Setting up billing

Connect your Stripe account to accept credit card payments, enable autopay for customers, and set up payment plans. Once billing is configured, you can generate invoices from service plans and customers can pay through the customer portal.

How billing works in Chisel Tide

Chisel Tide uses Stripe Connect to process payments. When you connect your Stripe account, you can:

• Accept credit card payments — Customers can pay invoices directly through the customer portal using their credit card

• Enable autopay — Customers can save a payment method and authorize automatic payments for recurring invoices

• Set up payment plans — Offer flexible payment arrangements for customers who need to spread costs over time

• Generate invoices — Create recurring invoices from active monthly service plans

All payment processing happens through your own Stripe account, and funds are deposited directly to your bank account after Stripe's standard processing time.

Prerequisites

Before connecting Stripe, make sure you have:

• A Stripe account — If you don't have one, you'll create one during the connection process

• Business verification documents — Stripe will verify your identity and business information during onboarding

• Bank account details — A checking account where Stripe will deposit your payments

Connecting your Stripe account

1. Go to Settings

   Navigate to the Settings page in your Chisel Tide dashboard.

2. Open the Payments section

   Scroll to the Payments section and look for the Stripe Connect card.

3. Start the connection

   If no Stripe account is connected, you'll see "No Stripe account connected" with the message "Connect a Stripe account to accept credit card payments, enable autopay, and set up payment plans for your customers."

   Click Connect Stripe Account to begin.

4. Complete Stripe onboarding

   The embedded onboarding form appears with the heading "Complete your Stripe setup". Fill in your business details — Stripe will verify your identity and bank account information.

   The form collects:

   • Business type and structure

   • Business address and contact information

   • Bank account for payouts

   • Identity verification documents

Understanding your Stripe connection status

After connecting, the Payments section displays your Stripe account status with one of these badges:

• Active — Your account is fully verified and can accept payments and receive payouts

• Pending verification — Stripe is still reviewing your business information

• Onboarding in progress — You've started the connection but haven't completed all required steps

• Charges enabled — You can accept payments but payouts may still require additional verification

• Payouts enabled — Stripe will deposit funds to your bank account

Completing an incomplete onboarding

If you close the onboarding form before finishing, or if Stripe requires additional information, you'll see one of these warnings:

• "Complete your Stripe onboarding to accept payments."

• "Your Stripe account is pending verification."

Click Continue onboarding to resume where you left off. You can also click Refresh status to check if Stripe has updated your account status.

Managing your connected Stripe account

Once your Stripe account is active, you can:

• Open Stripe Dashboard — Access your full Stripe account to view transactions, manage disputes, update bank details, and configure advanced settings

• Refresh status — Sync the latest account status from Stripe if you've made changes in the Stripe dashboard

How billing setup relates to invoicing

After connecting Stripe, you can generate invoices from your service plans:

• Recurring invoices — Active monthly service plans generate invoices each billing period. The invoice amount is calculated from each plan's price, type, and billing frequency.

• Invoice delivery — Invoices are sent to customers through the customer portal, where they can view details and pay online.

• Payment tracking — Invoice statuses (Draft, Sent, Viewed, Paid, Partial, Overdue, Void, Disputed) are tracked automatically.

Generate invoices from the Billing page by clicking Generate invoices. The system creates one invoice per customer for all their active monthly service plans.

Customer payment methods and autopay

Customers can save payment methods and enable autopay through the customer portal:

1. Add payment method

   Customers navigate to the billing section and see "Add payment method" with the subtitle "Save a card to make payments easier or enable autopay."

2. Save card details

   Customers enter credit card information using the secure Stripe payment form, then click Save payment method.

3. Enable autopay

   After saving a payment method, customers can enable autopay to automatically pay recurring invoices on their due dates.

Autopay is managed at the customer level, not per service plan. When enabled, the saved payment method is charged automatically for invoices.

Troubleshooting

Next steps

After setting up billing:

• Create service plans with recurring billing to generate invoices automatically

• Encourage customers to save payment methods and enable autopay through the customer portal

• Review the Billing Dashboard to track invoice status and payment activity