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Accepting Payments

When you connect your AR Automation account to BlueSnap, you enable customers to make payments through AR Automation, while keeping your accounting/ERP system in sync. Online payments let you create automatic payment schedules and let your customers take immediate action on invoices.

This page covers all the ways to collect payments from customers, such as Payment Link and Pay Balance Link, as well as how to reconcile payments, and configure the various payment settings available.

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Before you Begin

Connect to BlueSnap so your AR Automation account can accept payments.

Payment Interfaces

AR Automation offers the following ways to collect payments and payment information from your customers.

Payment Link

Payment Link provides an online version of an invoice that can be viewed and paid securely online. In Cadences, Payment Link is embedded when the Invoice Button placeholder is used.

To access Payment Link for a specific invoice, follow the steps below.

  1. In your AR Automation account, go to Customers > Invoices.
  2. Next to the desired invoice, expand the action menu, and click Payment Link.

On this page, you have the option to print, download, or pay the invoice.

Payment Link Example

Pay Balance Link

Pay Balance Link provides a link where a customer can view their open invoices and choose to pay all, or a portion, at once. Pay Balance Link can be included in cadence messages by using the Pay Balance placeholder.

To access the Pay Balance link for a specific customer, follow the steps below.

  1. In your AR Automation account, go to Customers > Customer Records.
  2. Next to the customer, expand the action menu, and click Pay Balance Link.

On this page, you can view the customer's open invoices, as well as select which invoices should be paid at the same time.

Pay Balance Link Example

Payment Method Link

Payment Method Link provides customers the ability to add a payment method or update an existing payment method to be securely stored for future payments. Storing their payment method details allows them to have their future invoices automatically charged if desired. Payment Method Link can be included in Cadence messages by using the Payment Method Link placeholder.

To access the Payment Method Link for a specific customer, follow the steps below.

  1. In your AR Automation account, go to Customers > Customer Records.
  2. Next to the customer, expand the action menu, and click Pay Method Link.

On this page, you can select which payment method to store and then enter the payment method details.

Payment Method Link Example

Virtual Terminal

Virtual Terminal provides a secure way for an AR Automation user to enter payment details on a customer's behalf, useful for saving the payment method for future payments, or for paying an open invoice. This feature is especially useful for entering payment details received via phone or encrypted email.

Note: Please contact Merchant Support to have Virtual Terminal enabled for your account.

Save a customer's payment method

To save a payment method to a customer using Virtual Terminal, follow these steps.

  1. In your AR Automation account, got to Customers > Customer Records.
  2. Click on the customer to view their customer detail page.
  3. Expand the action menu at the top right of the screen and click Virtual Terminal.
  4. Enter the customer's details in the secure form, such as their name, card number, and more.
  5. Click Save.

Now that the customer's payment method has been saved, it can be used to pay open invoices.

Pay an invoice on a customer's behalf

To pay an open invoice on a customer's behalf using Virtual Terminal, follow these steps.

  1. In your AR Automation account, go to Customers > Invoices.
  2. Next to the invoice, expand the action menu and click Virtual Terminal.
  3. Enter the customer's details in the secure form, such as their name and card details. Note: To save the customer's card for future payments, select Save Card.
  4. Click Save.

The customer's invoice has been successfully paid. If the Save Card setting was selected, their card details will be saved to their account for future payments.

Customer Portal

The Customer Portal is a password-protected area where customers can view their open and paid invoices, view account statements generated by AR Automation, access shared files, make payments, and update their billing information. Customers must either be invited to or request access to their portal and then set a secure password.

To direct a customer to their Customer Portal, you can use the Customer Portal placeholder in a Cadence or provide them with their Customer Portal URL. Click here to learn how to invite a customer to access their Customer Portal.

Customer Portal Example

Generic Payment Link

A Generic Payment Link is a permanent payment link that allows you to accept payments with or without an invoice. Customers directed to this page are prompted to enter a payment amount, payment method details, and an invoice number (optional) or an account number and notes (optional).

