Collect payment in the field
Collect Payment on the job page is where you take money. Before the job is complete it takes a deposit. After the job is complete and a balance is still due, it collects that balance.
Take a deposit before the job is complete
Collect Payment asks for a deposit while your visit is on the way, arrived, or in progress, the job has billable work on it, and it is not an internal job. Taking the deposit does not complete the job.
Deposit amount starts at everything still allowed on this job, up to the job's current total. Lower it if the customer is paying less. The hint under the field states the most you can take.
- Tap Record cash deposit or Record check deposit for money the customer handed you. Check # is optional. The page says Deposit recorded, or queues the deposit if you are offline.
- Charge deposit by card, Send deposit link, and Show QR code appear only when those rails are connected for your company. The card charge opens Stripe Checkout. The link is texted or emailed. The QR sheet is titled Scan to pay the deposit. If they are not connected, those buttons are absent and the card says what is missing (Needs Stripe, or Needs text or email delivery). Cash and check still work. Card and link deposits need a connection.
- A zero amount is refused with Enter a deposit amount greater than zero. An amount over what's left is refused with A deposit can be up to that amount on this job. Collect Payment is not on the page until the job has billable work and room left for a deposit. If the bill is waiting on the office, trying to take the deposit says This bill is waiting for office approval.
When the office sends the job's invoice, that deposit is applied to it, so the customer is not asked for the same money again. If it cannot be applied, collecting the remaining balance is refused with This job has a deposit the office needs to apply first.
Collect the balance after the job is complete
Once the job status is Complete and a balance is still due, Collect Payment switches to that remaining balance. It stays hidden when nothing is left to collect (a fully covered warranty or agreement visit, for instance).
Balance due is parts and labor plus tax, with any deposit already taken on this job already subtracted. Don't quote the customer a different figure from your own math.
Recording cash or check
Tap Record cash or Record check for what the customer handed you. For a check, you can type the Check # first — it's optional. There's no amount to type in and no receipt to print. The card confirms the payment's recorded (or queued, if you're offline — it syncs once you're back in signal).
Charge a card or send a payment link
Before you start: card payments must be switched on for your company (Settings → Payments shows Taking payments). If they aren't, Charge $X is not on the card.
If they are, Collect Payment also offers card collection on the same balance:
- Charge $X — opens a Stripe Checkout page you can hand the customer on the spot. Thermal issues the invoice first, then opens the session. The amount is the balance due; you don't type it.
- Send payment link — texts and/or emails the same Checkout page to the customer's billing contact. Needs text or email delivery connected; if neither is, the button stays disabled and the card says so.
- Show QR code / Open on this device — the same link, for a customer who can scan or tap on your phone.
If card payments aren't connected yet, Send payment link stays on the card but disabled, and the line under it says what is missing. Charge $X is left off the card until payments are on. Don't tell the customer Thermal can take a card until Charge $X is actually tappable.
Tap to pay (Terminal) stays disabled either way — it needs a card reader that isn't connected yet. Use Charge $X, the payment link, or cash/check instead.
A job billed on a consolidated invoice with other jobs won't take a field card charge; collect cash/check or let the office send that bill.
Before you get here
A deposit can be taken before the customer signs. Collecting the remaining balance is the last step: the job has to be complete. Completing it needs a customer signature first unless the company turned sign-off off, or the job is internal fleet work — see Accept and start a job.