Module · Payments

Where to find it in the app

• Use it: Finance → Money owed
• Turn it on/off: your business name (top-left) → Settings → Modules → Finance → Money owed

Plan: Solo and Business · Module group: Finance · Navigation: Finance → Money owed

1. Overview

Purpose. Take deposits and balances online through your own Stripe account, so payouts go straight to your bank. You can charge a saved card for an outstanding balance, or record a manual (cash/eftpos) payment.

Your money, your account. Your money goes straight to your own Stripe account, HappierBiz takes no platform fee (0%) and never holds your funds. Payouts go directly to your bank on Stripe's schedule.

2. When to use it

• To collect a deposit when a customer books online.
• To charge or settle the remaining balance.
• To see what's outstanding and what's been collected.

3. Required permissions

• View payments (payments.view).
• Take / charge payments (payments.charge).

4. Navigation path

Finance → Money owed

5. What you'll see

The screen is the Money hub. If Stripe isn't connected yet, a Connect card sits at the top to link your Stripe account ("Payouts go straight to your bank").

Summary tiles run across the top:

• Owed to you: the total still owing, with a count of open items.
• Overdue: how much of that is past due.
• Collected · all time: everything you've taken, sub-labelled "deposits, balances & invoices", with a small trend line once there's enough history.
• Sources: how many of your money sources (bookings, invoices, memberships) are switched on and feeding the list.

Below the tiles are three tabs:

• Owed to you: one unified receivables list that merges booking balances, unpaid invoices and past-due memberships into a single view. Items are grouped by customer (or flip to Every item) and bucketed by age, with an aging bar you can click to filter to a bucket. You can search, and filter by source when more than one is on. Each row's action fits its source: a Charge button for a booking balance with a card on file (or Mark paid when there's no saved card), a Copy pay link for an invoice, and Send portal for a past-due membership so the member can update their card.
• Paid history: deposits and balance payments collected.
• Payouts: money paid out to your bank.

6. Turning it on & connecting Stripe

1. Settings → Modules → Getting paid → Payments.

2. Open Finance → Money owed. The connect card asks one question first: do you already use Stripe?

   • I already use Stripe, sign in to Stripe and link your existing account in seconds. There's no new sign-up and nothing to re-verify: you keep your own Stripe login, dashboard and settings.
   • I don't have Stripe yet, a guided new-account setup (about 5 minutes). Stripe walks you through your ABN, bank account and photo ID on its own pages.

   Security note: enter banking and identity details directly on Stripe's own secure pages, never share them in chat or by email. When Stripe says charges are enabled, you're ready to take payments.

3. Back in HappierBiz, the Connect card is replaced by your live payments view.

Notes on linking an existing account.

• The I already use Stripe option only appears when the platform has account linking enabled, otherwise you'll simply see the new-account setup.
• A Stripe account that's managed by another platform (for example a Stripe account Shopify created for you) can't be linked. The app tells you if this happens and offers the new-account path instead.
• Picking the wrong option isn't a trap: until payments are fully live, both paths stay available, and a half-finished setup resumes where you left off.

New to this? There's a plain-English, printable setup guide on the Connect card (and in Help → User manual → Setup guides): Finance → Payments → Setup guide (PDF). It walks an absolute beginner through connecting Stripe step by step, and the Download as PDF / Print button saves it as a PDF.

7. Step-by-step tasks

7a. Take a deposit at booking

Deposits are collected automatically when a customer books an experience that requires one (set on the experience, see Bookings). They appear under Paid history and reduce the outstanding balance.

7b. Charge an outstanding balance to a saved card

1. On the Owed to you tab, find the booking. The Charge button only appears when the customer has a card on file, saved when they paid their deposit online. Rows without one say no saved card.
2. Choose Charge, HappierBiz charges the saved card via your Stripe for the exact amount owing.
3. On success you'll see a confirmation (e.g. "Charged $X to 's card").

If there's no saved card, take payment another way (cash, eftpos, bank transfer) and use Mark as paid instead (7c).

7c. Record a manual payment

1. For a cash/eftpos payment taken in person, choose Mark as paid.
2. The balance is cleared without a Stripe charge.

8. Examples

• Beginner (venue): a party deposit is taken when the customer books; on the day you Mark as paid the balance they settle in cash.
• Real-world (clinic): charge the outstanding balance to the card on file after the appointment.
• Advanced (multi-service): monitor Owed to you daily, auto-charge cards for balances due, and reconcile Payouts against your bank.

9. Reports & exports

The Paid history and Payouts tabs, plus the Owed to you and Collected summary tiles, give a live financial picture. For accounting, raise invoices and use the Accounting export. (Payments tracks card collections; invoices track billed income, they can legitimately differ.)

10. Common mistakes

• Trying to take payments before connecting Stripe, connect first; charges must be enabled on your Stripe account.
• Confusing Payments with Invoicing, Payments handles card collection; Invoicing produces the billing documents that feed accounting.
• Charging a card the customer didn't save, auto-charge needs a saved card; otherwise mark paid manually.

11. Troubleshooting

12. Error messages

Charging shows a success toast or a short error from Stripe (e.g. card declined) , act on the message. Connection status is reflected by whether the Connect card or the live tabs are shown.

Related: Invoicing · Accounting export · Bookings