You finished the roof, handed over the invoice, and now you wait. A week passes. Two. The client meant to send the bank transfer but never got round to it, and now you are the one chasing money for work you already did. Online payments for small business fix exactly this: instead of asking the client to log into their banking app and copy your account details by hand, you give them a button. They tap it, pay by card or PayPal in under a minute, and your invoice marks itself paid. This guide is about turning that on, the why and the how, so the money lands while the job is still fresh in the client's mind.
This is not about a card terminal or a tap-to-pay dongle. It is about a payment link and a hosted pay page that rides on every invoice you send. You connect a provider once, and from then on getting paid online is automatic. Here is how to set it up and what to expect.
Why online payment options get you paid faster
The single biggest reason invoices sit unpaid is friction. A bank transfer asks the client to do work: open the banking app, find the IBAN, type a long account number without a typo, set a reference, confirm. Every one of those steps is a moment they can give up and "do it later." Later becomes next week becomes a reminder from you.
A pay-by-card link removes nearly all of that. The client gets the invoice, sees a Pay now button, taps it, enters a card, and it is done. Consider a GBP 924 roofing job. Sent as a bank-transfer-only invoice, it might sit for two or three weeks while the client procrastinates. Sent with a card link, plenty of clients pay the same day they open it, because paying is now easier than not paying.
There is a professional angle too. Offering card and PayPal alongside bank transfer signals that you run a proper business. The client who is weighing you against a cash-in-hand cowboy sees a clean invoice with a real pay button and relaxes. For a deeper look at the levers that shorten your payment cycle, see our guide on how to get paid faster.
The hidden cost of waiting
Slow payment is not just annoying, it strangles cash flow. If you are carrying EUR 3,000 of materials on a job and the client takes a month to pay, that is a month you have financed the work out of your own pocket. Getting even half your invoices paid in days instead of weeks changes how comfortably you can take on the next job. The processing fee on a card payment is real, but it is usually a few percent, and it is almost always cheaper than waiting three extra weeks to be made whole.
The providers: cards, PayPal, and bank methods
You do not need a merchant account or a contract with your bank. Billr supports the providers most small trades actually use, and you turn on whichever ones suit you.
Stripe for cards
Stripe handles card payments: Visa, Mastercard, and Amex through Stripe Checkout. It is the workhorse for card acceptance, trusted, secure, and used by millions of businesses. When you connect Stripe, every invoice you send can be paid by card with no extra effort from you.
PayPal
PayPal covers the clients who would rather pay from a balance or a PayPal account they already trust. Some people simply prefer it, and offering it removes one more reason to delay. Connect PayPal and a Pay with PayPal button appears alongside the card option.
Bank transfer and SEPA/QR for clients who prefer them
Not everyone wants to pay by card, and you do not want to lose those clients. Billr still does bank methods properly:
- Bank transfer: show your bank details and a free-text payment-instructions block right on the invoice, so a client who prefers a transfer has everything they need without emailing you to ask.
- SEPA / QR code: generate a scannable QR code for SEPA transfers. A European client scans it with their banking app and the payee details and amount are filled in for them, which kills the typo problem that makes manual transfers slow.
The right setup for most trades is "all of the above": card and PayPal for the people who want one-tap convenience, bank transfer and SEPA/QR for the people who prefer their bank. You are not choosing one method, you are removing every excuse not to pay. If you are weighing the two card providers against each other, our breakdown of Stripe vs PayPal for contractors goes deeper on fees and fit.
How the payment flow works in Billr
This is the part that matters: once you are set up, you do almost nothing. The flow is built to be invisible.
1. Connect a provider once
In your payment settings, connect Stripe and/or PayPal. This is a one-time job. You authorise the connection, and from that point Billr knows where your money should go.
2. Every invoice carries a payment link automatically
Once a provider is connected, a payment link is embedded automatically in every invoice you create. You do not add it, toggle it, or remember it. Build the invoice from your tracked time or your item catalog, send it by email or native share, and the link is already there.
3. The client opens a hosted pay page
The link takes the client to a hosted pay page at pay.billr.cloud. No login, no account, no app to download. They see your logo, your business name, the invoice number, and the total formatted in the invoice's currency. Then they see Pay by card and Pay with PayPal buttons, whichever you enabled. The page shows live status as they go: "Confirming payment," then "Invoice paid." It even respects light and dark mode, so it looks right on their phone.
4. Payment is confirmed by webhook and the invoice auto-marks paid
Here is the part that saves your evenings. When the client pays, the provider sends Billr a webhook, a secure behind-the-scenes signal that the money went through. Billr confirms it and marks the invoice paid automatically. You do not have to check your bank, match the payment to the right invoice, or update anything by hand. If those billable hours were linked to time entries, those get marked paid too, so your records never drift.
5. Payment details are recorded for reconciliation
Every paid invoice keeps a clean record: that it was paid, when, the provider used, the amount and currency actually received, and the payment reference IDs. When you sit down to do your books or hand figures to your accountant, the reconciliation is already done. The invoice activity log also timestamps the whole journey, from sent to viewed to payment received, so you can always see exactly what happened.
Getting set up: the right mindset and what to expect
Plenty of tradespeople put this off because it feels like an IT job. It is not. Here is how to approach it.
- Treat it as a one-evening task, once. Connecting Stripe or PayPal takes a few minutes. Have your business details and bank account handy. After this single setup, you never touch it again.
- Expect a verification step. Card providers verify who you are before they release funds, which is normal and protects you as much as them. Do it properly the first time so there are no holds later.
- Understand the fee, then forget it. A small percentage comes off each card payment. Build it into your pricing if you like, or just accept it as the cost of being paid in days rather than weeks. Do not let a 2-3% fee talk you out of cash flow.
- Know your payout timing. Money does not teleport to your account the instant a client pays. Funds settle on your provider's schedule, typically a couple of business days. That is the provider's timing, not Billr's, and it is the same for every business that takes cards.
- Send one and watch it work. The fastest way to trust it is to send a real invoice with the link on it and see a client pay. Once you have watched one invoice mark itself paid, you will never go back to chasing transfers.
A real example: the roofing invoice that paid itself
Say you finish a flat-roof repair and invoice EUR 1,480. You built it from the hours you tracked on the job, added the materials as line items, and sent it by email straight from your phone before you left the driveway. Because Stripe is connected, the email already carries the pay link. The homeowner opens it that evening, taps Pay by card on the pay.billr.cloud page, and pays. The webhook fires, Billr marks the invoice paid, and the payment is recorded with the card reference. You did nothing after hitting send. No reminder, no awkward "just checking on that invoice" text, no manual update. The next morning you see it sitting in your paid column.
Compare that to the old way: a bank-transfer-only invoice the client means to pay, forgets, and eventually settles three weeks later after you nudge them twice. Same job, same client, completely different cash-flow experience.
FAQ
Do I need a card machine or terminal to take online payments?
No. This is purely a payment link and a hosted pay page, not hardware. The client pays from their own phone or computer by tapping a button on the invoice. There is no terminal to buy, rent, or carry to the job.
Which payment methods can I offer?
Four: Stripe for cards (Visa, Mastercard, Amex), PayPal, bank transfer with your details on the invoice, and a SEPA QR code for European transfers. Turn on whichever combination suits your clients. Most trades enable card and PayPal for speed and keep bank transfer for those who prefer it.
How does the invoice get marked as paid?
Automatically. When a client pays by card or PayPal, the provider sends Billr a webhook confirming the payment, and Billr marks the invoice paid for you, along with any linked time entries. You do not have to reconcile it by hand.
When does the money actually reach my bank?
Funds settle on your payment provider's schedule, usually within a couple of business days, not instantly. That timing is set by Stripe or PayPal, the same as it would be for any business that accepts cards, and it is separate from the invoice being marked paid in Billr.
Is there a fee for online payments?
The payment provider charges a small processing fee per transaction, typically a few percent. Billr embeds the link and records the payment; the processing fee is the provider's. For most trades, getting paid in days instead of weeks is well worth it.
Key takeaways
- Online payments cut the friction that keeps invoices unpaid: a tap-to-pay link beats asking a client to type out a bank transfer.
- Connect Stripe (cards) and/or PayPal once; from then on every invoice carries a payment link and a hosted pay page at pay.billr.cloud automatically.
- When a client pays, a webhook confirms it and Billr marks the invoice paid for you, recording the provider, amount, and reference for clean reconciliation.
- Keep bank transfer and SEPA/QR enabled for clients who prefer their bank, so you remove every excuse not to pay.
- It is a one-evening setup, not a hardware purchase. Expect a verification step, a small per-transaction fee, and payout on your provider's schedule.
Stop waiting on transfers that never come. Connect a provider once and let every invoice you send carry its own pay button, so the money lands while the job is still fresh. See how online payments work in Billr and send your next invoice with a link the client can tap.