With automatic payments turned on, OnboardMe takes payment on each bill's due date from the client's saved card or bank account. It then marks the bill as paid, and reconciles the payment in Xero or QuickBooks if you have one connected.
To turn it on, see Setting up debtor management.
Why it helps
Bills are paid on time, every time. Payment is taken on the due date, so there's nothing to chase.
Better cash flow. You know when money is coming in.
No reconciling by hand. With Xero or QuickBooks, payments are marked paid and matched to your bank deposits for you.
You stay in control. Review, hold or cancel any payment before it's taken.
Which bills are collected
A bill is collected automatically when all of these are true:
It's linked to a client.
It's on a branding theme with Collect automatically ticked.
The client has a saved card or bank account.
It's due today or later, or it's overdue within your Collect overdue Bills going back window.
It isn't on a payment plan, and no other payment is already in progress for it.
Xero or QuickBooks only: the bill has synced to your accounting system.
How a payment is scheduled
Scheduling: several times a day (around 6 am, 10 am and 2 pm), OnboardMe finds bills that are ready and books a payment for the due date.
Combining: bills for the same client that fall due on the same day are combined into one payment.
Overdue bills: if you collect overdue bills, they're always scheduled for tomorrow at the earliest. That gives you time to review them first.
Collection: payments are taken at 7:00 am and 3:00 pm on the scheduled date. The setup screen shows these times in your region.
If you've turned on the Payment scheduled and Upcoming payment reminder emails, clients are told before the money is taken.
Viewing scheduled payments
Go to Bills & Payments → Payments and set Show to Scheduled.
View | Shows |
|---|---|
Upcoming | Payments waiting for their date |
On hold | Payments paused for review |
Processing | Payments taken but not yet cleared |
Failed | Payments that were declined or dishonoured |
Not collected | Bills that couldn't be scheduled, with the reason |
Plan arrears | Payment plan instalments that are behind |
Actions you can take
Action | Use it to |
|---|---|
Put on hold | Stop a payment going out until you release it |
Release | Let a held payment go ahead |
Remove | Cancel the scheduled payment |
Return to schedule | Try a failed payment again |
Send payment link | Email the client a link to pay themselves |
Safety checks
Check | What happens |
|---|---|
Maximum per payment | Payments over your limit are put On hold (reason: Over your limit) |
Small amounts | Payments under $5.00 aren't collected (Too small to be worth collecting) |
Missed dates | A payment more than 3 days past its date is held (Missed its date) rather than taken late |
Accounting system check | Just before collecting, OnboardMe checks Xero or QuickBooks. If the invoice has been paid, voided or deleted there, it isn't collected. The amount is capped at the balance still owing. |
Why a bill wasn't collected
Check the Not collected view for the reason:
Reason | How to fix it |
|---|---|
No branding theme | Set a branding theme on the bill |
Not set to collect | Tick Collect automatically on the bill's theme |
No saved payment method | Ask the client to save a card or bank account (use Send payment setup link) |
Not yet synced to your ledger | Wait for the bill to sync to Xero or QuickBooks |
Earlier payment failed | Resolve the failed payment, then Return to schedule |
A payment is already in progress | Wait for it to clear |
Outside the automatic window | The bill was overdue before your catch-up window. Collect it manually. |
On hold | Release it if it should go ahead |
When a payment fails
The payment moves to Failed, and the bill shows Earlier payment failed.
Failed payments are not retried automatically. Once the issue is sorted, click Return to schedule.
If the card or bank account is no longer valid, it's removed from the client. The client will need to save a new one.
If turned on, the client gets a Payment failed email with a link to update their details. Your team gets the Failed payment summary.
How payments interact with reminders
While a payment is scheduled or processing, overdue reminders for that bill are paused. If the payment fails or is removed, reminders pick up again in the next daily run. You can't send a manual reminder while a payment is processing.
How payments flow back
Once a payment succeeds, it's recorded against the bill, and the bill drops off the Debtors queue.
Xero and QuickBooks
The invoice is marked as paid in your accounting system against the OnboardMe clearing account.
When your payment provider pays the money out to your bank, OnboardMe moves it from the clearing account to your settlement bank account and records processing fees. You can see this on Bills & Payments → Settlements.
Payments recorded directly in Xero or QuickBooks are brought back into OnboardMe when Sync unpaid accounting invoices is on.
Standalone
Payments are recorded in OnboardMe only. You can see payouts on Bills & Payments → Settlements.
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