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Payment Connections ​

Connect payment providers to collect payments for sent invoices. Card payments are taken on the invoice. Direct Debit stores a mandate for the billed member or organisation. Later invoices show Pay by Direct Debit and are collected automatically when they are sent.

Billing access required

Only users with billing access (usually the billing contact) can connect payment providers.

Connect Stripe for card payments ​

  1. Go to Settings.
  2. Click Payment connections.
  3. In Card payments (Stripe), click Connect Stripe. Stripe's terms and conditions apply when you connect.
  4. Complete Stripe's hosted onboarding (business details and payout bank account).
  5. Return to OpenCommute and turn on Offer card payments on invoices when the status shows Connected.

Use Manage in Stripe to open the Stripe Express dashboard for payouts and account issues. Use Continue setup if Stripe still needs information.

Connect GoCardless for Direct Debit ​

  1. Go to Settings.
  2. Click Payment connections.
  3. In Direct Debit (GoCardless), click Connect GoCardless. GoCardless's terms and conditions apply when you connect.
  4. Sign in to GoCardless (or create an account) and approve access. New accounts are prefilled with your team name.
  5. Turn on Offer Direct Debit on invoices when the status shows Connected.

The first unpaid invoice for a member or organisation shows Setup Direct Debit. Completing that authorises a BACS mandate and collects that invoice. Later invoices for that member or organisation show Pay by Direct Debit (including invoices billed to an organisation when the billed member already has a mandate). Sending those invoices collects them automatically, or you can collect a sent invoice with Pay by Direct Debit.

Enable payments on invoices ​

Each provider has its own toggle on the Payment connections page. Both can be enabled at the same time. Members only see methods that are connected and enabled.

How members pay ​

When an invoice has a balance due and at least one payment method is enabled, Pay invoice appears in the header and on the invoice document in Operations > Invoices. If both are enabled, the document shows a Pay with Stripe card and a Pay with GoCardless card. Pay with Stripe and/or Setup Direct Debit appear on the public invoice link. If the billed member or organisation already has an active mandate, the GoCardless button is Pay by Direct Debit. On a phone, the header Stripe and Direct Debit buttons are hidden — pay from the cards on the invoice document.

Invoice emails use Pay invoice when online payments are available, or View invoice while a Direct Debit collection is in progress. On the public invoice that button opens the same confirmation as the header. Printed copies hide that bar and keep the public link in the footer. Successful payments are recorded automatically, and the bill-to recipient receives a payment confirmation email.

Card payments usually confirm within a few minutes. While Stripe is confirming, pay buttons lock on every view of that invoice (including another browser or the OpenCommute app) and a notification says the payment is being processed; the page checks every few seconds and notifies you when it is recorded. Direct Debit and a second card checkout stay unavailable until that confirmation finishes.

Direct Debit collection ​

When a member or organisation has an active mandate, sending an invoice starts a Direct Debit collection for the remaining balance (after any account credit). A later sent invoice also shows Pay by Direct Debit. The confirmation is titled Pay by Direct Debit, explains that it uses the existing Direct Debit, and Send Direct Debit submits the collection — that does not open GoCardless setup. The public confirmation says the payer will receive an email from GoCardless. In Operations it names the billed person instead. The invoice status changes to Collecting, including when you open an invoice that is already being collected. The invoice, public page, and invoice email show when the payment was submitted and the date it is expected to leave the account. On the invoice that notice is grey with the GoCardless icon.

While that collection is in progress, Pay invoice, Record payment, and other payment methods are locked so the invoice is not paid twice. Collecting invoices cannot be voided and are not marked Overdue. Starting Direct Debit also cancels any unfinished Direct Debit setup and expires any unfinished Stripe checkout for that invoice so card and bank collection cannot both run. If a card payment is already confirming, Direct Debit waits for that to settle instead of starting a second charge. Starting Setup Direct Debit again cancels the previous unfinished setup for that invoice.

If GoCardless cannot collect the payment (for example the payment fails or is cancelled), the collection stops, the status returns to Sent or Overdue, and card payments and Direct Debit are offered again. The invoice shows a warning, History records Direct Debit failed, and billing users get an in-app notification. If the mandate itself is cancelled or expires, later invoices are not collected automatically until the member sets up Direct Debit again.

If a confirmed Direct Debit is later charged back, or a Stripe payment is disputed or fully refunded in the provider dashboard, OpenCommute voids that payment and reopens the invoice. A partial Stripe refund in the Dashboard does not void the local payment — adjust or void it in OpenCommute if needed. Billing users are notified for full reversals. A staff void of a Stripe payment still refunds through Stripe; a dispute or chargeback does not.

Member and organisation records show Direct Debit: Active (or the current mandate status) after a mandate has been set up. The member Payments tab also shows that active mandate and any collections already submitted, with the date each payment is expected to leave the account. Those collections also appear as Pending on Operations > Payments and the invoice Payments tab until GoCardless confirms them.

You can also connect an existing GoCardless mandate from the member or staff Options tab with Connect Direct Debit, or cancel it with Disconnect Direct Debit. See Managing Members.

If collection cannot be started when the invoice is sent (for example GoCardless is unavailable), the invoice is still sent and the usual payment methods stay available. The invoice shows that Direct Debit could not be started, History records the failure, and billing users are notified.

Stripe payments are recorded as method Stripe, with Recorded by set to OpenCommute and the Stripe payment ID as the reference.

If an online card payment cannot be applied after it succeeds (for example a staff cash payment changed the balance, or Direct Debit collection had already started), Stripe checkout charges are refunded automatically. GoCardless payments that cannot be applied need a manual refund in GoCardless. See Managing Invoices.

Voiding a Stripe payment refunds the full amount through Stripe. See Managing Invoices.

Disconnect a provider ​

Use Disconnect on the provider section. This stops new online payments through that provider. Existing recorded payments on invoices are not removed.

If you disconnect Stripe and later click Connect Stripe, OpenCommute reuses the existing Stripe account. You do not enter business details again. Card payments are offered on invoices again. Use Offer card payments on invoices if you want to turn them off. If Stripe still needs information, you continue hosted setup for that same account.

If the organisation already completed Stripe Express onboarding (for example in the Stripe Dashboard) and OpenCommute does not have that account linked, contact support. A platform operator can attach the existing Express account ID from Platform → Teams.