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# Why does the "ChefMaison fee" in Stripe look higher than my commission?

If you've checked a payment in Stripe and the "ChefMaison fee" looks much bigger than your commission rate, here's exactly what's included in that number — and why looking at a single transaction can be misleading.
## What's actually inside the "ChefMaison fee"
The fee Stripe shows as "ChefMaison fee" (or application fee) on a transaction isn't only your commission. It also includes the service fee ChefMaison charges the client on top of your quote — this covers secure payment processing, handling any disputes or refunds, and running the platform — and, if the client added it, cancellation insurance. All of these are **charged to the client,** not deducted from your payout; they're simply processed together in the same transaction, which is why they appear combined in that one Stripe field.
Your actual commission is set out in our [Commission & VAT](https://help.chefmaison.com/en/article/commission-vat-1vrop78/) article, and it's always calculated on your proposal amount — never on the client's total, and never on a single transaction.
## Why the client's total is higher than your proposal
Because of the service fee (and optional cancellation insurance), the amount the client actually pays at checkout is higher than your proposal.
||| This is normal — it doesn't change your payout.
## Why a single transaction can look wrong
If a client pays via deposit (30% upfront, balance due 15 days before the event), the deposit is 30% of the client's total checkout amount — not 30% of your proposal. And the full commission plus the full service fee for the entire booking are deducted at the deposit stage, in one go — they aren't split proportionally between the deposit and the balance.
This is exactly where the confusion usually comes from: chefs see a transaction of, say, €306 with "€170 commission" taken from it, and assume we charged 55% commission. That's not what happened — the commission on this example booking was always 15% of the full €1,000 proposal. It's simply that the deposit transaction contains the *entire* commission and service fee for the whole booking, not a proportional share.
### Example
Your proposal is **€1,000**, with a 15% commission (€150). With ChefMaison's service fee added, the client's total checkout amount is **€1,020**. The client pays by deposit: 30% upfront, 70% as the balance 15 days before the event.
|  | Deposit payment | Balance payment |
| ---- | ---- | ---- |
| Amount paid by client | €306 (30% of €1,020) | €714 (70% of €1,020) |
| ChefMaison fee (Stripe) | €170 (€150 commission + €20 service fee) | €0 |
| Net to chef | €136 | €714 |

Looked at on its own, the deposit transaction seems to show a 55% fee (€170 out of €306) — far more than your actual 15% commission. It isn't: the full commission and service fee for the whole booking were simply deducted upfront, on the first payment. Once the client pays the balance, you'll see the full remaining amount with nothing further deducted. Add both transactions together and the numbers are correct: **€850 net**, exactly matching a 15% commission on your €1,000 proposal.
## What actually matters
Instead of checking each individual Stripe transaction, the number to look at is your total proposal value against your total payout for the booking:
**Proposal amount − your commission = your payout.**
Everything else that shows up in Stripe — service fee, cancellation insurance — belongs to the client's side of the transaction, not yours, and it's only once the client has paid in full that you'll see your full payout reflected.
> 💡 Don't judge your earnings by a single Stripe line, especially on a deposit payment. Compare your proposal amount to your total payout for the full booking — that's the number that reflects your actual commission.