Getting paid through HoneyBook means you can truly run your business all in one place, with no need to collect and manage payments through a third party. On your end, the back-end process is more efficient, and on the client side, they get to experience a streamlined and professional booking experience.
In this article, we'll review:
Setting up your account to receive payments
To easily receive client payments, just connect your bank account from the Bank Details section of your settings.
HoneyBook Tip: If clients made payment to you before your bank account was connected to HoneyBook, these funds should begin processing to your linked bank account right after your details are verified. No other action needed!
When you send an invoice through HoneyBook, your client can review the payment schedule you created and make payments via card or ACH/bank transfer.
Learn more about connecting your bank account here.
Payment processing times
The amount of time it takes a payment to reach your bank account differs based on the method of payment the client used.
Card payments: about 2-3 business days
ACH/bank transfer: about 7-8 business days (since the funds need to clear your client's bank account first)
Remember that once your client has initiated payment, the payment status will switch to Paid (card payments) or Pending (ACH/bank transfer).
You can review the estimated deposit date of the payment—as well as the payment status—via the Payments tab of your Bookkeeping tool, or from the invoice itself.
HoneyBook Tip: Want more details on your client’s payment method, or looking to issue a refund? Just click on the payment in question to open additional information:
Payment transaction fees
Transaction fees are necessary for payment processors like HoneyBook to be able to facilitate the transaction between your client’s card or bank accounts and your account—and our fees are among the lowest in the market. The fees are deducted from the payment total before it’s deposited into your bank account.
Transaction fees:
Cardholder Entered payments: 2.9% + 25c per payment
Card on File payments: 3.4% + 9c per payment
ACH/bank transfer: flat fee of 1.5% per payment
Cash or check payments: no fee!
Percentages are based on the amount of the payment being made, and the additional values for card payments (9 cents and 25 cents respectively) will be added per transaction.
HoneyBook Tip: Wondering about passing these fees on to your clients? Check out more information here.
What do the different transaction types mean?
Cardholder Entered payments: payments where the card is either being entered for the first time, or entered again manually. Some examples of these transactions include:
You’re accepting payment for a one-off transaction
You’re charging your client for the initial deposit before moving to autopay
Your client is changing to a new card to complete payment
Card on File payments: payments made with a card that has been securely stored from a previous transaction. This includes payments made via autopay, which leverages Card on File payment processing.
HoneyBook Tip: Among HoneyBook members, we found that Card on File payments are 20% more likely to be paid on time!
You can always review the total amount that was deducted for processing fees in your Yearly or Monthly Analytics Reports. Simply click the link for the year or month you're interested in to download the full CSV report—you'll see a column for HB Fee in that spreadsheet.
PLEASE NOTE: If you ever need to refund a client, they will receive the full amount of their initial payment—transaction fees won't affect them at all!
Can I have my client pay the transaction fee?
Currently, there is not a built-in way to pass payment transaction fees along to your clients.
We recommend researching your state's laws and your specific card regulations, or speaking with a legal professional—in some states and for some cards, it is illegal to pass these fees on to a client.
If it is legal for your state and your card, it's possible to add these charges as line items in your invoices. However, again, we'd recommend researching the state requirements on messaging this to your clients, as those may vary.
More on getting paid through HoneyBook
Have more questions on getting paid? Check out our Payments FAQ, or head to our blog to learn about the benefits of getting paid through HoneyBook!
Want to learn more?
Still have questions? Feel free to send us a message by clicking the Question Mark icon on any HoneyBook page. Our team is always happy to help!