Invoices: Customers can Pay from the Invoice Email (Pay Now Link)
Your invoice emails can include a Pay Now button, so your customers can pay the moment they open the invoice. One click opens that invoice in their portal, ready to pay by credit card or bank account. One email does it all - invoice, link to pay and invoice PDF.
Overview
Who sees the Pay Now button
The Pay Now Button is in the email when ALL of these are true:
✅ Your RoasterPay or Stripe payment processor shows as Active under Integrations.
✅ The order has a balance due.
✅ The portal is on for your Roastery Account, and the portal is enabled for the customer.
✅ The customer's primary contact has portal access and has accepted their portal invite.
✅ Credit card and/or ACH is enabled as a payment type for the customer.
Paid Order: Shows payment details, no payment button
Pending Payment: shows Payment Pending and a link to "view invoice"
If any of these aren't true, the invoice email sends without a button and says "Please remit payment to the address below."
A Few Things to Note:
- The Billing Portal does NOT need to be enabled -just the portal
- Customers don't need a payment method saved; they can add one when they pay. (just need a payment type enabled)
- On Stripe, they must have a credit card enabled (currently they can't pay ACH in the portal).
Important:
One invoice email is sent to all contacts: the primary contact in the To line, everyone else CC'd.
If the primary contact hasn't accepted their portal invite, no one will see the payment button, even if another contact has portal access.
What your customer sees
The Pay Now button sits in the Payment section at the top of the invoice email, right under the balance due. When your customer clicks it:
- The invoice opens in their portal. (They'll sign in first if they aren't already.)
- They pay the current balance with a saved payment method or add a new one, limited to the payment types you've enabled for them.
Example: Invoice email with Balance Due
When an invoice is partially paid
If your customer has already paid part of an invoice, the email shows what's left remaining to be paid.
Each payment is listed under Payments & credits with its date, method and amount.
Pay Now always opens the current balance. If you record another payment after sending the invoice, your customer sees the updated amount when they click.
Controlling the Pay Now button for a customer
Every customer who meets the conditions above gets the button on their next invoice email.
There's no per-customer switch for the button. It follows the customer's payment types.
If you'd like a customer to not be able to pay you through RoasterTools, disable credit card and ACH for that customer (Sales > Customers > Edit > Payment Methods). Keep in mind this means they can't pay by credit card or ACH anywhere, including the portal.
While a payment is pending
Bank payments (ACH) take 3–5 business days to clear. While one is pending, the invoice email shows "Balance Due: $X · Payment Pending" and explains that the payment has been initiated. Instead of Pay Now, customers who can sign in get a View Invoice button so they can check the current payment's status.
Tips & FAQs
Q: Can my customer pay without logging in?
A: No. Because payment methods are saved, they'll need to sign in to their portal to pay.
Q: Is the Pay Now link in the invoice PDF?
A: No, invoice PDFs are attached to all emails but links are only in the email body.
Q: Do convenience fees apply?
A: Yes, if you've enabled them. The fee is added when your customer picks a credit card at checkout, so the amount charged can be a little more than the balance in the email.
Q: A customer isn't seeing the button.
A: Check, in order:
- your payment processor shows as Active under Integrations
- the order has a balance due
- the customer's portal is on
- the portal is on for your account (the roastery)
- the primary contact has accepted their invite
- credit card or ACH is enabled for the customer.
Still stuck? Email support@roastertools.com.
Q: What's the difference between Pay Now and a payment request?
A: Pay Now rides along on the invoice email automatically. A payment request is a separate follow-up email you send for one order, handy when an invoice is past due. See RoasterPay: How to Send a Payment Request.