Payments & Collections

Invotify turns invoices into outcomes — paid ones. The payments system handles everything from the first pay button on an invoice to the final reconciliation against a bank transaction. Most of it runs automatically once you set it up.

How payments work end-to-end:

1. Pay button on the invoice. Every invoice on Pro and Lifetime plans ships with a pay link. Clients click it and complete payment in seconds using the methods you've enabled.

1. Automatic status updates. When a payment succeeds, Invotify receives the confirmation from the payment processor and flips the invoice to Paid automatically. No polling, no manual step.

1. Overdue reminders. If an invoice goes past due, Invotify sends polite reminder emails to the customer on a schedule you configure — or notifies you so you can decide whether to nudge them.

1. Bank reconciliation. If you connected your bank, Invotify watches incoming transactions and automatically matches them to outstanding invoices. Anything it can't match confidently stays available for one-click manual matching.

1. Late fees, credit notes, partial payments, manual recording. Every edge case of real-world invoicing is covered.

What every plan gets: Manual payment recording, partial payments with a running balance, overdue reminders, and late fees are available on all plans — Starter, Pro, and Lifetime. You can always record payments you received outside Invotify (cash, check, wire) and chase overdue invoices.

What Pro and Lifetime add: Online payments via Stripe and PayPal, per-invoice payment links with automatic status updates, bank sync with auto-matching (Plaid), and stored payment methods with auto-charge for recurring invoices.

Connect Stripe, PayPal, or both — then every invoice you send will include a pay link, and paid invoices will update themselves. Online payments are a Pro and Lifetime feature.

Connecting Stripe: 1. Go to Settings → Integrations 2. Click "Connect" next to Stripe 3. You're redirected to Stripe to authorize the connection or create a new account 4. Complete Stripe's onboarding (usually a few minutes — they'll ask for basic business info) 5. Back on Invotify, the connection status shows "Connected" with your account name

Connecting PayPal: 1. In the same Integrations settings, click "Connect" next to PayPal 2. Authorize Invotify through PayPal's OAuth flow 3. Once connected, invoices can be paid with PayPal alongside (or instead of) Stripe

Payment methods supported via Stripe: - Credit and debit cards - Apple Pay - Google Pay - iDEAL - SEPA Debit (Europe)

Available methods depend on your Stripe region. PayPal payments are processed through PayPal's Orders API.

Security: Invotify never sees or stores your customers' card or bank details. Payment information is captured directly by Stripe or PayPal through their own secure forms. Card data is PCI DSS Level 1 compliant by default because the processor handles the compliance scope.

What happens when a customer pays: 1. Customer clicks the pay link on the invoice (email or PDF) 2. They complete payment on Stripe's or PayPal's hosted page 3. The processor confirms the payment to Invotify in real time via webhook 4. The invoice status flips to Paid 5. You receive a notification

Partial payments: If a customer pays only part of an invoice (e.g., a deposit), Invotify records the partial payment and keeps the invoice open for the remainder. You'll see both the amount paid and the amount still due.

Stored payment methods & auto-charge: On Pro and Lifetime, customers can save a payment method so recurring invoices charge automatically when each occurrence is generated. You set this up per customer, and the saved method is held securely by the payment processor — Invotify never stores the card itself.

Connect your business bank account through Plaid and Invotify matches incoming transactions to outstanding invoices — eliminating manual reconciliation. Transactions sync in, a matching engine scores them against your open invoices, high-confidence matches auto-mark the invoice as paid, and the rest can be matched (or ignored) with one click.

Bank sync is a Pro and Lifetime feature and connects securely through Plaid — Invotify only sees transaction data, never your banking credentials. You can revoke the connection at any time from Settings → Integrations.

See the dedicated Bank section for the full guide: how matching is scored (amount, date proximity, description), supported institutions, manual matching, and privacy details.

When an invoice goes past its due date, Invotify can automatically send polite reminder emails to the customer — or simply notify you so you decide whether to nudge them. No aggressive card re-charging, no dunning chains. Just a friendly "hey, this is overdue" with the payment link.

