Do I have to go through Security Metrics for PCI Compliance? I only take a few small payments per month.

Yes, @sean103. It's required to participate and complete the security metrics for PCI compliance when accepting payments in QuickBooks Online (QBO). Completing this will help you prevent penalties, audit costs, and additional restrictions. I will provide more details below to offer further insights.
 

Intuit and QuickBooks offerings are also listed to be compliant with the PCI Security Standards Council website. Although QuickBooks applications are secure, additional applications on your local computer or network may jeopardize your security environment. Moreover, utilizing QuickBooks Payments services does not ensure automatic PCI compliance. By acquiring this, you are safe from possible penalties, audit costs, and other potential restrictions when accepting payments. For more information about PCI DSS compliance, please refer to these articles:
 

• Learn about QuickBooks PCI Compliance
• Learn about the PCI DSS Compliance Services

Moving forward, it can be helpful for you to learn about the way QuickBooks Payments handles bank data and transactions. For more detailed information, please refer to this article: Learn about Level 3 data processing in QuickBooks Payments.

I'm always at your service to help clear out details regarding PCI compliance and how you can complete it. Feel free to post additional inquiries regarding QuickBooks as well. Rest assured, I'll always be available and will respond promptly. Stay safe and take care.

I just chatted with a Quickbooks agent online and she said I do not need to pay them any money and that I can just tell them I am CPI compliant. 

@sean103   If you accept credit cards for ANY amount, you MUST be PCI compliant. 

However, you do NOT have to, nor should you use Security Metrics.  They are extremely expensive, mean, dishonest and bullies.  

There are a large number of other companies out there that you can, and should look into.  

You can also do it yourself, as it would save money.