# Online Invoice Payments > Clients pay by card or PayPal straight from the invoice link. The money goes to your account, and the invoice marks itself paid. Connect your own Stripe account, your PayPal Business email, or both, and every invoice you share gets a Pay with Stripe or Pay with PayPal button. Your client opens the link, pays the amount due, and lands back on the invoice with a receipt. PineBill marks the invoice Paid, stops its reminders and tells your team — and because the money goes straight to your own account, PineBill takes 0% commission. Stripe and PayPal charge their usual processing fees. ## Online payments at a glance - **Card or PayPal** — Connect Stripe for card payments, PayPal for PayPal, or both. When both are connected, your client picks the button they prefer. - **0% PineBill commission** — Payments go straight to your own Stripe or PayPal account. PineBill never holds the money; only the provider's standard processing fees apply. - **Marked paid for you** — The moment a payment lands, the invoice moves to Paid, its reminders stop and your team gets an Invoice paid notification. - **On per invoice** — New invoices accept online payments once an account is connected. Turn it off for any invoice you'd rather be paid by bank transfer. ## Set up once, then every invoice can be paid Connect the account you already use, and the pay buttons appear on the invoices you share. ### Your Stripe account, your PayPal Business email Stripe connects with a restricted key that can only open checkouts and report payments — PineBill opens Stripe's key form with both permissions already filled in. PayPal needs nothing but your Business email. - Connect Stripe, PayPal, or both from Payment Methods → Online payments - Stripe uses a restricted key with only two permissions: Checkout Sessions and Webhook Endpoints - PayPal connects with the email of your PayPal Business account — no login or key - Try it first with a Stripe test-mode key and Stripe's test card - The Stripe key is stored encrypted and never shown again - Only the workspace owner can connect or change where the money goes, and gets a security alert whenever it changes ### Open the link, pay the amount due, get a receipt Your client sees the amount due with the pay buttons right above Download PDF. No account, no login. After paying they come back to the invoice and see Payment received, with the amount, date and payment method. - Pay with Stripe opens Stripe's secure card checkout; Pay with PayPal opens PayPal - The client pays the full amount due — never more than is owed - After paying, the invoice shows Payment received with the amount, date and method - Emailed invoices that accept online payments get a View and pay invoice button - Password-protected links work too: the client enters the password before paying ## Paid, without lifting a finger No matching bank statements to invoices. The payment updates everything it touches. When the payment goes through, the invoice moves to Paid and the paid date is set. The payment is recorded on the invoice with its provider, date and time, payer email and amount, plus a link to open it in Stripe or PayPal. Pending reminders are cancelled, and your team hears about it in the app, by email and in Slack. - The invoice moves to Paid and the paid date is set - Each payment is listed with provider, date and time, payer email and amount, and a View in Stripe or View in PayPal link - Pending reminders are cancelled, so a client who paid is never chased - Your team gets an Invoice paid notification in the app, by email, and in Slack if you've mapped it - An invoice paid in full online keeps its Paid status until the payment is refunded - Ask the AI assistant whether, when and how an invoice was paid ## Refunds keep the books straight Refund in Stripe or PayPal, and the invoice follows. Refund a payment in your Stripe dashboard or PayPal account and PineBill records it on the invoice as a negative amount, moves the invoice back to Sent — or Overdue if its due date has passed — turns its reminders back on and tells your team. A partial refund leaves only the refunded amount due. - Refunds made in Stripe or PayPal are recorded on the invoice as a negative amount - The invoice moves back to Sent, or Overdue if its due date has passed - Reminders turn back on and your team is notified - A partial refund leaves only the refunded amount due, and reminders ask for that balance - If a refund later fails, PineBill removes it and marks the invoice paid again ## However you bill, get paid sooner Five ways businesses take payments in PineBill — and the capability each one leans on. ### Freelancer — Pay with Stripe Send the invoice link when the work ships, and let the client pay by card on the spot instead of waiting for a bank transfer to clear. Example: Sent 10:02 · Paid by card 10:41 ### Agency — Stripe and PayPal Clients in different places prefer different ways to pay. Connect both and each invoice offers card and PayPal side by side. Example: Card for the retainer, PayPal for the one-off ### Consultant — Reminders that stop Reminders go out on schedule until the client pays online, then stop on their own — no awkward follow-up to someone who already paid. Example: 2 reminders sent · 3rd cancelled on payment ### Small Business — Invoice paid notifications Whoever handles the books hears the moment money lands, in the app, by email or in Slack, with the payment recorded on the invoice. Example: #billing: Invoice paid — INV-2041, $1,250.00 via Stripe ### Contractor — Per-invoice switch Take card payments on small jobs, and switch online payments off for the large ones you'd rather be paid by bank transfer. Example: Online payments: on for $480 · off for $18,000 ## Frequently asked questions ### Does PineBill take a cut of my payments? No. PineBill takes 0% commission. Your client pays you directly through Stripe or PayPal, the money goes straight to your own account, and only Stripe's or PayPal's standard processing fees apply. ### Which payment providers can I use? Stripe, for card payments, and PayPal. Connect either one or both from Payment Methods → Online payments. When both are connected, the invoice shows both buttons and your client picks one. ### What do I need to connect Stripe or PayPal? For Stripe, a restricted API key from your own Stripe account with two permissions: Checkout Sessions and Webhook Endpoints. PineBill opens Stripe's key form with both already filled in. For PayPal, just the email of your PayPal Business account. Only the workspace owner can connect or change a payment account. ### Which plans include online payments? All paid plans, including Solo, and your free trial. There's no extra charge for turning it on. ### Can my client pay only part of an invoice? No. The pay buttons always charge the full amount due. If part of an invoice has already been paid, or a payment was partly refunded, the amount due is the remaining balance. ### What happens after my client pays? The invoice moves to Paid and the paid date is set, the payment is recorded on the invoice with its provider, date, payer email and amount, pending reminders are cancelled, and your team gets an Invoice paid notification in the app, by email and in Slack if you've mapped it. ### How do refunds work? Refund the payment in your Stripe dashboard or PayPal account. PineBill records the refund on the invoice, moves the invoice back to Sent (or Overdue if it's past due), turns its reminders back on and notifies your team. A partial refund leaves only the refunded amount due. ### Can I keep online payments off for some invoices? Yes. Each invoice has an Accept online payments switch in the Payment tab of the invoice editor. It's on by default for new invoices once an account is connected; turn it off for any invoice you want paid another way, such as a bank transfer. ### Why don't I see the pay buttons on an invoice? The buttons appear when a payment account is connected, Accept online payments is on for the invoice, the invoice is Draft, Sent or Overdue, something is still owed, and the provider supports the invoice's currency. ### Can I test it before taking real payments? Yes. Connect Stripe with a test-mode key, which starts with rk_test_, and pay a test invoice with Stripe's test card 4242 4242 4242 4242. When you're ready, replace it with a live key. ## Links - [Online Invoice Payments](https://www.pinebill.app/features/online-payments): this page. - [Online Payments guide](https://www.pinebill.app/docs/payments/online-payments): how payments, refunds and reminders work. - [Connect Stripe](https://www.pinebill.app/docs/payments/connect-stripe): create the restricted key and connect. - [Connect PayPal](https://www.pinebill.app/docs/payments/connect-paypal): connect with your PayPal Business email. - [Invoicing](https://www.pinebill.app/features/invoicing): create, send and track invoices. - [Pricing](https://www.pinebill.app/pricing): plans and pricing. - [Sign up](https://www.pinebill.app/auth/signup): start a 7-day free trial, no credit card required.