How to take card payments on site

“I'll do a bank transfer tonight” is where a same-day payment becomes a three-week chase. Giving customers a card option while you're still standing in their kitchen closes the gap between finishing the work and getting paid for it.

TradePlanr uses Stripe payment links: every invoice you send can carry a secure pay-by-card button, with the money landing in your bank account without you handling card details or carrying a terminal.

1. 1. Connect your Stripe account

   In Settings, open Payments and choose Connect Stripe. If you already have a Stripe account, sign in; if not, you can create one in a few minutes — you'll need your business details and the bank account you want payouts to reach.

   This is a one-off job. Once connected, every invoice can carry a payment link automatically.

   The Payments settings screen showing the Connect Stripe button

2. 2. Turn on payment links for invoices

   Still in Payments settings, switch on payment links so they're added to invoices by default. You can also leave it off by default and add a link to individual invoices — useful if you only want card payments on smaller jobs.

   Tip

   Stripe charges a small percentage per transaction. Many trades treat it as the cost of being paid today instead of next month — but for large invoices you can always leave the link off and take a transfer.

3. 3. Send an invoice with a payment link

   Create and send an invoice as normal. The customer's copy now includes a Pay Now button that takes them to a secure Stripe checkout — they can pay by card, Apple Pay or Google Pay from their phone while you're still there.

   A customer's view of an invoice with the Pay Now button highlighted

4. 4. Watch the payment land

   When the customer pays, the invoice is marked as paid in TradePlanr automatically — no reconciling, no “did that transfer arrive?”. Stripe pays out to your bank on its usual schedule, typically a few working days.

5. 5. Handle part-payments and deposits

   For bigger jobs, you can invoice in stages — a deposit invoice before you start, then the balance on completion — and each one carries its own payment link. Staged invoicing with card payment is the simplest way to stop a big job sitting entirely on your cash flow.

Once the Stripe connection is done, there's nothing to remember: invoices carry the link, customers pay on the spot, and the paid status updates itself.