Get paid faster and stop chasing balances
Getting the money is the slowest part of most jobs. Here's how to collect more of it early, make the rest a two-tap payment, and stop balances drifting.
The leak at the end of the job
You did the work, the customer's happy, and now comes the part nobody enjoys. The balance "they'll settle up next week." The invoice you keep meaning to send. A surprising amount of money moves slowly or never shows.
No single slow payment feels like a crisis. It's death by a hundred small delays, and it hits the cash you need to run the place. Fixing how you get paid is often worth more than another few jobs.
Take money at the front, not just the back
The easiest way to get paid faster is to get paid earlier. A deposit paid right after booking commits the customer to the visit and shrinks the balance you chase at the end.
In Strata the customer pays the deposit through Stripe from a link right after booking, applied straight to their balance. You pick which services ask for one and how much. When the job's done, you collect a smaller number.
Make paying the invoice a two-tap thing
Every extra step between the finished job and the payment is a place for money to get stuck. If paying means finding a checkbook or waiting for a total, some customers stall. Make paying the easy path.
Send a clear invoice the customer can pay from their phone. Strata's customer portal shows the balance and takes a card in a couple of taps. The estimate, appointment, and invoice sit on the same thread.
Stop letting balances drift
The balances that hurt are the ones you forget. Three weeks later it's an awkward conversation. The answer isn't becoming a bill collector, it's never losing track and making the nudge easy.
Strata keeps open balances and uncollected deposits in front of you. For an unpaid invoice, Autopilot drops the follow-up into your approval queue with the payment link ready: you tap Approve and a friendly nudge goes out, and nothing sends without you. A deposit left open on a booking made through your booking page is the one exception: it gets a single reminder email a few hours after booking.
Account for the cash and card jobs too
You'll take cash at the counter, tap a card, settle a walk-in. If those payments don't get recorded, your numbers turn into guesswork. A payment you can't see is a payment you can't manage.
Record in-person cash and card payments as they happen so every job closes out clean. When every dollar is accounted for, your collection rate and profit are built on what actually came in.
A payment flow you can set up this week
You don't need to change how you work; just close the leaks in order. Here's the whole thing:
- Turn on deposits for your bigger jobs so the balance you chase at the end is smaller.
- Send invoices customers can pay from their phone through the portal, instead of a total by text.
- Check your open balances and uncollected deposits once a week and clear them.
- Let Autopilot queue the payment nudges so the follow-up is a quick approval, not a hard conversation.
- Record every in-person cash and card payment so your revenue and collection numbers are real.
The short version
- Getting paid is the slowest part of most jobs; small delays add up to a real cash-flow problem that costs nothing to fix.
- Ask for a deposit at booking so the end-of-job balance is smaller and far less likely to drift.
- Make paying a two-tap thing: a phone-payable invoice through the customer portal beats waiting on logistics while the customer is most willing to pay.
- Keep open balances visible, let Autopilot queue the nudge with your shop's name on it, and record every cash and card payment so your numbers are real.
Run your shop on Strata
Booking, deposits, texting, invoices, and Autopilot in one app. 30 days free, cancel anytime.
Start free trial