Stripe is an online payment processing system that can be configured directly through your BusyPaws account. By setting Stripe up on your account you can begin automating your invoicing and payment process. This helps save you and your team time, allowing you to focus on working with your clients and their pets rather than chasing down payments and manually reconciling invoices. In this guide we will take a look at everything you need to know about Stripe payments, from setup to payout!

If you have not yet configured Stripe on your account, you can do so by heading to your Payment Processing page. First, click or hover your mouse over the profile photo icon in the bottom-left corner of the page.

Then select "Payment Processing" from the account menu.

If you've not yet set Stripe up on your account, this page will list some basic information about Stripe payments and fees. To begin your setup, click the "Get Started" button located at the bottom of the page.

That will take you to the Stripe setup page. Ensure that the email address shown in the "Email" field is correct, then click the "Continue" button and follow the subsequent steps to set your bank account up to accept payments.

Once you have Stripe configured on your account and you begin taking customer payments, the Payment Processing page will display information about all of your Stripe payments and payouts. This page has two tabs at the top: "Charges" and "Payouts".

The "Charges" tab includes a list of all client payments that have been processed through Stripe. Each payment is listed with the client name, invoice number, total amount charged, processing fees, payout amount (i.e. amount charged minus processing fees), payment date, and payment status (charged or refunded). Select any charge to open its associated invoice.

The "Payouts" tab lists all previous and upcoming payouts, indicating money that has been or will be transferred into your account according to the payout schedule. Note that payouts are comprised of one or more customer payments less any processing fees. Each payout is listed with the payout date, status, and amount. All payouts will also include a CSV export button, allowing you to see a breakdown of the included payments.

Note that the "Actions" button menu at the top of the Payment Processing page has a couple of options relevant to your Stripe payments. Select "Update Banking Details" if ever you need to make changes or corrections to the banking information associated with your account. To purchase and configure a Stripe card reader, or see information about any card readers you have already set up on your account, select "Manage/Purchase Card Readers".

For more information on Stripe point-of-sale card card readers, check out the following help guides:

Once you have stripe set up on your account, payouts are deposited directly into your bank account following a rolling payout schedule. This schedule varies slightly depending on the country in which your business is located.

Keep in mind however that the first payout can take up to 14 days due to the account setup process and required fraud checks.

Each payment completed through Stripe is subject to payment processing fees. These fees are charged in the default currency you have selected on your Invoice & Payment Settings page. You may choose whether or not you wish to pass these fees along to your clients.

Before you begin processing client payments, it is important to consider if you want the payment processing fees to be passed to your clients. It is up to you whether you prefer to have your customers pay the processing fees on any of their invoices or absorb the cost of those fees yourself, perhaps adjusting the price of your services to reflect that.

To adjust this setting, start by clicking the gear icon in the bottom-left corner of the screen.

Then select "Invoices" in the "Production Configuration" section.

Locate the "Pass On Fees" toggle in the Payments section of your Invoice & Payment Settings page.

Turning the payment fee toggle ON (purple) results in the fees being passed on to clients when they make payments through Stripe (with the exception of membership payments). The processing fee will appear as an additional charge within the invoice total, much like taxes. Note that this will result in a slightly higher processing fee overall since the amount charged for the payment is larger.

Turning the toggle OFF (grey) prevents fees from being added to the total when clients are charged. Note that you will still be charged these fees. The resulting payout will always be the total paid by the client less the cost of the processing fee.

While on this page you will also likely want to take a look at setting up some tax rates, if you haven't already. That will ensure all appropriate taxes will be added to your invoices.

Should you prefer, you may choose to configure instant payouts for your Stripe account. This functionality allows you to manually trigger a Stripe payout rather than following the standard payout schedule. Signing up for instant payments allows you to receive a chosen payout amount within 30 minutes. Payouts triggered this way are subject to an additional 1.5% processing fee and have a daily maximum of $500. All funds on your Stripe account beyond the chosen instant payout amount will remain on the standard payout schedule.

To configure instant payments, click the "Pay out now" button on the "Get paid instantly" card on your Payment Processing page.

Then click the "Go to Express Dashboard" button in the resulting pop-up. After being redirected to your Stripe Express account follow the instructions to complete the setup process.
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With Stripe set up on your account, you can begin configuring the payment settings for each of your services and series. These settings are chosen for each service individually, allowing you to tailor your invoicing and payment process depending on your needs. To select the payment settings for a given service or series, first locate it on your Services page.

