Can I accept credit cards via a payment reference on invoice?

[barryflamingo]

Is there a way I can accept credit card payments without having to manually process the card myself? e.g. is there a BPAY / payment reference that i can add to my invoice (via Xero). 

[Seamus]

Hey @barryflamingo,

Thanks for getting in touch!

At the moment there are no Square payment references or things like direct links you can add to a Xero invoice to have a customer make a payment using Square - though i can see these sorts of features would be very helpful to many businesses. I'm passing on your feedback to our product team as part of the tracking for demand we do for new features.

You might be interested in checking out Square's invoices system, which allows you to email your customers invoices from Square to pay by entering their own card details via a secure payment portal https://squareup.com/au/en/invoices . We'd also love to be available as an integrated payment system on Xero invoices too, but this is something they'd have to build into their product. Let me know if you have any questions!

[SkyWay]

Hi, do you know if there is a payment reference or direct link which I can put on a Xero Template invoice so that the customer can click through and pay?

[Arie]

Hi @SkyWay,

I noticed it's your first post, welcome to our community! 

While you can create a payment link via Square Checkout links, this wouldn't integrate into your Xero Invoice. If you've integrated Square and Xero your invoices would already have a payment button that directs your customer to pay via Square. 

[SkyWay]

Where do I find a link to put on my Xero Invoice Template.  When I email an invoice from Xero, I need a link to appear on the PDF version of the invoice so that the customer can pay at any time.  I don't just want the "Pay Now" button when the customer is emailed the invoice from Xero.

[dieterslicke]

Hi @SkyWay,

Just jumping in here, I've tested this in my Xero account and looks like you can't add the link itself to invoice documents.

Edit: for context on why the link can't be added, it contains variable information that links the invoice to your Square ID etc, and when copy + pasted from the 'Service Details' area and tested on its own, it doesn't work (and I assume the same would apply when pasted into your invoice template). I added this in just so you don't see the link and think it will work by copying and pasting (as I don't think it will).

Firstly, I'd recommend never ticking the 'Attach PDF' option when sending an invoice (this not only will resolve this issue of needing the Square payment link on the invoice doc, but will also ensure you can track when an invoice has been opened by the customer — Xero doesn't track it unless the customer clicks the link to the invoice). I never tick attach PDF just for this tracking.

Check you don't have any other payment services showing (if you only want Square to process payments)

1. Xero > Settings (menu top left)
2. Select 'Payment Services'
3. If you only want people to pay via Square, remove any others appearing here

Update 'Pay Now' text to be more obvious

For Square, go into Edit > Service Details and update the name to 'Pay Now with Square' (I found just 'Pay Now' isn't very obvious)

At least then you only have one payment option for your customers when they open the invoice (and you're not relying on PDF).

Hope that sort of helps!