Set Up the Portal so Clients can Pay Online

Modified on Wed, 31 Aug, 2022 at 7:31 PM

The most efficient and reliable method of accepting online payments from your clients is through the Stripe Payment Processor. Your clients can make payments to you from your Client Portal, and these payments will automatically be recorded in Pet Sitter Plus.

Note: There is a small amount of time involved in the initial setup for Stripe. Using the services of the Stripe Payment Processor will involve payment of a small commission fee to Stripe for each payment taken.

Tip: Stripe's commission fees are amongst the lowest available for this type of secure payment processing. See Apply For or Connect a Stripe Account for how to set up your account.

The advantages of using a payment processor are:

There is no need for you or your sitters to handle cash, which can result in losing track of whether payments have been made.
There is no need to visit the bank to deposit checks.
Pet Sitter Plus automatically detects when a payment has been made, posts the payment and emails a receipt to the client, saving you time.
With Stripe, you can take an automatic payment from your client's credit/debit card when it is due so you don't have to wait for the client to pay you. Once you have created your invoices (either individually or in bulk) you can collect payment of all outstanding invoices which can be paid using the Stripe Payment Processor with just a few mouse clicks.

Tip: For more information about payments and the Client Portal, see Making Payments.

Can I use PayPal as some of my clients prefer this method?

Yes - you can use PayPal in conjunction with Stripe and other Payment Processors. See How Does a Client Make a Payment via PayPal?

Can I use different payment methods for different clients?

Yes - there is a field on each client record called "Payment Processors." Initially, this will be set to "None." If you introduce Stripe facilities (or PayPal), then you will be able to select any of these options for each of your clients. So it is easily possible to collect payments from some clients using Stripe, have some clients making payments from the client portal using PayPal and some clients paying you by check/bank transfer etc., for whom you would record payments manually. For more information about changing individual payment settings on the client record, see Payment Processors.

Alternatively, you may record payments from your clients in the form of cash, check, direct credit to your bank account etc. These payment methods don't require any special setup but do have administrative overheads - handling and banking of cash and checks and manual posting of payments in Pet Sitter Plus. See Record a Credit or Cash on Account for more information.