Accept online payments

2:17

Accept Online Payments (2:17 video). Open on its own page

Requirements before you connect

• An active paid subscription. Connecting Stripe is not available during the free trial — trial companies see "Accepting payments comes with a plan" and a "Choose a plan" button on the Payments page. This is a fraud-prevention rule: Pool Founder carries the dispute liability on connected accounts. Everything else you build during the trial (customers, routes, jobs, invoices) is saved — you just can't turn on live card processing until you pick a plan. Companies that already finished Stripe onboarding keep their access.
• Owner or Administrator. Connecting needs the "Connect the company Stripe account" permission, which only Owners and Administrators have by default. Anyone else sees "Only an owner can connect payments" in place of the connect buttons — an Office Manager or Bookkeeper cannot connect Stripe.

Connect Stripe

1. 1Open Billing in the sidebar and pick the Payments tab (or search "Payments & Deposits" with ⌘K).
2. 2Choose Create New Account (a guided 5-minute Stripe Express setup — recommended) or Connect Existing Account (sign in to an existing Stripe account via OAuth).

The Payments page once connected

After onboarding finishes, the Payments page switches to a "Payments Connected" state showing your account details:

• Account ID — your Stripe account identifier (handy when contacting Stripe support).
• Status — shows Active when the account is ready to accept payments.
• Account Type — Express (managed) if you created a new account, or Standard (existing) if you linked one you already had.
• Open Stripe Dashboard — opens your Stripe dashboard in a new tab to see individual charges and disputes.
• Deposits — every Stripe deposit (payout) to your bank, not the deposits customers pay on work orders, expandable into a customer-by-customer breakdown with fees itemized and a CSV export, plus a How payouts work box showing when money reaches your bank (by default every business day, about 2 business days after a card payment). See reconcile bank deposits.

Disputes and chargebacks

When a customer disputes a card payment with their bank (a chargeback), Pool Founder alerts your admins with a "Payment Disputed" notification (push, in-app and email). It names the customer, the amount and the reason the bank gave, and opens the invoice the payment was for.

• Respond before the deadline. The bank gives you about 7 to 21 days to send evidence (Stripe shows the exact date). A dispute nobody answers is lost by default and the money goes back to the customer.
• Where to respond: on the Payments page, click Open Stripe Dashboard and open the dispute there. Good evidence for pool service is the invoice, visit photos and completion records, and any messages where the customer agreed to the work. If you don't see a way to respond, contact Pool Founder support right away with the customer's name.
• When the bank decides, your admins get a "Dispute Decided" notification saying whether you won (the money stays with you) or lost (it was returned to the customer).
• Lost disputes and fees come out of your Stripe balance, or your bank account if the balance is too low. Pool Founder doesn't change the invoice's status for a dispute, so a lost dispute on a paid invoice still shows as paid.

Card processing fees: an opt-in, per-invoice choice

Stripe charges 2.9% + $0.30 per card transaction and 0.8% (capped at $5) per ACH bank payment, the same rate on autopay. Pool Founder adds nothing on top: no markup and no platform fee. The card fee is not automatically passed to your customers — by default your company absorbs it. To have a customer cover it, turn on the "Pass Processing Fees to Customer" toggle when creating the invoice. Recurring services carry a matching default ("Pass credit card fees to customer"), which pre-fills the toggle on invoices created from those jobs.

• The fee only ever applies to credit cards. Debit cards, prepaid cards, and ACH bank transfers are never surcharged — if the customer pays with one of those, the fee is waived automatically even when the toggle is on.
• How much the customer pays: the fee covers Stripe's 2.9% + $0.30 but is capped at 3% of the invoice, the card-network limit. On most everyday invoices the cap applies, so a $150 invoice carries a $4.50 fee and your company absorbs the few cents the cap leaves uncovered. Tips are never surcharged.
• On the customer's pay page, a "Credit card fee (est.)" line shows the fee as a dollar amount, with the note "Only applies to credit cards. Pay with a debit card or by bank transfer (ACH) below to avoid this fee." A banner above the payment form repeats the same amount: "Debit cards and bank transfers (ACH) are always fee-free. Credit cards add a $4.50 processing fee." The pay page never shows the fee as a percentage.
• Some states don't allow the fee — the fee is never added for service locations in California, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maine, Minnesota, New York, or Puerto Rico. The toggle is disabled automatically with an explanation, no fee is charged, and the pay page shows no card fee line. (New York requires the credit card price, fee included, to be shown up front, which a fee added at checkout can't do.) As the toggle notes: "State restrictions are automatically enforced based on the service location."
• Colorado and Oklahoma cap the fee at 2% — the fee is allowed there, but it never exceeds 2% of the invoice (a $150 invoice carries $3.00 instead of $4.50). Pool Founder applies the cap automatically.
• When the toggle is off (or the fee is waived), your company absorbs Stripe's processing fee — the customer just pays the invoice total.
• You can change it after the invoice exists: on an unpaid invoice's page, the Pass card processing fee to customer switch turns the fee on or off, and the line under it shows the dollar amount a credit card would add (or says card fees aren't allowed for that service location's state). It only appears once Stripe is connected, and it is hidden while a payment is processing.
• Each recurring service has its own setting too: Pass credit card fees on the job's Billing tab (under Charges) on the web, or Pass card fees under Job setup in the technician app. Invoices from that job start with it.

