payment collected before any onboarding work begins. It covers the cost of building the client’s system, configuring their sub-account, and getting everything operational. Recurring billing does not start until 30 days after setup, giving the client time to see value before ongoing charges kick in.
Why This Matters
Without a setup fee, you are doing real work for free and hoping the client sticks around long enough for monthly billing to make it worthwhile. That is a losing bet. A meaningful percentage of clients will churn in the first 60 days regardless of how good your service is. The setup fee ensures you are compensated for the significant upfront labor of building their system.
The setup fee also functions as a commitment filter. Prospects who are willing to pay upfront are demonstrably more serious than those who want to “try it out first.” Free trials and waived setup fees attract price-shoppers who have no real investment in making the system work. A setup fee selects for clients who value their time and yours.
There is a psychological dimension here too. When someone pays a setup fee, they have skin in the game. They are more likely to show up to onboarding calls, provide requested materials on time, and engage with the system. Free clients are passive clients. Paying clients are invested clients.
How to Think About It
Price the setup fee to cover your actual cost of onboarding. Calculate the hours your team spends building a sub-account, configuring automations, importing contacts, setting up integrations, and running onboarding calls. Multiply by your internal hourly rate. That is your floor. You can price above that floor, but never below it.
The separation between setup fee and recurring billing is important to communicate clearly during the Demo Call. The prospect should understand exactly what they are paying now, what they will pay monthly, and when that monthly charge begins. No surprises. The 30-Day Billing delay is a genuine benefit you can highlight: they get the system built and running before recurring charges start.
Position the setup fee as an investment in the build, not an access fee. You are not charging them to log in. You are charging them for the hours of expert work required to build a custom system for their business. This framing matters because it ties the fee to tangible deliverables rather than abstract access.
Common Mistakes
Waiving the setup fee to close the deal. The moment you waive the fee for one client, you have established that the fee is negotiable. Word gets around, especially in local business communities. Hold the line on setup fees. If a prospect cannot afford it, they are not your client right now.
Setting the fee too low. If your setup fee does not cover the actual cost of onboarding, you are subsidizing every new client with margin from existing ones. This creates a growth trap where adding clients actually decreases profitability. Run the numbers honestly.
Not collecting it before starting work. Some agencies start building the sub-account before the setup fee clears, especially when the client “promises” the payment is coming. Do not do this. Payment first, work second. No exceptions. The Agreement Signature and setup fee collection must both be complete before your team touches anything.
Failing to explain what the fee covers. A setup fee with no context feels arbitrary. Walk the client through what their investment pays for: system configuration, automation setup, integration work, onboarding support. When they understand the scope, the price makes sense.
Tools Involved
Setup fee collection happens through GHL Payments or Stripe, typically via the same mechanism used for Live Payment or Payment Link. Once the payment completes, a GHL Workflow should trigger to update the client’s pipeline stage, notify your team, and begin the agreement process. The payment record becomes part of the client’s history in the CRM.
Where This Fits
The setup fee follows successful payment through either Live Payment or Payment Link. Once collected, it unlocks two parallel tracks: the Agreement Walkthrough and the start of the 30-Day Billing countdown. No onboarding work begins until this fee is collected and confirmed.
Common Questions
Should the setup fee be the same for every client? Start with a standard fee and keep it consistent. Variable pricing based on scope sounds logical but creates decision fatigue during the demo and opens the door to negotiation. If certain clients genuinely require more setup work, you can offer add-on packages rather than adjusting the base fee.
What if a client wants a refund on the setup fee? The setup fee is non-refundable once the Agreement Signature is complete. This is explicitly covered in the agreement and during the Agreement Walkthrough. The No-Refund Policy exists precisely for this situation. If you have communicated it clearly upfront, refund requests are rare.
Can I roll the setup fee into the monthly billing? You can, but you lose two advantages: the commitment filter and the cash flow protection. A rolled-in setup fee means you are doing work upfront and hoping to recoup it over months. If the client churns in month two, you have absorbed the setup cost entirely.