Invoices and deposits

Forge gets you paid in two ways: at the moment someone books, and by invoice. Both run on your own Stripe account.

Connect Stripe

Card payments go through Stripe, straight to your own Stripe account.

1. Open Settings → Payments.
2. Choose your Country. Stripe can't change this once your account is open, so check it first.
3. Choose Connect Stripe and follow Stripe's own setup for your payout details.

When the card reads Connected, you can charge for event types and send invoices clients can pay by card. If it reads Action needed, choose Continue onboarding to finish what Stripe still needs.

Forge takes payment in GBP, USD and EUR.

Take payment when someone books

Taking payment at booking is part of the paid plans.

1. Open an event type and find Payment.
2. Under Pricing, choose Paid — full price or Paid — deposit.
3. Set the Currency and Price. For a deposit, choose a percentage of the price or a fixed amount.
4. Choose your Free cancellation window: any time before the start, or 24 hours, 48 hours, 72 hours or 1 week before.
5. Save.

The booker pays as the last step of booking.

What happens to the money when a booking is cancelled

• You cancel: the client is refunded in full, deposit or full price.
• The client cancels a deposit booking: the deposit is not refunded.
• The client cancels a full-price booking before your free cancellation cut-off: refunded in full.
• The client cancels a full-price booking after the cut-off: not refunded.
• Right on the cut-off, within 15 minutes of it, Forge leaves the decision to you. The booking shows that a refund is waiting for your approval.

Invoice the balance after a deposit

When a client has paid a deposit, bill the rest by invoice. In a new invoice, choose Add from booking and pick the booking. Forge works out the balance against the price that was agreed when they booked.

Send an invoice

Invoices is under Studio.

1. Choose New invoice and pick the client. Every invoice belongs to a client.
2. Under Invoice details, set the Currency and, if you want one, a Due date.
3. Add your Line items.
4. Add Notes if you like.
5. Choose Send invoice, then Send it.

Your client gets an email with a link to view and pay it. Invoices are numbered for you, starting at INV-0001.

Sending an invoice needs Stripe connected, at least one line item and a total above zero. Until then you can Save draft.

How the client pays

The invoice page has a Pay button that takes them to Stripe's checkout. When Stripe confirms the payment, the invoice is marked Paid, and the client gets a receipt by email and can download one from the page.

If card payment is not available for an invoice, the page shows your business details under How to pay, so put your bank details there if you take transfers.

Invoice looks

Choose Minimal, Classic, Gradient, Editorial, Tabular or Receipt for an invoice, and tick Use as my default to keep it for new ones.

VAT

VAT is off unless you switch it on. If you are not VAT registered, your invoices should not show a VAT line at all.

1. Open Settings → Payments and find VAT.
2. Switch on I'm VAT registered.
3. Set your VAT rate and whether your prices are inclusive or exclusive of VAT.

The VAT treatment is fixed onto each invoice when it is created. Changing the setting later does not rewrite invoices you have already made.

Business details in the same place is printed under your name on every invoice you send. If clients pay you by bank transfer, put your bank details here: when an invoice can't be paid by card, this is what the client is shown as how to pay.

Overdue reminders

With Chase overdue invoices on, Forge sends up to three reminders on your behalf: once the invoice is overdue, three days later, and a week after that. They stop as soon as the invoice is paid in full or voided. It is on by default. Find it in Settings → Payments under Payment reminders.

If you have switched on AI invoice chases, each reminder is drafted for you to approve instead of being sent. See AI drafts.

Record a payment made outside Forge

For a bank transfer, cash or a cheque:

1. Open the sent invoice and choose Record a payment.
2. Enter the amount, the date it arrived and how it arrived.
3. Choose Record payment.

A part payment leaves the invoice open and labelled Part paid, and reminders chase the balance. A full payment marks it paid.

Refund an invoice

Open the invoice and choose Refund… Enter the amount and how it goes back: Card — refund through Stripe, or a bank transfer, cash, cheque or other, which Forge records for you. Card refunds can take a few days to reach the client's bank.

Void an invoice

Void invoice stops the public link accepting payment. It can't be undone.

Statuses

Draft, Sent, Part paid, Overdue, Paid, Refunded, Part refunded and Void. An invoice is Overdue when it is sent and past its due date.

On the Free plan

Free includes 5 invoices a month. Paid plans are not limited. See Plans and billing.