Take online card payments
Your customers can pay invoices online by card, straight from the invoice email. Payments are processed by Stripe on its secure hosted checkout, and the money settles into your own Stripe account — Sales Scribe never holds your money. When a payment arrives, the invoice is marked paid, the accounting entries post automatically, and your customer receives a payment receipt by email.
Set it up (one-time, owner or admin)
- Go to Settings → Online payments.
- Connect Stripe — there are two ways, and both end in the same place:
- Set up a new Stripe account — if you're new to Stripe. You'll be walked through Stripe's own guided setup (business details, bank account, identity checks) and returned here when it's done.
- Connect an existing account — if your business already uses Stripe, sign in and authorise Sales Scribe to take payments on your behalf.
- Once the page shows Connected, choose the bank account Stripe pays out into under Payouts → "Stripe pays out to". This lets Sales Scribe reconcile each Stripe payout automatically (see below). Only your active bank accounts are listed: Stripe pays out to a bank, so cash and credit card accounts are not offered.
You can disconnect at any time from the same page; online payment stops immediately and your invoices fall back to showing your bank details.
[Screenshot required: Settings → Online payments showing the Connected state and the payout bank selector]
What your customer sees
Emailed invoices gain a Pay button (alongside the usual view link). Clicking it shows the invoice and a Proceed to Secure Payment button, which takes the customer to Stripe's checkout — card details are entered on Stripe's page and never touch Sales Scribe. After paying they return to the invoice, which shows Payment received once the money is confirmed. If they cancel, nothing is charged and they can try again.
The confirmation is driven by your accounts, not by the customer's browser: the invoice only ever shows as paid when Stripe has actually confirmed the money.
When your customer cannot pay online
If the payment cannot start, your customer is told why before anything reaches Stripe, and nothing is charged:
- "This payment link is no longer valid." — the link does not lead to an invoice any more (for example it was mistyped, or the invoice was deleted). Send them the invoice again for a fresh link.
- "There is nothing left to pay on invoice …" — it has already been paid, or credited, in full.
- "Invoice … can no longer be paid." — it has been voided or written off. If they should still pay, raise a new invoice.
- "This business isn't set up to accept online card payments yet." — your Stripe account is not connected (see Set it up above); your customer is asked to pay by another method on the invoice.
What happens in your accounts — automatically
- The payment is recorded, posted, and allocated to the invoice, which becomes Paid.
- The money is held in a Stripe payouts clearing account (an "undeposited funds" account) — because Stripe holds your takings briefly before paying them out.
- Stripe's processing fee is booked as an expense at the same time, so the clearing account holds exactly the net amount Stripe will pay out, and your profit and loss shows the true cost of the sale.
- When Stripe pays out to your bank, the payout is booked automatically (bank in, clearing out) — the clearing account empties as real money arrives.
- Your customer is emailed a payment receipt.
You don't need to record or reconcile any of this by hand.
Refunds and disputes
- To return money to a customer's card, use Refund via Stripe on the payment — see Refund or reverse a payment.
- If a customer disputes a charge with their bank (a chargeback), Sales Scribe tracks it and warns you — see Chargebacks and disputes.
Notes
- Online payment is offered only on issued invoices with an outstanding balance, and only while your Stripe account is connected.
- The customer pays the invoice's full outstanding balance (partial online payment isn't available yet).
- Stripe's processing fee is deducted by Stripe from each payment; the payout you receive is the net.