Payment methods
Configure named card and bank-transfer methods, choose which appear on each invoice, and add an optional processing fee (percentage or flat) to any method.
Hoursmith lets you set up named payment methods — a Stripe card option plus as many bank-transfer or custom manual methods as you need — and choose which ones appear on each invoice.
- Role
- OwnerAdminManager
Configuring methods (add / edit / enable / default) is Owner/Admin. Choosing which methods a given invoice offers is manage-tier (Owner, Admin, Manager) on a Draft or Sent invoice. Card payments need Stripe connected on a Studio or Agency plan; manual methods work on every plan.
The Payment methods list
Settings → Payments (/settings/payments, Owner/Admin) is a single Payment methods list:
- A Stripe card row (connect/manage it here).
- Any number of manual methods you add — "Main bank account", "USD account", "Wise", "Cheque", and so on.
Each manual method has a client-facing name, optional structured bank fields (IBAN, SWIFT, sort code, IFSC, BSB, UPI… — all optional, so it fits any region), free-text instructions, an internal note, an optional preferred currency, and its own enabled and default-for-new-invoices flags. Each row offers Edit, Enable/Disable, Default, Duplicate, Archive/Restore, and Move up / Move down to set the order clients see.
- The internal note is workspace-only — it's shown next to the name on internal pickers (as
Name — note) so two same-named accounts (e.g. two "Bank transfer"s) are easy to tell apart, and it's never shown to clients. - The preferred currency is shown to clients — a badge and a line like "This account receives payments in EUR" on the invoice page, PDF, and email — and it freezes onto each invoice's snapshot.
Manual methods never require Stripe — they're just instructions for how to pay you (bank transfer, cheque, etc.). The Stripe card row is the only one gated by a plan + a connected account.
How defaults cascade
Which methods appear on a new invoice flows from the broadest level to the most specific:
Workspace → Client → Invoice.
- Workspace — methods marked default for new invoices are pre-selected.
- Client — a client's billing defaults can pin an explicit subset of methods.
- Invoice — the builder and the invoice-detail Payment options dialog toggle each method for that one invoice, and win.
Set methods on an invoice
Open the invoice's Payment options
On the invoice builder or detail page, find the Payment options card (editable on Draft and Sent invoices, Manager and up).
Toggle the methods you want
Turn each method on or off for this invoice. Card is only payable once Stripe is connected with Charges enabled: Yes.
Save
The public invoice page, client portal, PDF, and print version render only the methods you selected, each as a labeled section with the bank details and the invoice number as the payment reference.
Each invoice snapshots the methods it offers, so a later rename, reorder, or archive never rewrites a sent invoice. (Snapshots refresh only when you re-enable a method, use the explicit refresh action, or at send time.)
Processing fees
You can add an optional processing fee the client pays on top of the balance — on any payment method now, not just card:
- Choose % of balance (up to 50%) or a flat amount. Either way, a fee can never exceed the amount being paid.
- Card — the fee is collected at checkout through Stripe, along with the balance.
- Bank transfer and custom methods settle outside Hoursmith, so their fee is disclosure-only: the client sees a clear "amount due + fee = total to pay" breakdown on the invoice page, portal, PDF, print, and email, but nothing is auto-charged and the invoice total never changes.
Set a default fee per method in Settings → Payments, override or waive it per client on the client's payment-defaults card, or set it per invoice on the Payment options card — the same three levels for every method. A flat fee prints verbatim; a percentage is computed against the balance.
When you record a manual payment, the processing fee field pre-fills from the chosen method's configured fee, so your records match what the client was shown. It's still recorded on the payment and never alters the invoice total.
Where to configure
| Level | Where |
|---|---|
| Workspace methods + defaults | Settings → Payments (/settings/payments) — Owner/Admin |
| Per client | Client edit page (pin a subset of methods) |
| Per invoice | Invoice builder/detail Payment options card (Manager+, Draft/Sent) |
Troubleshooting
- Card isn't offered even though I allowed it. Confirm Stripe is connected with Charges enabled: Yes. See Connect Stripe.
- A method I archived still shows on an old invoice. That's by design — sent invoices keep the snapshot of what they offered at send time.
- A bank-transfer fee wasn't charged. That's expected — bank transfer and custom methods settle outside Hoursmith, so their fee is shown to the client as a surcharge to add, never collected or auto-charged. Only the card fee is taken at checkout.