When Stripe is configured on your account, the Settings page for each service/series will include a "Payments" section. This section has a variety of toggles, allowing you to select what type of billing you want to occur during the client self-booking process.

Turning any of the payment toggles ON (purple) will result in the automatic creation of an invoice whenever a client self-books that service. Depending on the payment setting chosen, clients may also be required to provide payment to confirm their registration. When all of the payment toggles are turned OFF (grey) no invoice will be generated. That means clients will be able to self-book without payment and their invoice will need to be generated manually by a user.

Once a client has made one or more payments on an invoice, you will be able to reference those payments from that invoice's information page. All paid, partially paid, and refunded invoices have a "Show Payments" option in the "Actions" button menu at the top of their info page.

Selecting "Show Payments" opens a "Payments" pop-up, with information on all payments that have been made towards the invoice's total. Each payment is listed with the processing date, payment type, and amount charged. Stripe payments are listed with a green checkmark in the "Stripe" column, while non-Stripe payments (i.e. cash, cheque, or other payments processed manually) are listed with a grey "X".

When an invoice has had a refund processed, the amount returned to the client will be listed next to the initial charge.

Each payment also has a set of icons next to it, allowing you to perform certain actions pertaining to that payment's receipt. Click the eye icon to view the receipt, the paper airplane icon to send it to the client, or the printer icon to print a physical copy.

For more information on invoices, check out our guides on Invoice Basics, Invoicing From Customer Profiles, Booking Invoices, and How Clients View Invoices. To learn more about managing invoice payments manually (including processing payments using a stored card), see our guide on Manual Payment Processing.

Clients may choose to have their credit card information stored on their account, or may be required to do so depending on your service payment settings. This allows you to process Stripe payments on their card manually, if need be.

Most often, clients add stored card information to their customer profile by selecting the "Yes, keep my card on file for future use" option when entering their payment information during the self-booking or invoice payment process.

If a customer is self-booking a service that requires a card on file, they will be prompted to enter it during the final step of their registration.

Stored card information may also be manually added to a customer profile by a user. To add a credit card for a client, start by navigating to their Customer Profile page. With Stripe set up on your account, each client profile will have a payment information section located just below their addresses, memberships, and custom field data. Click the pink "Add Credit Card to File" button to add new payment information.

Enter the card number, expiry date, and CVC, then click "Add Card".

Once Stripe has validated the card, a green checkmark icon will appear in the card entry area. Note that this process may take a few moments.

The card will then be listed under "Stored Cards". Use the "Delete" button to the right of any card to remove its information from the customer's profile. Note that you may use the "Add Credit Card to File" button to add as many cards as desired.

When a client has a stored card saved to their profile, users are able to process Stripe invoice payments manually. After selecting the "Process Payment" button for an invoice, setting the payment type to "Credit", and turning the "Process via Stripe" toggle on (purple), users can select one of the client's stored cards. By selecting a card and clicking the "Process Payment" button, a Stripe payment will be put through on the chosen card.

Note that users can also use the "New Card" button to add a new stored card to the customer's profile and charge the payment to that card.

If the customer does not yet have a stored card saved to their profile, enabling the "Process via Stripe" toggle will simply populate a card entry field.

For a more detailed look at putting invoice payments through manually, check out our guide on Manual Payment Processing.

Note that clients can also choose to put payments through on their stored card when logged into their Private Client Portal account. When a customer is logged in during self-booking, and if the selected service requires payment, the payment step will present them with the option of using their stored card or adding a new one.

Customers also have the option of using their stored card to pay invoices. While logged in, the Pay by Credit Card section for their invoice will include their stored card(s) as well as the option of adding a new card.

Stripe payments play a significant role in helping to automate and streamline your booking, invoicing, and payment processes. By configuring automatic invoicing you and your team will no longer need to generate and reconcile invoices for every client that books with you. When you automate the process even further by requiring payment during client self-booking, you can avoid the time consuming task of tracking which clients and which bookings still have outstanding payments. Additionally, configuring Stripe on your account allows you to sell memberships with automatic, recurring payments to your clients.

For more information about handling different types payments (i.e. cash, cheque, etc.), check out our guide on Manual Payment Processing. To learn more about refunds, check out our guide on Processing Refunds. If your business is processing 20-30% of your payments in person, you may find it helpful to set up a Stripe Point-of-Sale card reader. For more information on purchasing and configuring a PoS, check out the following help guides: