➤ Product: OfficeRnD Flex
➤ Who: Admins
➤ Where: Admin Portal, on the Member profile or the company profile, under Billing Details
➤ Availability: All plans
If a company pays by bank transfer but keeps a card on file, Flex could charge that card automatically, even if you don't want it. You then must refund a charge that the company did not expect. A preferred payment method on the member or company profile tells Flex which payment method to use for that profile's invoices. You decide for each member or company whether Flex charges stored details automatically or waits for a manual payment.
Flex copies the preferred payment method to each invoice that it creates for the member or company.
In this article:
Stop automatic charges for a company that pays by bank transfer
What "Auto" payment method does when a card and direct debit are on file
Why Flex did not charge an invoice automatically
How the preferred payment method changes card processing fees
Not covered here: one-off charges on stored details. Charge companies' and members' stored payment details →
Before you begin
Confirm these items before you change a preferred payment method, so that Flex charges invoices as you expect.
You have admin access to edit Member and company profiles.
If you want Flex to charge stored details automatically, an active payment gateway integration is connected. Flex charges stored card and bank details through the payment gateway.
The profile has stored payment details of the type that you plan to select. Without stored details of that type, Flex does not charge the invoice automatically. Members can add their payment details on the Member Portal.
How Flex uses the preferred payment method
With the requirements in place, choose the value that Flex uses for this member or company. This value determines whether Flex charges invoices automatically.
The Payment Method drop-down menu on a member or company profile settings has 3 kinds of values:
Auto, or an empty Payment Method field. Flex charges the lowest-cost payment method on file for the profile. For example, if the profile has a card and a bank account for direct debit, Flex charges the bank account.
A stored-details method, such as a card or direct debit. Flex charges only stored details of that type. If the profile has no stored details of that type, Flex does not charge the invoice automatically.
A manual method, such as Cash or Bank Transfer. Flex never charges the invoice automatically, even when the profile has a stored card or bank account.
For example, a company may pay by bank transfer and also keep a card on file. To stop automatic charges to that card, set the company's preferred payment method to Bank Transfer.
How invoices use the preferred payment method
The saved preferred payment method now applies to all future invoices for the member or company.
Flex pre-selects the preferred payment method on each invoice that it creates for the member or company. An invoice with a set payment method can only be charged with that payment method. Automated charges would only apply if the customer has payment details of that type in their profile.
Note: If you select a manual payment method (Cash, Cheque, Bank Transfer), the system will not automatically charge the client under any circumstances.
Applying processing fees
If processing fees are active in your organization, the preferred payment method also decides whether a bill run invoice gets a processing fee.
With a card payment method, Flex adds a processing fee, even when the profile has no saved card.
With Auto payment method, Flex adds a processing fee only when the profile has a saved card and no bank account for direct debit.
Any other preferred payment method adds no processing fee to bill run invoices.
FAQs
Why did Flex not charge an invoice automatically?
Flex charges an invoice automatically only when the payment method allows automatic charges and the profile has stored details of the matching type. Manual methods, such as Cash or Bank Transfer, never allow automatic charges. Flex also needs an active payment gateway integration to charge stored details. To get automatic charges on future invoices, add stored details of the matching type, or change the preferred payment method.
Which payment method does Auto charge when the profile has a card and a bank account for direct debit?
With Auto, Flex charges the bank account through direct debit. Flex selects direct debit because direct debit is the lower-cost payment method. Your active payment integration must support direct debit for this to work.