How online payment works
When you send a customer an invoice, they can pay it online using a credit or debit card. Here is exactly what happens from the moment you send the invoice to the moment the money arrives in your account.
Step 1 — You send the invoice
After generating an invoice on a booking, click Send Invoice. Inspector Studio emails the customer a professional invoice summary with a Pay Now button. The email comes from your organization's configured sender address.
Step 2 — The customer receives the email
The customer gets the invoice email in their inbox. It shows:
Your company name and logo.
The property address and inspection date.
An itemized list of services, add-ons, and fees.
The total amount due.
A Pay Now button linking to the checkout page.
Customers can also access the invoice from the customer portal if they are logged in.
Step 3 — The customer pays
Clicking Pay Now takes the customer to a secure hosted checkout page. They enter their card details and click Pay. The checkout page is hosted by Stripe and is fully encrypted. Inspector Studio never stores card numbers.
Accepted payment methods include:
Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Discover (credit and debit).
Additional methods (Apple Pay, Google Pay) if enabled in your Stripe settings.
Step 4 — Payment is confirmed
After a successful payment, the customer sees a confirmation screen and receives a receipt by email. In Inspector Studio, the invoice status updates to Paid (or Partial if only part of the balance was collected). Your team can see the payment immediately in the booking's invoice section.
Step 5 — Funds are deposited
Stripe processes the payment and deposits the funds to your connected bank account, typically within 2 business days. You can monitor your Stripe balance and payout schedule directly in the Stripe dashboard.
What if a payment fails?
If a customer's card is declined, they see an error message on the checkout page and are prompted to try a different card. The invoice stays in Sent status. Nothing on your end changes — the failed attempt is logged in Stripe but does not create a payment record in Inspector Studio.
If a customer reports trouble paying, ask them to:
Try a different card.
Check with their bank if the card was declined (some banks flag new online merchants).
Contact you to pay by another method if online payment is not working.
Can customers pay without clicking the email link?
Yes. The payment link is also available in the customer portal, and you can copy the invoice link from inside Inspector Studio and share it directly — by SMS, in a Threads message, or anywhere else.
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