Online payments

Connect your own Stripe account once, and the invoices you send carry a pay link. When a family pays, Harness records the payment on the invoice and Stripe’s fee with your expenses. Stripe then sends the money to your bank.

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What you need

A few things have to be in place before an invoice goes out with a pay link:

• The Professional plan. The free trial includes it. On the Hobby plan, you can still record payments by hand.
• A Stripe account, which Harness sets up when you connect.
• Accept online payments turned on for the invoice, in the invoice editor’s Build tab. New invoices start with it on once Stripe is connected.
• A small minimum due. A balance of a few cents can’t be paid online.

If any of these is missing, the invoice still sends, just without a pay link.

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Connect Stripe

You connect once, and every invoice you send after that can take payments. If Stripe needs more from you later, the page shows Needs attention and you get an email.

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How families pay

Families pay from the link on the invoice, and Stripe offers the payment methods your Stripe account has turned on:

• Card: recorded on the invoice the moment the family pays.
• Bank account: takes a few business days to clear. The invoice shows Processing until the money lands, and the family can’t pay it twice. If the payment fails, the link opens again so they can retry.
• Other methods you turn on in Stripe, like Cash App or a digital wallet. You choose these in your Stripe account, not in Harness.

The pay page needs no sign-in and always charges the full amount still due, so families can’t pay part of an invoice online. The link in an older email keeps working. To share the link yourself, click Pay online on the invoice to copy it.

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What Harness records

Harness keeps track of the money paid through its pay links, so you don’t enter it yourself. Each payment lands on its invoice, and Stripe’s fee lands as an expense. Refunds, refunds that bounce back, and disputes are recorded too, including refunds you make in the Stripe dashboard. Payments you take in Stripe some other way aren’t recorded, so record them yourself. You get an email and an inbox alert when a payment comes in or a bank payment fails.

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When money reaches you

Stripe pays out to the bank account you set up with Stripe, on Stripe’s own schedule. Harness doesn’t control payouts, so check or change them with Manage in Stripe. A bank payment that’s still clearing shows under money on its way on Transactions, and it counts toward your totals once it lands.

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Disconnect

Disconnecting turns off every pay link at once. Click Disconnect on Settings → Stripe & payouts and confirm. Unpaid invoices stay unpaid, and you record payments by hand from then on. Your Stripe account stays yours, but connecting again later sets up a new Stripe account for your studio.

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What your families see

Families can pay from the Pay Now button in the invoice email and its reminders, the pay link on the PDF, or the Pay button in the student portal, which shows the amount due. The pay page goes straight to Stripe’s checkout, lists what they’re paying for, and needs no account. When an invoice can’t be paid online, like when nothing is due or a bank payment is already on its way, the page says so in plain words.

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FAQ