Autopay

Autopay charges the customer's saved payment method automatically when invoices are issued. Customers can turn it on themselves while paying an invoice: on the pay page, checking "Save this card and automatically pay future invoices" both saves the card and enrolls it for autopay — one combined checkbox. Autopay can also be managed from the customer portal and from the customer's page on your dashboard.

• On the customer's Billing tab, Enable AutoPay opens a dialog explaining how it works and, when the customer has more than one saved method, lets you pick which one to charge.
• Disabling autopay keeps the payment method on file — the dialog states the saved method "will remain on file and can be re-enabled for AutoPay at any time." The customer just goes back to paying each invoice via the payment link.
• A Change AutoPay Payment Method dialog switches which saved method autopay charges; the active one shows an "AutoPay" badge in the saved-methods list.

Saved payment methods in the customer portal

On the Billing page of the customer portal, customers manage their own payment methods and autopay:

• Multiple saved methods. "Add Payment Method" accepts a credit card or a bank account (ACH) — customers can add a bank account directly, not just while paying an invoice. Each saved method lists its brand, last four digits, and expiration.
• Per-method autopay choice. While autopay is on, the enrolled method shows an AutoPay badge and every other method shows a "Use for AutoPay" button — one click switches which method autopay charges. When adding a new method, a "Use this for AutoPay" checkbox enrolls it immediately.
• Charge specific jobs to a different card. Customers with autopay on, more than one saved method, and more than one recurring service see a "Charge specific jobs to a different card" section — each job has a dropdown defaulting to "AutoPay card (default)", with any saved method selectable per job. You have the same control on the job's page in your dashboard: the AutoPay row in the Invoicing group on the job's Billing tab opens the "AutoPay card" dialog, defaulting to "Use customer default". With no card on file the row shows an Add card button instead, and the dialog has Add a new card; both open the same Add Payment Method dialog (Enter card or Email customer).
• Removing a method asks for confirmation — and if it was the autopay method, the customer is prompted to pick a new one.

Choose card, bank account, or both for a customer

Each customer can be limited to the payment methods you want them to use. On the customer's page, open the Billing tab and find Accepted payment methods under Payment Methods. Pick Card or bank (the default), Card only, or Bank only. You need the invoice-editing permission (the same one AutoPay uses) to change it.

• It controls new payment methods and new payments: the emailed save-a-payment-method link, the customer portal, the invoice pay page, and staff card entry only offer what you allowed.
• Payment methods already on file stay on file, and AutoPay keeps charging them. Switching a customer with a saved card to Bank only does not remove the card or stop AutoPay from using it. The section warns you when that applies.
• The Enter card tab of Add Payment Method only takes cards. For a Bank only customer it is turned off, and you email them the link instead so they can connect their own bank account.
• Bank accounts are connected with instant verification (the customer signs in to their bank). Banks that only support micro-deposit verification cannot be saved or used anywhere: not from the link, the portal, the invoice pay page, or a staff payment.
• Tips are always paid by card, whatever this is set to.

Request a payment method by email

You don't have to read card numbers over the phone. From a customer's page (the Payment Method button on Overview, or Add Payment Method on the Billing tab), open Add Payment Method and switch to the Email customer tab (the other tab, Enter card, is for typing a card in directly):

• The customer is emailed a secure link that expires in 7 days and can only be used once. No portal sign-in is needed. Only the primary contact is emailed — additional contacts on file don't receive it.
• The tab shows the latest request's status: when it was last sent, to whom, and whether the customer saved a payment method, the link expired without use, or the link is still active. The button reads Send email (or Resend email while a request is outstanding).
• When a customer has no payment methods yet, their Billing tab shows an "Email customer to save a card" button right on the empty state (then "Resend card request" with the same status line).
• The link opens a page branded with your logo and colors where the customer saves a card, a bank account, or either one, depending on their Accepted payment methods. The page is titled "Set up a payment method" (or "Save a card on file" / "Save a bank account on file" when only one is allowed). If you change what the customer is allowed after sending, the link follows the new setting. An expired link shows "Link expired" with a prompt to ask you for a new one, and a used link shows "Payment method saved".
• The first payment method a customer saves from the link turns on AutoPay with it, unless AutoPay is already on.
• Sending or resending the link to one customer needs the Send invoices permission (it does not need Edit invoices). Asking many customers at once with Request payment methods on the Customers page needs Edit invoices.

