Taking card payments with Stripe
Connect Stripe to give customers a "Pay by card" button on every invoice. The money lands in your Stripe account; TradesOps marks the invoice paid automatically.
What Stripe adds
Without Stripe connected, invoice emails go out saying "Reply to this email if you need bank details." You chase the money, take it via bank transfer or cash, then mark the invoice paid manually.
With Stripe connected, the same invoice email carries a Pay by card button. The customer taps, pays through Stripe's hosted checkout page (the same experience they'd get at Apple, Airbnb, etc.), and TradesOps flips the invoice to paid automatically via Stripe's webhook. You don't need to do anything.
What Stripe costs
Stripe's standard UK card processing fees apply — currently around 1.5% + 20p per successful UK / EEA card payment. For non-UK cards it's higher. TradesOps takes no cut on top of Stripe's fees.
Fees are deducted before Stripe pays out to your bank account. Payouts land in your bank on Stripe's standard schedule (usually the next working day once your account is verified).
Connect
Open Settings → Stripe and click Connect Stripe. You'll land on Stripe's hosted onboarding, which walks you through:
- Your legal business details (sole trader / limited company).
- Your bank account for payouts.
- Photo ID (usually driver's licence or passport) so Stripe can KYC-check you.
The onboarding usually takes 5-15 minutes. Once complete, you're bounced back to TradesOps and the Stripe settings page shows Connected · card payments active.
If Stripe still needs more info (missing documents, bank statement mismatch), the settings page shows Onboarding not finished and offers a Continue Stripe onboarding button.
You get a full Stripe dashboard
TradesOps uses Stripe Accounts v2 with the dashboard: full configuration. That means:
- You have your own full Stripe dashboard at dashboard.stripe.com.
- Payments, payouts, disputes, refunds — you handle these directly on Stripe.
- TradesOps only knows about payments the customer made through a TradesOps invoice.
Refunds
Handled on the Stripe dashboard, not in TradesOps. Open the payment in Stripe → Refund. The refund follows Stripe's standard 5-10 working-day return path. TradesOps doesn't currently flip an invoice back from paid to refunded — that's a fast-follow.
Disputes / chargebacks
Also handled on the Stripe dashboard. You get an email from Stripe when a dispute is opened. Respond within Stripe's window (usually 7-21 days depending on the reason). Stripe holds the disputed amount from your next payout until it's resolved.
TradesOps stays out of the middle — the customer's card issuer, the customer, and Stripe are the parties. Your quote and job records help you evidence the work if needed.
Disconnect
Same page — click Disconnect. TradesOps closes the connected account on Stripe's side (best-effort) and removes the connection from your business. Card payments stop immediately; future invoice emails go out without the Pay by card button.