Collect a card payment on an invoice

Charge a customer's card through Nova Payments from the invoice, charge a card they saved earlier, or email or text them a link to pay online.

In the sidebar, open Sales & Billing, then Invoices, and open the invoice from the list. The payment window opens from the invoice; a link that ends in /collection opens the invoice with the payment window already open.

Before you start

• Nova Payments has to be set up and card payments allowed on this invoice. See Set up Nova Payments.
• Your role needs permission to collect card payments and send payment links. Charging a saved card also needs a card the customer agreed to have charged later.
• For cash, cheques and transfers, see Record a payment instead.
• A card payment has to be at least $0.50 (or the equivalent in your currency). For a smaller amount, see Record a payment.

Steps

1. Open the actions menu (the three dots at the top of the invoice) and choose Collect payment. It reads Collect remaining payment after a part payment. On an invoice that has already been sent, the same action is often the main button at the top. A draft can be collected on too: it stops being a draft the moment the card form or payment link starts, and closing the window without collecting leaves it a draft.
2. A payment window opens, titled "Collect payment for" and the invoice number. Choose how at the top: Card, Charge saved card or Send payment link. The first tab, Cash, cheque or e-transfer, is for money that arrived outside Nova; see Record a payment.
3. With Card, for a customer on the phone or in front of you:
   • Keep Full balance, or choose Custom amount for a part payment. Add a Tip (optional) if you take tips.
   • Check the Billing email; Nova uses it to confirm the payment.
   • To keep the card, turn on Save this payment method for future billing, and Authorize future charges if the customer agrees to be charged later without giving the card again.
   • Press Load secure payment form, enter the card details, and press the button that reads "Charge" followed by the amount.
4. With Charge saved card, choose the Saved card, check the amount, and press Charge saved card.
5. With Send payment link, choose the Channel (Email or SMS), check the address or Phone number, change the Subject and Message if you like, and press Send payment link. To pass the link on yourself instead, press Share / manage payment link; your role needs permission to share customer links.

What you see

• While the card is checked, Processing payment covers the window. Keep it open; it usually takes a few seconds.
• Nova confirms "Card payment collected." with what is left to pay. The invoice's status chip reads Paid, or Partially paid if a balance remains.
• A payment link lets the customer pay by card without signing in. The invoice updates once they pay.
• Test mode above the card form means Nova Payments is still in testing, so no real money moves.
• A card form, or the payment page a customer opens from a payment link, stays open for one hour, then closes on its own. The link itself keeps working, so the customer can open it again to pay. Starting a new card payment on the invoice closes any earlier form or payment page that is still open, and so does the invoice being paid in full or voided, so a customer cannot pay an old page after the fact.
• Cancel card payment, beside the amount above the card form, closes the form right away. Use it when the customer changes their mind, or when you need to change the invoice while a card payment is still open. Change amount closes it too.

Cancel an open card payment

1. While the card form is still showing in the payment window, press Cancel card payment above it. The form closes and the invoice can be edited again.
2. If you already closed the window, or the customer has a payment page open from a link, it stays open until it closes on its own. When you save a change to the invoice's amount while one is open, the save is held and the message offers Cancel card payment. Press it, then save again; your edits are kept.

A payment the customer has already made cannot be cancelled this way; Nova tells you it went through. Refund it instead, see Refund a payment.

If something looks different

• The window says card payment or a pay-online link isn't available for this invoice yet: Nova Payments is not ready, or card payments are turned off on this invoice. Check Credit card under Payment options in the invoice's Manage panel.
• Charge saved card shows No saved cards: the customer has no card they agreed to have charged later. Press Add a card, or see Save a customer's card for future charges.
• A saved card is declined: choose Retry another saved card (shown when the customer has more than one), Request new payment method, Credit card or Send payment link.
• The invoice is a Draft: you can still collect on it. Nova takes it out of draft as soon as the card form or payment link starts, so its number and amounts are fixed from then on. If Collect payment is missing on a draft, your role cannot send and collect on draft invoices; ask your admin, or send the invoice first.
• Only Cash, cheque or e-transfer shows: your role cannot collect card payments, or Nova Payments is not set up.
• The window says the amount is below the card minimum: card payments start at $0.50. Record the amount as a payment made outside Nova instead.
• Nova refuses with "Some items are short on stock or capacity. Resolve them before this invoice is sent or paid.": a line asks for more of an item than you have, or for a service that is not booked yet, and your organization requires stock or capacity before an invoice is sent or paid. Fix the line, or see Hold inventory from quotes and invoices.
• The window shows Abandon this payment attempt: Nova could not confirm with the card processor whether the form started. Press it; Nova checks, closes anything it finds, and lets you start again.
• A notice says a card payment arrived with nothing owing: a customer paid an older link after the invoice was settled. The money is in your account and sits on the payment unapplied. Open the payment, then apply it to another invoice or refund it.

Open Invoices