Xero: How do I get paid in 3 easy ways with Pinch?

Get paid from an invoice

Here's the scenario. You've completed some work, raised an invoice in Xero and need to get paid. If you've completed the setup wizard (see Xero: How do I configure my bank account and branding themes? if you need help with that) then you'll already have done most of the hard work. The setup wizard asks which templates (branding themes in Xero) you would like to show the Pinch payment page.

When you send an invoice from Xero, your customers will be able to click the "Pay Now" button.

Your customer can click the link and they will be taken to our secure payment page. From there they can enter their payment details and you'll receive an email confirming the payment. Job done! For payment processing times, see How long do payments take to hit my bank account?.

Get paid with recurring payments

So here is where things get a little more interesting. If you complete work regularly for a customer (such as subscription services, ongoing monthly work etc) then you'll find it easier to get paid with a pre-approval. A pre-approval is a way for your customer to store their payment details on file so that when the invoice is due we can debit them automatically. If that sounds scary, you can limit the amount we'll process automatically.

With Xero it's easy to create a recurring invoice. Just go to the invoices page and click new.

Next, tell Xero how often to raise the invoice and any other details you need. Xero will then automatically create the invoice ready for the due date. 

Now you have your repeating service, you can tell Pinch to debit the amount each time the due date rolls around. To do this, login to Pinch and click "Customers" and then "Manage Pre-Approvals". Tick the customers you would like to debit and click the "Send Pre-Approval" button. Your customers will receive an email inviting them to store their details. (HOT TIP, make sure you go to Account Settings -> Emails in Pinch and change the pre-approval request email to be something more specific for your business).

Once your customer completes the pre-approval they will have their invoices debited automatically on the due date. See, we're all about improving cashflow.

Get paid in instalments

So picture the scene... You have an invoice that is due for payment shortly. It's quite a large invoice or your customer is unable to pay the full amount. Gone are the days of asking for an EFT payment each month as let's face it, most customers will do that once and then forget. You should use instalment payments instead. It's pretty easy and involves 3 steps:

Step 1 - Create the repayment plan

For this, go to "Plans and Subscriptions" in your Pinch portal. Click to create a new plan and then make sure to choose breakdown an existing invoice.

Now, choose your payment terms. It's quite flexible but here are a few examples:

$100 deposit upfront and then $200 per month until invoice paid

10% deposit upfront and then 5% each fortnight until invoice paid

15% each week until invoice paid

As you can see, you can enter dollar amounts or percentage based. It's up to you. You can also mix and match, so a percentage deposit and then fixed amount recurring payments.

Step 2 - Choose the invoice to breakdown

This is easy. Use either the "Payments" menu to search for the invoice number to breakdown or go to a customer page and use the tabs to find the invoice. When you find the invoice, you can select to attach a payment plan.

Step 3 - Click the button!

This is not that hard either, but the final step is to confirm the subscription to link the invoice to the payment plan. If your customer already has a pre-approval with you then we'll start the debit schedule straight away. If they don't, we'll send an email to them asking them to authorise the payments.

Finally...

Now sit back and enjoy getting paid in 3 easy ways with Xero! We're always here to help though so feel free to send us an email at hello@getpinch.com.au or use the help widget on any page in the Pinch portal. If want to see a video of Pinch and Xero in action, click the link below: