Every finalized invoice can carry a secure payment link — the customer clicks it, sees the invoice, and pays the balance by card or, if you offer it, by bank account. No account to create, no login, and the bookkeeping happens on its own.
Requirements: the invoicing module (Foundation plan and up) and a connected Stripe account (Settings → Online Payments).
Where the link lives
- In the invoice email, automatically. Every emailed invoice includes a "Pay this invoice online" button (and a copyable link) — there's nothing to turn on.
- On the invoice page. Open a sent invoice and the Payment Link box in the sidebar shows the URL with a copy button — paste it into a reminder email or a text message.
- In a statement email. When you email a customer their statement, every open invoice listed in it gets its own Pay online link (see Sending a Customer Statement).
The link contains a long secret key, so it can't be guessed — only someone you've given the link to can open it. Links work while an invoice is sent or partially paid; drafts, voided, and fully paid invoices don't have an active link (a paid invoice's link shows a friendly "paid in full — thank you" page).
What the customer sees
A clean, branded page with your logo and colors: the invoice lines, what's been paid so far, and the balance due. They can enter an email for their receipt, choose Pay With card or bank account (the bank option appears only if you've turned it on under Settings → Online Payments), click Pay now, and enter their details. The amount charged is always the current balance — if they already mailed a check that you recorded yesterday, the link charges only what's left.
After paying they see a confirmation, and a receipt goes to the email they provided. A bank-account payment takes about four business days to clear; the confirmation says so, and if their bank needs microdeposit verification the page walks them through it.
What happens on your side
- Right away: the payment appears on the invoice (method "Card (online)" or "Bank (online)", brand or bank and last four recorded) and the invoice advances to PARTIAL or PAID. You don't record anything. A bank payment shows as pending until it clears: the invoice page carries a banner, the balance and status don't move yet, and the pay link tells anyone who opens it that a payment is already on the way. If the bank returns the payment, the pending row is marked failed and the invoice is back to open.
- When Stripe pays out (typically a couple of business days): the money lands in your bank as part of a payout, and GoodBooks posts the deposit — net amount to the bank, processing fees booked, receivable cleared — as one register entry that matches the bank statement exactly. See Understanding Deposit Batches; the same machinery settles online donations.
So don't worry when a paid invoice hasn't shown up in the register yet — it posts when the payout does.
Fees
Online payments carry a processing fee (cards 2.9% + 30¢; bank account 0.8% capped at $5.00) plus the GoodBooks platform fee (0.25%, and $1.00 per payment on the Free plan), all taken out of the payout — the customer always pays the invoice amount exactly, and the fees are booked as expense automatically on accrual books.
Refunds
An online payment can't be voided inside GoodBooks (the money moved through Stripe) — issue the refund in your Stripe dashboard, then correct the books with your accountant if the payout had already settled. The payment row shows a lock icon as a reminder.
Good to know
- Recurring invoices include a payment link on every generated invoice automatically.
- No Stripe account connected? Invoices still email fine — the pay button is simply omitted, and the page tells anyone with an old link to pay by the method on the invoice.
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