Payments

Conductly supports multiple ways to collect payments from families — from online credit card payments to recording cash and checks. This guide covers everything you need to know about getting paid.

Before You Can Accept Payments Online

Before families can pay invoices online, you need to connect a payment processor to Conductly. Conductly supports two:

• Stripe — Self-serve sign-up at stripe.com, flat 2.9% + $0.30 per card charge. The fastest way to start collecting payments — most schools can be processing the same day.
• Evolv (Optimize Gateway) — Interchange+ pricing, typically the lowest effective rate at higher volumes. Conductly works with Evolv on your behalf to set up your merchant account, so plan for a few business days for underwriting.

Until a processor is connected, you can still create and send invoices, but the payment link in invoice emails won't work and you'll only be able to record offline payments (cash, check, etc.).

For a full comparison and step-by-step setup instructions, see Payment Settings.

:::tip Already collecting cash and checks? You don't have to connect a processor to use Conductly's billing tools — you can record manual payments without one. But connecting Stripe or Evolv unlocks online payments, stored cards, and auto-charge, which save significant time on collections. :::

How Customers Pay Online

The easiest way for families to pay is through the secure payment link included in their invoice email.

When a customer clicks the link, they're taken to a payment page where they can:

1. Review the invoice details and amount due
2. Enter their credit or debit card information
3. Submit payment

The payment is processed immediately, and both you and the customer receive confirmation. The invoice status updates to Paid (or Partially Paid if the payment doesn't cover the full amount).

tip

Encourage families to save their payment method during checkout. This makes future payments faster and allows you to charge their card on file for upcoming invoices.

Stored Payment Methods

When a customer saves their card during checkout, it becomes a stored payment method on their account. Stored cards enable:

• One-click payments — Customers can pay future invoices without re-entering card details
• Manual card charges — You can charge a customer's card on file at any time
• Bulk card charging — Admins can charge multiple stored cards at once from the Invoices list

:::warning Automatic invoice charging is currently disabled Scheduled auto-charging of stored cards is disabled in the current version of Conductly. You can still charge customers manually from the invoice detail page or via bulk actions on the Invoices list. When automatic charging is re-enabled, it will run on a configurable day each month using your school's charge day setting. :::

Charging a Stored Card

To charge a customer's stored card for a specific invoice:

1. Open the invoice
2. Click Charge Card
3. Select the stored payment method (if the customer has more than one)
4. Confirm the charge

The payment is processed immediately and the invoice status updates accordingly.

Bulk Card Charging

When you have multiple outstanding invoices and the customers have stored payment methods, you can charge them all at once:

1. Go to Billing and select the Active tab
2. Use the checkboxes to select the invoices you want to charge
3. Click the Charge Cards bulk action button
4. Review the list of invoices that will be charged
5. Confirm the bulk charge

note

Bulk charging only processes invoices where the customer has a stored payment method on file. Invoices without a stored card are skipped and remain in their current status.

Recording Manual Payments

Not all payments happen online. When a family pays with cash, check, or another offline method, you can record the payment manually:

1. Open the invoice
2. Click Record Payment
3. Enter the payment amount
4. Select the payment method (cash, check, etc.)
5. Optionally add a note (e.g., check number)
6. Click Save

The payment is recorded and the invoice status updates based on the amount:

• If the payment covers the full balance, the invoice moves to Paid
• If the payment is less than the balance, the invoice moves to Partially Paid

info

Recording a manual payment does not process any card transaction. It simply records that you received a payment through an offline method.

Payment Receipts

When a payment is processed (either online or recorded manually), Conductly keeps a record of it. You can:

• View payment details on the invoice page
• See the payment method used, amount, and date
• Track all payments associated with an invoice (useful for partially paid invoices with multiple payments)

Viewing Payment History

Each invoice shows a complete payment history, including:

Detail	Description
Date	When the payment was made
Amount	How much was paid
Method	Card, cash, check, or scholarship
Status	See Payment Status below
Notes	Any notes added when recording the payment

You can also view payment history across all invoices from the History tab on the Billing page, which shows all completed transactions.

Payment Status

When you look at the payment history on an invoice or in the Payments list, each payment shows one of four primary categories:

• Succeeded — Money has been collected and is in your account. Includes both fully captured payments and payments that were captured but later refunded.
• Failed — The payment attempt did not succeed. The family was not charged.
• Pending — The payment is in progress. Usually transitions to Succeeded within a few seconds; if it stays pending for long, contact support.
• Refunded — The payment was captured and then fully or partially refunded.

These primary categories are what the filter dropdown on the Payments list uses.

Raw status reference (for troubleshooting)

Internally, Conductly tracks eight payment statuses. The four primary categories above are aggregations of these raw values:

Category	Raw statuses	Meaning
Succeeded	captured, refunded	Captured payments, including those later refunded
Failed	declined, voided	Gateway declined the card or the payment was voided
Pending	pending, processing, authorized	In progress; has not yet been captured
Refunded	refunded	Fully or partially refunded (appears in both Succeeded and Refunded views)

Raw statuses appear in detailed activity logs and support exports. Most users never need to see them.

Failed Payment Handling

Sometimes a card charge doesn't go through. Common reasons include:

• Insufficient funds
• Expired card
• Card reported lost or stolen
• Bank declined the transaction

When a payment fails:

1. The invoice remains in its current status (Pending or Overdue)
2. The failed attempt is recorded in the payment history
3. You can contact the family to update their payment method or try a different card

warning

If a customer's stored card repeatedly fails, reach out to the family directly to update their payment information. They can add a new card through their payment link or you can remove the old card from their account.

Tips for Smooth Payment Collection

• Encourage stored cards — Families who save their payment method are much easier to bill
• Use auto-charge when possible — Automatically charging cards reduces manual work and late payments
• Send reminders — Resend overdue invoices to remind families about outstanding balances
• Offer multiple options — Some families prefer cash or check; recording manual payments keeps everything in one place
• Review failed payments regularly — Check for failed charges and follow up promptly