Goal: Enable and validate online payment collection so customers can pay invoices directly through Upflow.
⏱️ Estimated time: 30–60 minutes
Before you start
This step requires a KYC (Know Your Customer) verification process powered by Stripe. Have the following ready before you begin:
- Company registration number / Employer Identification Number (EIN)
- Personal information for the person creating the account
- Personal information for any business owners with more than 25% ownership
Actions
- Complete KYC and start Upflow Payments onboarding
- Enable and configure payment methods
- Configure your branded customer portal
- Set your statement descriptor
- (Optional) Configure card surcharges
- Run a first live payment and validate the end-to-end flow
Key decisions
- Which payment methods will you offer? Cards are available globally. Direct debit (ACH, SEPA, Bacs) depends on your geography.
- Will you enable Autopay? On by default — only disable for customers who need a manual review before payment is collected.
- Will you pass card fees on to customers? Decide before go-live — changing this after can confuse customers who’ve already saved a payment method.
Complete KYC — Required
Go to Settings → Payments and start the Payments onboarding. This connects Upflow to Stripe and is required before any payment methods can be activated.
Learn more: Onboarding and setup
Enable payment methods — Required
Go to Settings → Payments → Payment methods and enable the methods relevant to your setup.
Learn more: Managing online payment methods
Assign payment methods by customer — Required
Decide which payment methods are available to which customers. You can assign them in several ways:
- From the customer list — filter customers, select them, then use Actions → Payment methods
- From the customer detail page — assign directly from an individual customer’s page
- Via Smart Rules — automate assignment based on customer properties
Learn more: Enable payment methods for existing customers
Go to Settings → Customer portal and add your logo, favicon, and brand colors.
Validate the portal on both desktop and mobile before going live.
Learn more: Customizing the customer portal
Set the text customers will see on their bank or card statement when Upflow collects a payment. This is configured in your Stripe Express settings.
A generic or unrecognizable statement descriptor is one of the top reasons customers dispute payments. Use your company name or a recognizable short version of it.
Enable or disable Autopay — Recommended
Go to Settings → Payments → Autopay. Autopay is on by default and charges saved payment methods automatically on the due date.
Learn more: Collecting automatically with Autopay
Validation
Complete the following before moving to Step 5:
- KYC is complete and Payments onboarding is finished
- Payment methods are enabled and assigned to the right customers
- Customer portal is branded and tested on desktop and mobile (if configured)
- Statement descriptor is set to something customers will recognize (if configured)
- Card surcharges display correctly at checkout (if enabled)
Keep the following steps in mind for after you Go Live:
- Run a first live payment and confirm it is successful in both Upflow and your Stripe dashboard
- For Sage Intacct and Xero users: confirm the payment has synced correctly back to your source of truth
- Confirm the first payout has settled in your bank account
A delay on your first payout is expected. Stripe runs compliance and verification checks on new accounts — the first payout can take 7–10 business days depending on your country, payment method, and bank. It gets faster after the first one.
