A quick start guide for sending and receiving payments via B12 invoicing
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Written by: Madeline B. |
The B12 payments and invoicing tool lets you create professional invoices, send them to clients, and receive payment by credit card or ACH bank transfer. Use the steps outlined below to begin sending and receiving payments with B12.
Note: In order to utilize our payments and invoicing tool you will have to verify your business, once verified you will not have to verify again.
Add your banking information
1. Log in to the B12 Editor and click Payments and Invoicing.
2. Click Add banking details (this is required for you to accept payments).
Note: If you do not see this button, follow these instructions to edit your business address and include the US as your Country.
3. Through our payment partner, Stripe, you will be prompted to verify your identifying information and bank account. Your business address must be a valid physical address in the United States from which you conduct business and cannot be a P.O. Box.
Sending an invoice
1. Click Create Invoice. A preview of the invoice will be generated on the right side of the screen, which you will customize on the left side of the screen.
2. If you want to edit your business contact information that appears under From in the invoice preview, click Edit under Business information, make the edits, and click Save.
3. Add your client information.
To add your client information you:
- Click
Add new client - Enter your client's name and email address
- Click
Save
Note: Name and email address are required to send an invoice, while the other information fields are optional. Should you send a new invoice to this client in the future, you'll be able to find them in the Type client name search box.
4. Add your invoicing details
To enter your invoice details you:
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Select a Standard or Recurring invoice type.
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Click Invoice items and click Add item to create a line item. Add new, or search for an existing line item.
- Enter the line item's title and price (adding a description is optional) and click Add item. You can add as many line items as necessary.
Optional: Add tax and/or apply a discount (dollar amount or percentage).
Editing the default email reply
You can also edit the default email that will be sent to your client when they submit payment for your invoice. Do edit the default email you:
1. You can also customize the invoice's recipients (cc and bcc), subject, and add additional text to the email body.
2. You will also see a preview of the email on the right side of the screen.
Setting a next step
The Next steps functionality helps you customize and control what happens after your client performs makes a payment. To set a next step you:
You can customize the Success message after submission field.
Select a Next step of your choosing. Here are the five options available in the dropdown.
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None - stay on the same page and only display the success message
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Complete a form - go to the selected form
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Schedule an appointment - go to the selected scheduling form
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Make a payment - go the the selected checkout page. Note: This action is not recommended for this tool.
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Redirect to another page - go to the specified section / page / URL / media
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Make sure to provide next step details by specifying the target such as Add form / Add scheduling form / Add payment details / Add redirect.
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For this example, we will select Schedule an appointment since this is a common next step after a client completes a payment.
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Select the scheduling form from the list or create a new scheduling form by clicking Add new form.Then click Save.
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After the appropriate details have been selected (for this example, the specific Scheduling form), it displays in the interface.
You can customize the Success message after submission field.
Select a Next step of your choosing. Here are the five options available in the dropdown.
- None - stay on the same page and only display the success message
- Complete a form - go to the selected form
- Schedule an appointment - go to the selected scheduling form
- Make a payment - go the the selected checkout page. Note: This action is not recommended for this tool.
- Redirect to another page - go to the specified section / page / URL / media
Make sure to provide next step details by specifying the target such as Add form / Add scheduling form / Add payment details / Add redirect.
- For this example, we will select Schedule an appointment since this is a common next step after a client completes a payment.
- Select the scheduling form from the list or create a new scheduling form by clicking Add new form.Then click Save.
After the appropriate details have been selected (for this example, the specific Scheduling form), it displays in the interface.
Send invoice
When you're ready to send the invoice to your client, click Send.
Sending reminders
If an invoice is unpaid, your client will receive the following automated reminder emails:
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A reminder the day before the invoice is due
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An overdue reminder the day after the invoice is due
To send an additional reminder email, click the three dots next to the invoice in the Actions column and click Send reminder. You can customize the reminder email, and then click Send email.
Payments
When a client pays their invoice, they receive an automated email thanking them for the payment. You will also receive an email from B12 confirming that the payment has been made. You can then see the funds under Payments in your B12 account. Funds available for a payout appear under Available, while funds that appear under Pending will become available for a payout 2-5 business days after you received the confirmation email.
Payouts
To transfer available funds to your bank account, click Payouts and click Create payout. If you need to change the bank account that is receiving the payment, you can do so under Bank accounts.
Learn more about how Online Payments and Invoicing works here, or send an email to hello@b12.io