How reminders work: 1. An invoice goes past its due date 2. On the configured day (e.g., 7 days after due), Invotify sends a polite branded email to the customer with the invoice number, amount, and due date 3. If the customer still hasn't paid, another reminder can go out later (e.g., 14 days, 30 days — you pick the schedule) 4. Each reminder is tracked on the invoice: when the last one was sent and how many have gone out 5. Reminders are rate-limited so an invoice never triggers more than one per day

Two modes: - Auto-remind — Turn on in Settings. Invotify sends reminders automatically on the schedule you configure. You don't have to do anything. - Manual remind — Invotify notifies YOU when an invoice is overdue. You decide whether to send a reminder or handle it yourself.

Configuration: - Days before due — optionally send a heads-up before the invoice is due (e.g., 3 days before) - Days after due — when to send overdue reminders (1, 7, 14, or 30 days after) - Tone — upcoming reminders are gentle; overdue reminders are firmer

What the customer sees: A branded email with the invoice number, the amount due, and the due date. No "your card was declined" language — just a polite nudge.

Configure a late-fee policy once at the company level, then apply it to overdue invoices with one click. Late fees give your clients a real incentive to pay on time without you having to send awkward "we added a fee" emails.

Configuration: Go to Settings → Document Settings (the late-fee options live in the Default Payment Terms card): - Enable or disable late fees for your company - Grace period — The number of days after the due date before fees kick in (e.g., 3 days: an invoice 1-3 days late is free, 4+ days qualifies for the fee) - Fee type — Fixed amount (e.g., €25 flat) or percentage (e.g., 2% of outstanding balance) - Max cap — Optional ceiling on the total fee, so you never overcharge a disputed or small invoice - Recurring — Off by default. When enabled, the fee can be applied again after a set interval (e.g., every 30 days) for as long as the invoice stays overdue. Most businesses keep this off — leave it off unless you specifically need it.

How fees are applied: Once an overdue invoice clears the grace period, use the Apply late fee action on the invoice. The fee is calculated from your policy and added to the invoice total — the customer sees the original amount, the fee amount, and the new total. Everything is auditable, and you stay in control: no fee is ever added without your click.

Customer communication: Your Payment Terms block can include text explaining your late fee policy (e.g., "A 2% late fee applies to invoices 3+ days past due, capped at €50."). Invotify doesn't auto-send "you owe a late fee" emails — that's what overdue reminders are for.

Progress invoicing is billing a single quote in multiple stages instead of all at once. Perfect for long-running projects, milestone-based work, and retainers with deliverables.

Why progress invoice: A €18,000 website project doesn't need to be one invoice. Bill 30% on kickoff, 30% on mid-review, 40% on delivery. Each invoice references the original quote, tracks the running total, and prevents you from ever over-billing.

Creating a progress invoice: 1. Open the quote — it must have "Allow progress invoicing" ticked in the quote editor (enable it when creating or editing the quote) 2. Use the progress invoicing view to add a stage 3. Choose the amount — either a percentage of the total (30%) or a specific amount (€5,400) 4. Invotify creates a new invoice that references the quote and records it against the running total 5. Send and collect as usual

Over-billing protection: Invotify tracks the total billed across all progress invoices for a quote. If you try to create a progress invoice that would exceed the quote total, Invotify blocks the action. You can never accidentally bill more than the quote.

Tracking remaining balance: The quote's progress view shows the running balance — total quoted, total invoiced so far, and the remaining amount — so the full picture is always clear.

Billing the rest: To bill the full remaining amount, create a final progress invoice for whatever is left (a 100%-of-remaining stage). Once the cumulative total reaches the quote total, no further progress invoices can be created.

Not every payment comes through Stripe or a bank sync. Cash, checks, wire transfers, trade-in credits, or payments made outside the system all need to be recorded somewhere. Invotify has a manual payment recording flow for exactly this.

How to record a manual payment: 1. Open the invoice 2. Click "Record payment" 3. Enter: - Amount (enter the outstanding balance for a full settlement, or less for a partial payment) - Notes (optional — method, reference number, anything worth remembering) 4. Click Save

The invoice balance updates immediately. If the payment fully settles the invoice, the status flips to Paid. If it's partial, the invoice stays open for the remaining balance and records the partial payment in the payment history.

Multiple payments per invoice: An invoice can receive any number of partial payments over time. Each one is logged with its own date and amount. The payment history shows the full timeline at a glance.

Available on all plans: Manual payment recording is available on Starter, Pro, and Lifetime — even without a payment integration connected. It's the foundation of the payments system.