How a client pays an invoice

When you connect Stripe, your clients can pay their invoices online straight from the portal, no phone calls or paper checks required.

When you’d use this

Read this before you send your first invoice, or when a client asks “how do I pay this?” The honest answer is that there is almost nothing for them to learn: the email they receive has a link, the link opens their invoice, and the invoice has a pay button. There is no account to create and no password to reset, which is the single biggest reason invoices in Fee-Lion get paid faster than a PDF attachment.

It also helps to know what you will see on your side. Every step the client takes — opening the email, viewing the invoice, paying part or all of it — shows up on the invoice’s timeline and in your activity feed, so you are never guessing whether an invoice was seen.

What the client does

1. Open the portal from the magic link you sent.
2. Open the invoice they want to pay.
3. Pay online by card or ACH.

Partial payments

Clients do not have to pay the full amount at once. They can pay part of the balance, and the remaining balance counts down as payments come in until the invoice is settled.

Tip: Online payments require Stripe. Connect it once and every invoice in the portal becomes payable by card or ACH.

FAQ

Does my client need an account to pay?

No. The magic link in the email is their access. It opens their portal directly, with no sign-up, password, or app to install.

Which payment methods can clients use?

Card or ACH bank transfer, both through Stripe. If a client pays you another way, such as a check or wire, you record that as an offline payment so the balance stays correct.

Will I know when the client has paid?

Yes. Online payments record against the invoice automatically, the status moves to paid once the balance is zero, and the payment appears on the invoice’s timeline and in your activity feed.

What’s next

• Connect Stripe to get paid
• Take a partial payment
• Payments