Payments

There are two ways to collect payment on an invoice: online via Stripe Checkout or by recording a manual payment.

Online Payments via Stripe

When a customer receives an invoice, the email and public invoice page include a Pay Now button. Clicking it launches Stripe Checkout — a secure, hosted payment page.

Pay Now shows on a sent, partially paid, or overdue invoice that still has a balance. It doesn’t show when online payments are off for your account or on a test account. A payment over your Max per Invoice or Max per Month limit is refused, and the customer is asked to contact you for another way to pay. See Online payment.

What Customers See

Stripe Checkout handles the entire payment experience:

• Credit/debit card form
• Apple Pay and Google Pay (auto-detected)
• 3D Secure authentication when required
• Mobile-optimized layout
• Saved payment methods (if the customer has paid before)

Payment Flow

1. Customer opens the invoice via the link in their email
2. Clicks Pay Now
3. Completes payment on the Stripe Checkout page
4. Stripe redirects them back to a confirmation page
5. The invoice is automatically updated to Paid (or Partially Paid if applicable)

Each online payment has a 3.4% + $0.30 processing fee plus a 0.5% invoicing fee with a $2 minimum. Fees are deducted from the amount collected, including any tip. See Invoicing pricing for examples and small-payment limits.

After Payment

Once payment is confirmed:

• The invoice status updates automatically
• You receive a notification email at your invoice settings reply-to address
• The customer receives a payment receipt email with the updated invoice

Partial Online Payments

Stripe Checkout collects the remaining invoice balance, plus any tip the customer adds. If you have already recorded a manual partial payment, the online payment covers the balance left. Its fees apply to the amount collected online, not the original full invoice total.

Manual Payments

Use Record Payment for money you collected outside Selflane, such as a check, cash, or a bank transfer. It is bookkeeping only. It doesn’t charge the customer or move any money.

Recording a Payment

1. Open a sent, partially paid, or overdue invoice.
2. In the Administrative strip, select Record Payment.
3. Fill in the fields below and save.

Reference can’t hold a Stripe ID. Payments collected through Stripe Checkout are recorded automatically, so leave the reference blank and put a Stripe ID in the note if you need it. A payment recorded with Card is still a recorded payment. Selflane doesn’t charge the card.

Partial Payments

An invoice can take several payments:

• Each payment is recorded separately.
• The balance is the total minus the payments still held.
• Status changes to Partially Paid after the first partial payment.
• Status changes to Paid once the balance reaches zero.

Example: A $1,000 invoice paid in two installments:

Refund an invoice payment

Refund a payment when you need to return money already received on an invoice. Money is returned per payment, never per line item.

1. Open the invoice and select Refund. It shows when a payment still has money left to refund.
2. Under Payment, pick the payment to refund. Each option shows the amount, method, date, and how much is still refundable.
3. Enter the Amount. It starts at the full refundable amount and can’t go over it.
4. Optionally, enter a Reason (shown to the customer) and an Internal note, up to 500 characters each.
5. Check Create a credit note (credit memo) if you also want a credit-note document. It doesn’t refund any extra money.
6. Select Refund <amount>.

Selflane returns Stripe-collected payments through Stripe. A payment without a Stripe reference, such as one you recorded by hand, shows Recorded credit only. Selflane records the refund and you settle with the customer directly.

After a refund, the amount goes back on the invoice balance and the status updates to match what is still held. The refund appears in the invoice’s Refunds list.

Processing and invoicing fees aren’t returned when you refund an online payment. Selflane collects the fee for the refunded amount from your Stripe balance. For a partial refund, that’s in proportion to the refunded amount. The Refunds list shows Processing fee pulled back: <amount>, or a warning when the fee couldn’t be collected and is still owed.

When a refund doesn’t go through

The refund dialog stays open and shows what to do next:

• Refund refused — nothing was paid out. — fix the problem in the message and try again.
• Couldn't confirm the refund. — the request failed before Selflane answered. Retrying the same refund is safe. An unchanged retry returns the existing refund instead of paying out twice.
• Do not retry this refund. — Selflane can’t confirm the outcome with Stripe. The amount stays reserved and no further refund can be issued against that payment. Contact Selflane support to resolve it.
• This refund cannot be retried as-is. — change the payment or amount to try again.

If the refund went through but the credit note couldn’t be created, the dialog says the money is already refunded. Don’t refund it again. Select Create the credit note to create only the document.

Payment Restrictions

• Payments can’t be recorded on Cancelled or Paid invoices.
• Payments can’t be recorded on credit notes.
• A credit note does not return money on its own. Use Refund to return a payment.