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Get paid with Stripe

For owners and admins

Clients pay through your own Stripe account and the money goes to your bank. PaidCal never holds it. You open the Stripe account, we connect it during setup, and from then on you request payment by sending a link from an appointment.

What you do, and what we do

You	PaidCal setup
Open a Stripe account in your business's name at stripe.com. Complete Stripe's identity and bank verification so it can take live payments.	Connect your Stripe account to your site. Set up the notification that tells your site when a client has paid. Run a test payment from link to confirmation before you go live.

There are no Stripe key fields in your admin. Keys live on the server where no admin user can read them. Never send a Stripe secret key by email or chat; we will show you how to give us access safely. Stripe charges its own processing fee on each payment (2.9% + 30¢ per card transaction in the US at the time of writing). PaidCal adds no commission.

The payments switch

Under Admin › Accounting there is a card titled Payments with an on/off toggle. It must be on for payment links to be created.

Request a payment

On the Calendar, create the appointment with Event Type set to Appointment / Service Call. Only that type offers payment links.
Enter the client's Email and the Payment Amount, leave Payment Status on Pending, and press Create Event. Save first: a link made before saving cannot be matched to the appointment when the client pays.
Reopen the event and press Generate Payment Link. The link appears with Copy, Open and New buttons.
Press Update Event so the link is stored, then Send Email. The client gets a "PENDING BOOKING" email with your Pending Payment Note and a Complete Payment button.

The link opens Stripe Checkout. Card only, in US dollars. Stripe links expire on their own after about a day; press New to make another.

What happens when the client pays

The appointment's Payment Status turns to Paid, and the Stripe payment reference is stored on it.
The client receives a "PAID BOOKING" confirmation.
Stripe emails the receipt, if receipts are turned on in your Stripe account. PaidCal does not make its own.

Paying for an appointment does not create a client account. Accounts come from course purchases, from you, or from the client signing up. See Client FAQ.

If the appointment still says Pending after the client paid

Open it and press Mark as Paid & Send Confirmation, then Confirm & Send Email. PaidCal asks Stripe directly and marks the appointment paid only if Stripe says the money arrived. If Stripe says otherwise, nothing changes and you see the reason.

Setting the status to Paid by hand charges nothing. Choosing Paid in the Payment Status dropdown and pressing Update Event only changes what the record says, and a Send Email after it sends a "paid" confirmation. Use it only for money you really received another way, such as cash or a transfer. If a client says they paid by card, use Mark as Paid & Send Confirmation instead.

Refunds

Refund from your Stripe dashboard. PaidCal does not issue refunds and does not change the appointment afterwards, so set its status yourself if needed. Stripe keeps its processing fee on refunded payments.

Messages you may see

"Payment amount must be greater than 0 to generate a link." Enter the amount first.
"Primary contact email is required to generate a link." Add the client's email.
"Payments are currently disabled." Turn the Payments switch on under Admin › Accounting. (The message mentions a Plugins page that no longer exists.)

Still stuck? Email us.