Note: Credit Cards, ACH, SEPA, BECs Direct Debit, and PAD Direct Debit are available payment methods on the Generic Payment Link.

When a customer attempts a payment by entering a value for the invoice/account number fields, we try to match the payment to the corresponding customer and/or invoice once the payment is processed. Successful payment data is synchronized back to the AR system and the connected accounting system.

If a customer attempts a payment and the account/invoice number is not submitted, the payment will be processed but appear in the AR system as Unapplied (has no connection with customer and invoice data). This payment either stays unsynchronized in AR or you need to manually apply it to the customer and invoice to have it synchronized with your accounting system.

The screenshot below shows what an unapplied payment looks like in your AR account.

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To apply the payment manually, please navigate to the Payment Details page by clicking on the Action menu button > Details. Once you are on the details page you can click the Apply Payment button and select the invoice you wish to apply for the payment.

Generic Payment Link Structure

You can navigate to Account > Payments to find your unique Generic Payment Link. The Generic Payment Link is a hosted payment page built off your customer portal subdomain i.e., subdomain.armatic.com/payment

The link can be pasted or embedded anywhere. For example you can add it to your website and the same payment link can be shared with many customers.

Link Example

https://bluesnaptest8f.armatic.com/payment

Note: If you update the customer portal subdomain on your Company Preferences pages, the Payment Link subdomain will be automatically updated.

Payment Settings

You can adjust your payment settings in your AR Automation account by going to Settings > Preferences > the Payments tab. For example, you can choose whether partial payments are enabled.

Partial Payments

Partial payments allow customers to specify how much an invoice they would like to pay. They can enter their payment amount, up to the total invoice amount. This feature is available when a customer pays a single invoice, not when paying multiple invoices via the Pay Balance Link.

Payment Methods

AR Automation supports multiple payment methods for processing payments through AR Automation directly:

  • ACH/ECP
  • Apple Pay
  • BECS Direct Debit
  • Credit/Debit Cards
  • Google Pay
  • PayPal
  • Pre-Authorized Debit
  • SEPA

You can manage the payment methods available to your customers by navigating to Settings > Preferences > the Payments tab > Available Payment Methods setting. The selected payment methods are displayed on Payment Links for your customers.

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Note

Your desired payment methods should be enabled on your AR Automation and BlueSnap accounts.
For details about enabling payment methods on BlueSnap, refer to Enabling Payment Methods.

Payment Status

Our payment statuses provide an overview of the current status of your payments. Understanding these statuses is important for tracking any issues during the payment process. Following is a list of payment statuses:

  • Initiated: This is the initial status for advance payments and offline payments for PayPal. This status indicates that the payment has been initiated but has not been processed yet.
  • Scheduled: This status is for auto-payments that are scheduled for processing at a future date. When a payment is scheduled, it is automatically processed on the specified date.
  • Pending: This status is the initial status for ACH/SEPA payments. When a payment is in pending status, it means that the payment has been sent to the bank for processing, but there is no response yet.
  • Succeeded: This status indicates that the payment has been successfully processed.
  • Failed: This status indicates that the payment failed to be processed. If you hover your mouse over the Failed status, you will see the reason for the failure.
  • Cancelled: This status indicates that a payment with a status of Initiated or Scheduled was cancelled, either automatically or manually. If you hover your mouse over the Cancelled status, you will see the reason for the cancellation.
  • Refunded: This status indicates that a payment has been fully refunded.
  • Partially Refunded: This status indicates that a payment has been partially refunded.

Payment Reconciliation

Payments made through AR Automation are immediately synced with accounting/ERP systems, marking the invoice as paid or partially paid. For example, if your AR Automation account is connected to QuickBooks, the payment can be viewed by selecting Undeposited Funds under Payment Account. The payment is also recorded in your AR Automation account in Account > Accounting.

Updated 3 months ago