Let your customers pay an invoice by debit or credit card, right from the page they open to view it. You connect your own Stripe account: the money goes from your customer's card to your Stripe account, then on to your bank. We never hold your money and we add no fee — Stripe's usual card fee is the only cost.
Before You Start
- You need the Manage Receivables permission (the organization owner always has it). With View Receivables you can see how card payments are set up, but not change them.
- Have your business details to hand: your business's legal name and address, your tax number, and the bank account you want card payments paid into. Stripe asks for these.
Set Up Card Payments
- Open Settings, then My Account, and choose the Receivables tab.
- Scroll down to Accept Card Payments and click Set Up With Stripe.
- Stripe's own pages open. Answer its questions about your business and where to send the money. It takes about ten minutes. If you already have a Stripe account, you can sign in to it.
- When you finish, Stripe sends you back to the Receivables tab, and the card shows where you stand.
If you stop part-way, nothing is lost: the card shows Finish Setting Up, and Continue Setup takes you back to the same spot with Stripe.
What Each Status Means
- Not Set Up — no Stripe account is connected. Customers don't see Pay by Card.
- Finish Setting Up — you started with Stripe but didn't finish. Click Continue Setup.
- Stripe Is Reviewing — Stripe has your details and is checking them. This usually takes a few minutes, sometimes a day or two. Click Check Again to see if it's done; Stripe also emails you if it needs anything.
- Taking Card Payments — you're all set. Customers see Pay by Card on every invoice that still has a balance.
- Needs Attention — Stripe needs more information before it can keep taking payments for you. The card lists what's still needed; click Fix With Stripe to provide it.
- Turned Off — you turned card payments off. Click Turn Back On whenever you like.
A Test Mode — No Real Money Moves badge means card payments are running on Stripe's practice system: only Stripe's test cards work, and no real money moves.
What Your Customer Sees
When an invoice still has a balance, the invoice page shows a Pay by Card button. Your customer pays in a minute, and the payment is recorded on the invoice for you, just like one you record yourself with Record Payment.
- A work order's invoice: the payment appears on the invoice's Payments list as a card payment, and the invoice shows as paid.
- A retail order's invoice: the payment is taken on the order itself, exactly like Take Payment — the order moves to Paid, and its invoice is marked paid from it. Pay by Card shows only while the order is still unpaid.
- Everyone with View Receivables gets an Invoice Paid Online notification.
Paying part of the balance
On a work order's invoice, your customer can click Pay part of the balance under Pay by Card and type any amount from $1.00 up to what is due. The rest stays on the invoice, which shows Partly Paid, and they can pay it later the same way. Kamo checks the amount against the balance at the moment they press pay, so nobody can pay more than is owed.
A retail order's invoice is always paid in full: its card payment is the order's own payment, which moves the order to Paid. Customers who want to pay a retail order in parts pay you the usual way.
Only one card payment page is open for an invoice at a time. If your customer starts paying one amount and then chooses another, the first page is closed, so the same balance can never be paid twice.
If a card payment arrives after the invoice was already settled another way (for example you recorded a cash payment while your customer was paying by card), nothing is lost: the payment is still recorded, the notification says A card payment needs a refund, and you give the difference back from your Stripe dashboard, then record it with Record Refund.
Email Customers a Receipt
The Email Customers A Receipt switch sends your customer a receipt by email when they pay online. It's off to start with; when it's off, they see the receipt on the invoice page only. Turn it on if customers often ask you for proof of payment.
Turn Card Payments Off
Click Turn Off Card Payments and confirm. The Pay by Card button disappears from your invoices straight away. Payments already made are not affected, and your Stripe account and its history stay yours — you can turn card payments back on at any time.
Tips
- Card payments and the bank details at the top of the Receivables tab work side by side: customers can still pay you by bank transfer.
- Questions about a payout or a card fee are answered in your Stripe dashboard, since the money is in your own Stripe account.