Turning off card payments on an invoice or estimate

In this article, you'll learn how to stop a customer paying one invoice, or one estimate's deposit, by card online. It's handy when you've agreed on cash, a check or some other arrangement and don't want a Pay button in front of them.

Cards are on by default for everything you send. You switch them off one document at a time, on the Send form, just before it goes out. There's no company-wide switch.

To open the Send form for an invoice:

  1. In the menu, click Invoices and open the invoice.
  2. Click Send invoice, or Send invoice again if it's already gone out.

To open the Send form for an estimate:

  1. In the menu, click Estimates and open the estimate.
  2. Click Send, or Send Again if it's already gone out.

Turning off cards on an invoice

  1. Open the Send form for the invoice.
  2. Pick Via email or Via SMS and check who it's going to.
  3. Under Let client pay with:, untick Credit card.
  4. Click Send email or Send text.
Unticking Credit card before sending an invoice

Your customer still gets the message and the link, and they can open the invoice in their portal. Here's what changes:

  • There's no Pay invoice button on the invoice.
  • If they reach the payment page some other way, it says Payment is arranged directly, with a note that your business will arrange payment for that invoice with them, and a Back to the invoice link.

The balance is still owed. When they pay you, record it yourself as a cash or other offline payment.

Note: On the web, the Send form remembers your choice. The next time you open it for that invoice, Credit card starts unticked, so sending it again won't quietly switch cards back on. To allow cards later, tick it and send again.

Turning off the card deposit on an estimate

You'll only see this option on an estimate that asks for a deposit. The deposit is the only thing a customer pays by card on an estimate, so an estimate without one has nothing to switch off.

  1. Open the Send form for the estimate.
  2. Pick Via email or Via SMS and check the recipient.
  3. Under Let client pay the deposit with:, untick Credit card.
  4. Click Send email or Send text.
Unticking the card deposit before sending an estimate

Your customer can still view the estimate, sign it and approve it. With cards off:

  • The button says Approve instead of Approve & pay deposit, and the signing drawer is titled Sign & Approve instead of Sign & Pay. They sign, approve, and that's it. There's no payment step.
  • Afterwards the estimate shows Approved — the deposit will be arranged with you.
  • In the CRM the estimate moves to Approved - Pending Deposit. A deposit invoice is still created for the customer, and it has no Pay button either.

Collecting the deposit is up to you. Once you record the deposit invoice as paid in full, the estimate moves from Approved - Pending Deposit to Approved, and the office gets a "Deposit paid" notice.

The web remembers this setting too, the next time you send that estimate.

On the phone app

The app's Send invoice screen has the same Let client pay with: section, with a Credit card switch. Turn it off before you tap Send.

Warning: The app doesn't read your last choice. Whenever you open the send screen in the app, the Credit card switch starts on, even if you sent that invoice card-free before. If you're re-sending an invoice that should stay card-free, check the switch before you tap Send.

For now, you can only turn off the card deposit for an estimate on the web. The app's Send estimate screen doesn't have that option.

Related articles

  • Setting how clients pay estimate deposits
  • Recording cash and other offline payments
  • Charging a card service fee
  • How to request deposits on estimates
  • What your customers see when you send an invoice