Payments: How to Set Up Customer Payment Terms and Methods
RoasterTools gives you a few ways to set how and when each customer pays - Prepay, Net terms, or Due on Receipt — and whether they're required to keep a payment method on file. This article covers how to set those up for a customer.
Payment terms
A customer's payment term sets when they pay. You'll set this on the customer record under Sales > Customers > Individual Customer > Edit > Payment Terms.
Prepay
Prepay means the customer must pay for the order before they can check out.
For Prepay to work properly:
- you must have a payment processor enabled first.
- a customer must have a delivery method with a known price (either $0 or some other known amount). If the delivery price is TBD (because the delivery method uses a "live shipping price"), then the order will be processed, but the customer will not be charged.
Net terms
Net terms give the customer a set number of days after the order ships to pay for it.
There are five Net terms: Net 7, Net 15, Net 21, Net 30, and Net 45. Each number is the number of calendar days after the ship date that payment is due. For example, on Net 7 the customer's payment is due one week after the order ships.
If you have a payment method on file (credit card or ACH) and the customer has agreed to it, you can charge them on the due date. See the Learn More links at the bottom for how to collect a payment.
Want to dig into how Due Dates are calculated? See How Due Dates are Calculated for orders on Net Terms.
Due on Receipt
Payment is due when the customer receives the invoice — usually around the same time as delivery or shipment. Rather than paying when the order is placed, the customer is charged once the product is ready, typically once the order is fulfilled.
Require a Payment Method on File
You can require a customer to keep a payment method on file even when they're on terms. Toggle on Required in the Payment Methods section.
When this is enabled, the customer can't place an order in the portal until they add a payment method. This is especially helpful when you have an agreement to charge them on their terms date — so you don't have to chase them down.
It is a seamless ordering flow to add the required method when placing an order. See what your customer will experience in the checkout flow:
- You can require either Credit Card or ACH — not both. Pick whichever makes sense for that customer.
- The requirement applies to portal ordering only. You can always place a manual order for the customer.
- Customers on Prepay terms are automatically required to have a valid payment method to check out — you don't need to set this separately.
- Payment methods are stored so they only have to update this once .
Add or Request Payment Method
You can request a customer add a payment method on file or enter card details yourself.
Request a new method
Go to the Payment Methods section > Credit Card (or ACH) setting > 3 dots > Request a new credit card (or Request a new bank account).
Send it as an email to the contacts on the account, or copy the link and share it however you like.
Or, you can enter a card manually. Once you save the payment method and refresh the page, the area to enter card details appears like this:
Note: You can't manually enter bank account details for ACH — the customer needs to add those securely through the request link.
Set a default. When a customer has more than one payment method, they can choose a default from their portal menu under Payment Methods by clicking the star next to the method they want.
FAQs
Q: I've set the terms — how do I actually charge or record a payment?
A: For credit card and ACH, see RoasterPay: How to Process Collectable Payments. For a payment you collected outside RoasterTools — cash, check, wire, or external — see RoasterPay: How to Record Offline Payments.
Q: Can I collect a partial payment on an order?
A: Yes. You can take a deposit or record less than the full balance, and the order stays open for the remainder. See Partial Payments: Collecting a Portion of an Order Balance.
Q: Can a customer have more than one payment method?
A: Yes. When a customer has multiple methods, they set a default by clicking the star next to it in their portal under Payment Methods.
Learn More:
Charging a card or ACH? See RoasterPay: How to Process Collectable Payments.
Recording cash, check, wire, or external? See RoasterPay: How to Record Offline Payments.
Collecting part of a balance? See Partial Payments: Collecting a Portion of an Order Balance.
Curious how due dates are set? See How Due Dates are Calculated for orders on Net Terms.
Recorded one by mistake? See Reverting a Cash or Check Payment.