Forwardly makes it simple to automate the collection of payments from your clients in just a few easy steps.
- Open up your verified business.
- On the left-hand navigation bar, click on Get Paid and then Customers.
- Find and mouse over the customer you would like to request automatic payments from, then click View.
- Click on the Auto Payments tab.
- Check their business email, phone number, and address, and make edits if needed by clicking Edit.
- Click Request Authorization.
- If your client doesn't immediately approve Auto Payments, we will send automatic reminders. You can come back and send a manual reminder if it's been a while by clicking Send a Reminder.
- Once your client authorizes the payment, we will send an email notification, and it will appear in the Activity Logs.
Once authorized, all invoice payments for this customer will be automatically collected from the Payer on the due date. If the due date falls on a weekend or holiday, the Payer’s bank account will be debited on the following business day. Forwardly will send your client an email reminder one business day before the automatic collection of any payment to give them notice of the upcoming debit.
| Reminder: Auto payments can be delayed when your connected accounting software has duplicate client records. Always check your data for multiple client records, and merge or remove duplicates to avoid issues with automatic processing. |
| Warning: For the first few payments between a payer and a payee, there may be a 3-5 business day processing delay depending on the bank accounts used. |
How are Auto Payments scheduled?
Forwardly pulls data from your accounting system periodically every day. If there is a new invoice immediately due for an Auto Payment client, the payment is scheduled for the following day, as we are required to send a reminder to your client of the upcoming scheduled payment to make them aware of the payment and give them time to ensure the funds are in their account.
| Tip: The best practice for Auto Payment clients is to create invoices ahead of the due date so that we can sync the invoice and schedule the payment ahead of time. If you create the invoice on the same day it's due, it will be scheduled for the next business day. If you create the invoice after business hours, that can also add delays. |
Following best practice for planning Auto Payment invoices
Today is Tuesday, and you have a client who is set up with Auto Payment. You need to invoice this client for services rendered, with a due date of Friday.
To follow Forwardly's best practices:
- You create the invoice on Tuesday with the invoice date set as Tuesday's date.
- Forwardly syncs your data Tuesday night, identifies a new invoice, and schedules the Auto Payment for Friday. It also notifies your client that the payment has been scheduled for Friday.
- On Thursday, your client receives an email from Forwardly reminding them of the upcoming Auto Payment scheduled for Friday.
- On Friday, the payment automatically processes smoothly, ensuring your funds arrive promptly and without any delays.
If the invoice is created later in the week, or the invoice date is set closer to the due date, then the payment will not begin processing on Friday's due date.
Can I request Auto Payments in bulk from my clients?
Absolutely. You can select multiple clients at once and request Auto Payment authorization from all of them with only one click.
I have a lot of clients, and they're all pre-authorized to pay me. How can I switch them to Forwardly efficiently?
If you have multiple clients with pre-authorized debit information, we offer a white-glove mass onboarding service to help you move those payments to Forwardly. If you're interested in learning more, please submit a ticket, and we'll find a time to talk more about it. Whether you have 25 clients or 500, we're here to make their experience smooth.
| Reminder: Not every business is eligible for mass onboarding. We may require a payment history on Forwardly to mass-onboard your client list. |
For mass-onboarded clients, payments are not processed instantly unless the client creates their own account. Once they do, their payments may be processed faster.
| Tip: When we mass-onboard your client list, Forwardly sends a one-time notice to let them know that you'll be using them to process payments in the future. |
How can I tell if a client has authorized Auto Payments?
Once Auto Payment has been authorized by the customer or “Payer,” the authorization will be visible on the business Auto Payments section, and any future owed invoices will be automatically collected. The Payer can revoke, and the Payee can cancel Auto Payments anytime.
What happens if an Auto Payment fails?
If an Auto Payment fails, it follows the same steps as a normal payment failure. It will not be retried automatically.