Automatic email before a saved card expires

Pool Founder emails AutoPay customers about a month before their AutoPay card expires, so the next automatic charge doesn't fail. During the month before the card's expiration month (a card that expires 11/26 is emailed in October), the customer gets one email, "Your card ending in 1234 expires 11/26", with the same secure save-a-card link. The card they save through it replaces the expiring card for AutoPay.

• It goes once per card, only for the card AutoPay charges, and only to customers who are on AutoPay, not archived, not billed to a parent account, and whose primary email receives invoice emails. Customers who aren't on AutoPay aren't emailed about their saved cards.
• The link stays open until the card expires (at least 30 days).
• It is on by default. Turn it off in Settings → Invoice Settings → Customer emails with the Send card expiring notice switch. It also stays quiet while customer notifications are paused.
• There is no text message version, and you can't change the wording or timing. Staff also see these customers on the To do list once the card expires this month.

See how many customers have a payment method or AutoPay

Under the Customers heading, a small badge shows how many of your active customers are on AutoPay (for example 5 of 10 on AutoPay). Click it for the breakdown: how many have a payment method on file, split into On AutoPay, Saved method, AutoPay off and No payment method. Switch between All customers and Recurring maintenance to count only customers with a recurring service. Customers billed to a parent account are listed separately and not counted, since the parent pays. Click Request payment methods next to the No payment method count to email the rest a link.

Ask many customers at once

To get everyone set up, open Customers and click Request payment methods at the top of the page. To send to only some customers, tick them in the list and click Request payment methods in the bar at the bottom of the screen.

• Under Who gets it, choose All active customers or the customers you selected. Tick Only customers with a recurring service to leave out customers who only get one-off work. Skip customers who already have a payment method on file is on by default.
• Edit the Subject and Message. Use the First name and Company name buttons to insert <code>{first_name}</code> and <code>{company_name}</code>, which are filled in for each customer. The button and each customer's own secure link are always added below your message, so you can't send an email without one.
• The preview on the right shows the exact email the first customer will get. Below it you see how many customers it sends to and who is skipped: customers who already have a payment method, customers with no email address, customers billed to a parent account (the parent is the one who pays), and anyone sent a link in the last hour.
• Click Send to [N] customers. The emails go out in the background over a few minutes. Each customer gets their own link, which lasts 30 days and works once.
• Up to 2,000 customers per send. Each customer's Billing tab shows the status of the request sent to them.

Bring over cards already saved in your Stripe account

If you used Connect Existing Account, the cards and bank accounts your customers already saved in that Stripe account can come over, so you don't have to ask everyone again. On the Payments page, the Import saved cards from Stripe card appears below your connected account (Owners and Administrators only):

• Click Check for saved cards. Nothing changes yet: it shows how many payment methods it found and for how many customers.
• Click Import to add them. They show on each customer's page like any other saved card and can be charged the same way.
• Customers are matched by email: the Pool Founder customer's email has to match the email on the Stripe customer. An email shared by more than one customer (on either side) is skipped and listed, so fix those and run it again.
• Expired cards are not imported. They can't be charged, so the preview tells you how many were left out. Those customers need to save a new card.
• Autopay is not turned on. Turn it on per customer once they've agreed to be charged automatically.
• Safe to run again any time, for example after importing more customers. Cards that are already in Pool Founder are skipped.

To choose exactly which cards come over, do it one customer at a time instead. On the customer's page, open the Billing tab and click Import from Stripe under Payment Methods (anyone with the invoice-editing permission, the same one AutoPay uses):

• It lists the Stripe customers that match this customer's email or name, with every card and bank account saved on each. If the right one isn't there, search Stripe by a different email or name.
• Tick the methods you want and click Import. Only the ones you ticked are added. You can pick from one Stripe customer per import.
• Methods already in Pool Founder show Already saved, and expired cards show Expired. Neither can be picked.
• Importing connects the customer to that Stripe customer, so the cards can be charged. A Stripe customer that's already connected to a different Pool Founder customer can't be used. A customer who already has saved methods from one Stripe customer can only import more from that same one.
• Turn on AutoPay in the same step (optional). Once you've ticked methods, tick Turn on AutoPay (or Switch AutoPay to an imported method if it's already on) and, when you import more than one, pick which method it charges. Leave it unticked and AutoPay stays as it was. Only turn it on if the customer has agreed to be charged automatically.

