Common Questions for ACH Payments through StudioPay, Stripe, and Payroc, as well as other payments through PayPal
What is ACH?
ACH, short for Automated Clearing House, is a feature new to Studio Designer that allows users to accept client payments from bank to bank. ACH is easier to set up and manage, and has lower fees when compared to credit cards and other payment methods.
Jump to:
- Getting Set Up: Enabling and Disabling ACH for clients
- How many payment methods can I have set up at once?
- What are the fee percentages and how can I record the fees within Studio Designer?
- What benefits and limitations will my clients see with ACH?
- Why am I seeing an error when making a payment on an invoice or proposal?
- I don't see my question. Where can I find related articles?
Note: At this time, StudioPay is in its Early Adoption Phase and is only available to a small group of designers. If you'd like your company to be considered for participation in the Early Adoption Phase, please reach out to support@studiodesigner.com and let us know.
Otherwise, look forward to the official release of StudioPay later this year.
How do I fully set up Stripe for ACH?
Stripe is super easy and intuitive to set up right from within Settings > My Company > Payment Defaults. For a step-by-step walkthrough, click here.
Note: You'll also need to activate ACH within your Stripe Dashboard. Make sure you're logged in to Stripe, then click here. Before ACH can be used by your clients, you must click the blue Enable ACH button.
If you do not complete this step, you or your clients will encounter one of several errors when trying to make a payment on an invoice or proposal.
Where are the checkboxes to set up a payment method at the Client Address level?
From the Clients screen, you can go into any client address, where we have added a new tab for Payments. This is where the options are located to enable and disable payment methods.
How do I turn on these features for the client addresses?
When you go into a client address, there is now a special Payments tab, as seen above, which will allow you to enable/disable different payment options. In order to turn them on, you need to make sure your payment accounts are set up in My Company first.
Do I have to turn on ACH for every client individually?
Yes, once you set up ACH via Settings > My Company > Payment Defaults, you will need to enable ACH on the Payments tab for each client you want to have access to ACH payments.
How can I disable ACH payments for client addresses?
You will need to go into the client address and go into the Payments tab and uncheck the payment options you don't want them to have.
Can I have Payroc and StudioPay/Stripe ACH at the same time?
Yes, you can have both methods active on your account.
As a default, when multiple payment methods are set up, StudioPay will override Stripe, and Stripe will override Payroc unless specified on a case-by-case basis within the client profile. However, you can still offer Paypal alongside any other payment processor.
Can I have PayPal and StudioPay/Stripe/Payroc ACH at the same time?
Yes, you can still allow your clients to have access to Paypal as well as ACH payments from another processor.
Entering information for PayPal alongside any other payment processor will enable each of them without disabling or overriding the other.
Can I have credit cards through one payment processor and ACH through a different payment processor at the same time?
Yes, you can accept credit card payments from one payment processor and have ACH enabled for a different one. If you have credit card payments enabled for multiple processors at once, the hierarchy is StudioPay > Stripe > Payroc. The same applies to ACH.
What are the fees associated with these types of payments?
Fees vary by payment processor.
StudioPay fees are as follows:
Credit Card Payments: 3% + 60 cents per transaction
ACH Payments: $10 flat or 1% for transactions under $1000
Stripe fees are as follows:
Credit Card Payments: 3.1% + 60 cents per transaction
ACH Payments: 1.2% up to $10 per transaction
This means an ACH fee will never exceed $10 if it is a large transaction.
For Payroc, fees are set per account and will remain unchanged even with the addition of ACH.
Stripe collects this fee at the time of the transaction; to pass the fee on to the client, simply include the amount in your final invoice total.
How can I record the above fees via Money Out?
Stripe subtracts the processing fees from the amount your client paid. This means the amount deposited into your bank account will not equal the amount the client paid. To handle this, you will need to record a Cash Receipt for the full client payment, then record a Cash Disbursement for the fees to Stripe. For step-by-step directions, click here.
Can clients store bank and credit card information with the new setup?
Yes, they can; this feature can be utilized should your client not want to reenter their bank or credit/debit card information with every transaction. This information can be removed at any time.
What does this look like on the client's side for the Pay Now link, Interactive Documents, and Client Portal?
The client will have the same view whether they are selecting a pay now link in a PDF, Client Portal, or if they are using our interactive documents. Below is an image from the Client Portal as an example.
Can clients make partial payments?
Yes, your clients are now eligible to make multiple partial payments on a single proposal or invoice.
Note: Pay Now links expire after 30 days.
Why am I seeing an error about USD not being accepted?
If you've received an error stating "The ck payment type and/or currency [USD] is not accepted" when trying to make a payment on an invoice or proposal after setting up ACH through Payroc, your account still needs to be fully set up. In this event, please contact Payroc directly.
I use Stripe as my payment processor. Why doesn't Plaid allow my client to connect their bank for ACH payments?
Plaid is a third-party integrator whose list of partnered institutions is subject to change at their sole discretion at any time. Designers whose clients are unable to link their bank account to Plaid/Stripe for this reason should select a different payment processor.
Related links:
Setting up your Stripe Account