Credit Card or ACH Payments on Customer Invoices

Background

Patriot Software has partnered with Stripe to offer credit card merchant services to Accounting software customers so that your customers can pay their invoices by ACH, credit card, Apple Pay or Google Wallet.

If you don’t yet have an account with Stripe, your first step will be to apply for an account. Otherwise, you can connect your Stripe account to your accounting software. Check out our help article on how to get started “How to Set Up Stripe for Processing Payments on Customer Invoices.”

Accepting Credit Card or ACH Payments on Customer Invoices

To accept credit card payments on customer invoices you will need to have set up a Stripe account for credit card payments and connected the Stripe account to your accounting software.

You can indicate you want to accept credit card payments two ways:

1. In the payment processor settings in your account
   • Read about how to default payment links on invoice on our help article, “How to Set Up Stripe for Processing Payments on Customer Invoices.” You can change this anytime if needed.  
2. After you created the customer invoice when you’re emailing your customer invoice.
   • Click the check box “Include Stripe Payment Link”
   • Check the Accepted Payment types you will be willing to be paid through
     • ACH
     • Credit Card (Includes Apple Pay and Google Wallet)

What Happens Next: Invoices Paid Through Stripe

When you have included the Stripe Payment link on the invoice and sent the invoice email to the customer:

1. Your customer will receive an email with the Subject: Invoice {number} from {Your Company}.
   • The email name will read “On behalf of {Your Company}“; the email address will be from invoices@patriotsoftware.com, or invoices@approvepayroll.com.
2. When the “Pay Invoice” button is clicked, a new browser tab will open with a screen for the customer to select their preferred payment type, (if applicable), and enter their payment information.

Customer Payments Through Credit Card

1. If you send multiple invoices to a customer, the customer will need to enter their credit card and billing contact info each time unless they are using an express checkout option such as Google Pay and Apple Pay.
   • The integration to Google Pay and Apple Pay is seamlessly integrated with your accounting software.
2. Customers will immediately see whether a payment was declined or successful.
3. An email will be sent if you have opted to receive email notifications when a customer has paid the invoice.

Customer Payments Through ACH Direct Debit

1. Clicking the “Pay Invoice” button will open a secure payment form in their browser where they can enter their payment information.
2. If paying by ACH your customer will need to verify their bank information. There are two ways they can do this:
   • Instant Verification: Customers can securely link their bank account instantly. Stripe charges $1.50 for this service.
   • Manual Entry: Customers can manually enter their bank details, which takes 1-2 business days to verify, with no additional charges.
3. An email will be sent if you have opted to receive email notifications on your Payment Processor Settings:
   • Payment Received – when a customer has successfully made an ACH Direct Debit payment to your invoice.
   • Payment Failed – when a customer ACH Direct Debit payment has failed. You can check your Stripe dashboard for more information regarding why the payment failed.

Automated Recording of Payments Made Through Stripe

After a customer payment is made, the software will automatically recorded on your selected asset account and customer invoices.

• If you are using the manage transaction feature, dismiss any Stripe bank transactions to avoid duplicate transactions.
• Only payments made using the payment link included in the invoice email will be reflected in your customer invoice and payment summary reports.

Why isn’t the amount paid by Stripe the same as the invoiced amount?

Remember that Stripe will send the customer payment amount LESS their fee:
Credit card fees: $0.30 + 2.9% to your bank account.
ACH fees: Stipe ACH Direct Debit fees are 0.8%, with a maximum of $5.00 per transaction, plus $1.50 if the customer uses the instant bank account verification.

Stripe Processing Fee Calculator

How to Inactivate a Payment Link

If you need to manually record an invoice payment for an invoice that is set to accept a credit card or ACH payment. You'll want to disable the link to avoid duplicate transactions.

1. Access the customer invoice by going to the Invoice list: Accounting > Receivables> Invoices.
2. Find the customer invoice and click the "cog" under the the Action column to "View Details."
3. Inactivate the payment links by clicking the toggle prevent double payments located at the top of the invoice details.

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