Requiring payment before delivering a report
Many inspection companies require payment before releasing the inspection report. Inspector Studio gives you full control over when a report is published and shared, so you can enforce this workflow without any technical complexity.
How it works
The key insight is that publishing a report and sharing the report link are two separate actions:
Publishing makes the report available at a link — but only people who have the link (or portal access) can see it.
Sharing the link is when the customer actually gets access.
This means you can publish the report internally as soon as it is complete, verify the invoice is paid, and only then share the link with the customer.
The workflow, step by step
Complete the inspection and write the report.
Generate and send the invoice. Do this before or immediately after the inspection.
Publish the report. The report is now available at its link, but you have not shared that link with the customer yet.
Wait for payment. Monitor the invoice status on the booking. When it changes to Paid (customer pays online) or you record a payment manually, proceed.
Share the report link. Go to the booking, copy the report link, and send it to the customer via Threads, email, or SMS — or send them a link to the customer portal where they can log in and access it.
Using Conditionals to automate this
If you want the report link delivered automatically the moment payment is confirmed, you can set up a Conditional:
Trigger: Invoice Paid (or Payment Received)
Message: An email or SMS containing the report link variable (
{{report_link}}) and a message telling the customer their report is ready.
This way you never have to manually send the report link — it goes out automatically as soon as payment lands.
Note: This Conditional only works correctly if the report is already published before the payment comes in. Make it part of your workflow to publish the report immediately after completing it, regardless of payment status.
What if the customer pays before the report is ready?
No problem — just send the link or portal access as soon as the report is published. The customer can log in to the portal and see the report as soon as it appears there.
Soft enforcement vs. hard enforcement
Inspector Studio does not hard-block customers from accessing a report until payment is made — there is no automatic paywall. The control is in your hands: do not share the link until the invoice is paid. This gives you flexibility to make exceptions (for example, a long-standing client you trust) without fighting the system.
If you want a stricter workflow, do not publish the report until payment is received. That way, even if the customer somehow gets the link, there is nothing there yet.
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