Hide "Pay with Link" from customers

The card form customers pay with is Stripe's, and by default it can offer Link, Stripe's saved-card checkout (customers may see "Pay with Link" or be asked for a Link code). It is optional: customers can always ignore it and type a card or pick a bank account. If it confuses your customers, turn it off in Settings → Invoice Settings → Online payments by switching off Offer Pay with Link.

• It applies to the invoice pay page, the tip page, and adding a card in the customer portal. The "save a card" page you email customers never offers Link.
• Only companies whose invoices are paid on the Pool Founder pay page see this setting. On the older Stripe-hosted invoice page, Stripe controls Link.
• Cards customers already saved keep working either way.
• Link remembers the person using the browser, not the invoice. If you or someone on your team has used Link before and opens a pay page with View Pay Page, Link shows your own Link email and card with a Confirm button. That card comes from Stripe and that browser, not from the customer or anyone else; the customer sees their own Link account (or none) on their device. Don't click Confirm when previewing, or you'll pay the invoice with your own card.

ACH bank payments: verification and processing

ACH is always fee-free, but it is not instant. When a customer chooses "US bank account" on the pay page, they connect their bank by signing in to it (instant verification):

• The payment starts right away and the customer sees "Payment processing" — ACH takes up to 5 business days to clear at the bank. The invoice stays Open until it settles, then flips to Paid automatically and the customer gets a receipt.
• There is no option to type in routing and account numbers and verify with micro-deposits, on the pay page or when your staff takes a payment from the invoice. A customer whose bank does not support signing in through Stripe pays by card instead.
• Bank payments started before micro-deposits were turned off may still be waiting on one: the customer sees "One more step to finish paying" and enters the code from the small deposit via the "Verify your bank" link (also emailed to them). No money is collected until they verify.
• Customers who don't want to wait can click "Cancel and pay a different way" on that screen — the pending bank payment is canceled and the pay form comes back so they can use a card instead.

What your team sees

• An invoice with a pending verification shows a "Bank payment awaiting verification" banner (and an "Awaiting verification" badge) — no funds have been collected yet. The banner includes an "Open bank verification page" link and a "Cancel bank payment" button, so staff can also free a stuck customer to pay another way.
• An in-flight payment shows a "Bank payment (ACH) processing" banner (and a "Payment processing" badge) — the payment is clearing and the invoice will flip to Paid on its own.
• While an ACH payment is processing, the invoice's amount is locked — Edit, Void, and Take payment are hidden until it settles, so the total can't change out from under an in-flight charge.

Service Terms on the pay page

Services have a Service Terms field. When a job's service carries terms, they are saved onto each invoice at creation and shown on the pay page in a collapsible "Service Terms" section. The customer must check "I agree to the Service Terms." before the Pay button enables — until then it stays disabled with the note "Please agree to the Service Terms above to continue." Invoices whose terms were already accepted (and invoices with no terms) skip the checkbox.

Invoicing before Stripe is connected

1. 1The Invoices page always opens, connected or not, and View all invoices lists every invoice. It does not redirect you to Payments.
2. 2A banner at the top names the missing step: "You can build jobs now, but you can't bill for them yet" (if you still need a plan) or "Connect Stripe to bill these jobs" (if you have a plan but haven't connected).
3. 3Create Invoice works normally. In place of the payment-method picker, the form says "Sent for offline payment" — the customer pays by Zelle, check, or cash.
4. 4When the money arrives, record it: open the invoice → Take payment → Record a manual payment.

The customer's pay page adapts to what you have turned on: a card/ACH form when Stripe is connected, the Zelle QR code when Pay by Zelle is on, and otherwise your company phone and email under "How to pay".

Turn on Pay by Zelle

Pay by Zelle is opt-in and off by default. When on, a Zelle QR code and "Pay with Zelle" link appear on invoices (the email and the online pay page), post-visit service report emails, and the customer portal — each surface toggleable independently. Zelle settles bank-to-bank outside Stripe with no card fee.

1. 1In the sidebar, go to Settings → Invoice Settings and find the Pay by Zelle section.
2. 2Toggle Accept Zelle payments on, then enter your Zelle email or phone — the address enrolled with Zelle at your bank — and, optionally, a Recipient name (defaults to your company name).
3. 3The app generates the QR code automatically — there is no image to upload. A preview appears; scan it with your banking app to confirm it resolves to your handle.
4. 4Use the Show on invoices, Show on service reports, and Show in customer portal toggles to choose where customers see it.

Tipping

Customers can optionally tip your technicians in three places: preset tip buttons on the invoice pay page, the customer portal, and a tip link in service report emails — each surface is opt-in and off by default. Tips ride on the same card charge and are never surcharged, and every tip lands on the Tips page grouped by technician. See tips and gratuities for the full setup and payout workflow.

Frequently asked questions

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