The Payment Problem
You did the work. The customer is happy. And the money... shows up eventually.
Slow payments rarely come down to customers who won't pay. The usual reasons:
- the invoice went out days late, or never went out;
- paying meant finding a checkbook or calling you with a card number;
- nobody noticed it was overdue until the end of the month.
Each of those is fixable. Here's how 365clients handles them, and what's still up to you.
Step 1: Let the Estimate Become the Invoice
Retyping an accepted quote into an invoice is where mistakes and delays creep in. In 365clients you don't.
1. Send the customer an estimate from Estimates, with one option or several ("good / better / best"). Mark the one you recommend.
2. The customer opens it on their phone, picks an option and signs by typing their name.
3. The moment they accept, 365clients:
- creates a draft invoice with the line items of the option they chose,
- emails you that it was accepted, and by whom,
- stops any estimate follow-up messages, since they said yes.
You check the draft, adjust anything that changed on the job, and send it. No retyping.
Tip: give each estimate a valid until date. After that, the customer can't accept an out-of-date price.
Step 2: Make Paying Easy
The fewer steps between "here's your invoice" and "paid", the sooner you're paid.
Connect Stripe once
Go to Settings → Payments and connect a Stripe account. Stripe handles the card processing and pays out to your bank. This is a one-time setup.
Send invoices with a "Pay now" link
When you click Send invoice, the customer gets an email with the amount, the details and a Pay now link. They pay by card, plus any other payment methods you've turned on in your Stripe account, in about a minute. No app, no account.
When they pay by card:
- the invoice is marked paid automatically. You don't have to check;
- the link closes after one payment, so nobody can pay the same invoice twice.
Record everything else
Paid by cash or check on site? Open the invoice, click Record payment, choose the method (cash, check, card or other) and add a reference like the check number. Marking an invoice paid, or voiding it, also switches its Pay now link off.
About fees: Stripe charges its standard processing fee on card payments. 365clients doesn't add anything on top.
Step 3: Bill Repeat Customers Automatically
Maintenance plans, lawn-care seasons, cleaning subscriptions: if a customer pays you the same amount on a schedule, don't invoice them by hand every time.
Set up a membership plan in Memberships: a name, a price, and how often it bills (monthly, quarterly or yearly), plus how often a visit is due. Enroll a customer and they get a secure checkout link to save their card. From then on, Stripe bills them automatically on schedule.
Members can also get member pricing on their estimates, which is a nice reason to join.
Step 4: Know What's Overdue
Every morning, 365clients moves any sent, unpaid invoice past its due date to Overdue. The Invoices page shows what's paid, what's outstanding and what's late at a glance, and a customer's page shows everything they've been billed and still owe.
What 365clients doesn't do yet is send the reminder for you. So make it a habit:
- Once a week, open Invoices and look at everything Overdue.
- Call (a quick, friendly "just making sure you got it" works wonders), or resend the invoice so they have the Pay now link at hand.
- On Pro, you can ask AI Reports things like "unpaid invoices older than 30 days" and get the list, ready to export.
Step 5: Hand Your Accountant Clean Files
On Invoices, Export gives you:
- For QuickBooks (CSV),
- For Xero (CSV),
- a summary with payments (CSV) for your own records.
No more typing invoices into your accounting software.
Coming from Xero? It works the other way too. Invoices → Import takes Xero's invoice export as it comes, with lines, dates, tax and paid or unpaid status. Each invoice's customer is matched or added, and running it twice adds nothing.
Putting It Together: A Landscaping Example
1. Monday: you walk a property and send an estimate with three options: basic cleanup, cleanup plus mulch, or the full spring package (recommended).
2. Tuesday evening: the customer picks the full package and signs on their phone. A draft invoice appears in 365clients and you get an email.
3. Following week: the crew finishes. You open the draft, add the extra bed they asked for on the day, and click Send invoice.
4. That night: the customer pays by card from the email. The invoice turns Paid on its own.
5. Next day: you offer the customer a monthly maintenance membership. They sign up from the link, and every month is billed automatically from then on.
6. Month end: you export For QuickBooks and send it to your bookkeeper.
Common Invoicing Mistakes
Sending invoices late. The longer you wait, the longer you wait to be paid. Send the invoice the day the job is done. When a job is marked complete, 365clients can email the customer their invoice link and a request for a review (Settings → Outreach).
Vague line items. "Services: $1,850" invites questions. "Spring cleanup (8 hrs, 2 crew), 12 yards mulch, hauling" doesn't. Save your common items in the Pricebook so they're quick to add and consistent.
Asking for checks only. A Pay now link turns "I'll mail it this week" into "done".
Never looking at Overdue. Put 15 minutes on the calendar every week.
Setup Checklist
- [ ] Connect Stripe: Settings → Payments
- [ ] Add your common services and materials to the Pricebook
- [ ] Send your next quote as an estimate with options, and a valid-until date
- [ ] Turn on the job-completed email in Settings → Outreach
- [ ] Create a membership plan for your recurring customers
- [ ] Put a weekly "check Overdue" slot on your calendar
- [ ] Send your bookkeeper a QuickBooks or Xero export at month end
FAQ
Can customers pay part of an invoice, or pay a deposit?
Not yet. An invoice is paid in full. For a deposit, send a separate invoice for the deposit amount.
Do I need Stripe to use invoices?
No. You can send invoices and record cash, check and other payments without it. Stripe is what adds the Pay now link and automatic "paid".
What does it cost?
Stripe's processing fee on card payments. 365clients adds no fee of its own.
Bottom Line
Getting paid faster is mostly about removing friction: invoice from the accepted estimate instead of retyping it, send it the day the job's done, make paying one tap, bill repeat customers automatically, and look at what's overdue every week.