Set up autopay for a client

Autopay charges a client’s saved card or bank account for each invoice on its due date, so you do not chase payments. Only the client can turn it on, and they do it by agreeing to a written authorization. This page shows how to ask a client to set it up, what Outpost does on each due date, and how to stop it.

Before you begin

• A payment provider is connected. See Connect a payment provider.
• The client has a billing contact email. Autopay notices and the copy of the authorization go there.
• Emailing a set-up link and stopping autopay need psa:invoice.

How a client turns autopay on

A client authorizes autopay in one of three places:

• In the client portal, on Autopay. See Pay automatically.
• On the pay page, after paying an invoice from its pay link.
• From a set-up link you email them.

Each way follows the same steps. The client chooses a card or bank account, enters it in the processor’s fields, and then reads the authorization as its own step. Nothing is charged at that point. The authorization names the person agreeing, your practice, the client, the method, the notice you give before each charge, and how to revoke it. The client must tick that they have read and agree to it before Authorize automatic payments works.

For a bank account, the client also says whether it is a Business account or a Personal account, which decides the type of ACH debit.

Outpost stores the exact text the client saw, with its version, and emails them a copy with a link that stops autopay in one step. The record is kept for 2 years after the authorization stops.

A client has one authorization at a time. A new one replaces the old one.

Email a set-up link

1. In the client’s workspace, select Client billing > Billing profile.
2. In the Online payments card, under Autopay, select Email a set-up link. When autopay is already on, the button reads Email a link to change the method.

The billing contact is emailed a link that works for 14 days and only once. Sending a new one stops the older link.

What happens on each due date

1. Before each charge, by the number of days in Tell the client before a charge (10 by default), the client is emailed the amount and date.
2. On the due date, Outpost charges the balance to the saved method. Autopay charges never carry a card surcharge.
3. If the charge is declined, the client is emailed the reason and the date of the next try. Outpost tries again on the days in Retry after, counted from the due date, up to Tries per invoice.
4. After the last failed try, Outpost raises an alert in your own workspace. The client stays enrolled for their next invoice.

Some declines are never retried, such as a closed account or a card reported stolen. A returned bank payment is presented again at most twice, whatever the settings say. See Payment settings and emails.

Outpost also emails the client before a saved card expires, by the days in Warn before a card expires.

See what a client agreed to

In the client’s Billing profile, the Online payments card shows Autopay as On or Off. When it is on, it shows the method charged, who agreed, how, and when. Expand The terms they agreed to to read the exact text and its version.

Stop autopay

A client can stop autopay from the link in their confirmation email, from the client portal, or by asking you. To stop it yourself:

1. In the client’s Billing profile, under Autopay, select Stop autopay.
2. Confirm with Stop autopay.

Nothing more is charged automatically, and the client is emailed. Stopping takes effect before the next charge. A payment already submitted is not canceled.

Removing a saved method under Saved methods also stops any autopay on it, and detaches it at the processor.

Verify

• Autopay shows On with the method and the date it was agreed.
• The client’s next invoice shows an attempt from Autopay on its due date.

Next steps

• Payment settings and emails
• Switch payment providers