> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://breederbuddy.com/docs/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Payments Setup > How breeders get paid in BreederBuddy: set up and connect Stripe to take puppy deposits and invoice payments online by card, ACH, Klarna or Afterpay; show your Venmo, PayPal, Cash App or Zelle; log cash or check payments; email receipts; pass on processing fees; and add or remove sales tax. # Payments Setup > **Video walkthrough:** [Watch on Loom](#) *(link coming soon)* *** This guide covers getting paid in BreederBuddy: connecting your Stripe account so buyers can pay online, logging payments you collect outside the app (cash, check, Zelle, Venmo), and setting up — or turning off — tax on your invoices. *** ## What You Can Do Here * Connect a Stripe account so buyers can pay invoices and deposits online * Choose which payment methods buyers can use — cards, ACH bank transfer, Cash App Pay, and buy-now-pay-later options like Klarna, Affirm, and Afterpay * Open your Stripe dashboard to see earnings, balances, and payouts * Choose whether processing fees come out of your payout or get added to the buyer's total * Show buyers your Venmo, PayPal, Cash App, or Zelle details on their invoices and in the Buyer Portal * Log manual payments collected outside BreederBuddy, with receipts attached * Email a buyer their receipt for any payment, online or offline * Set a flat sales tax rate and apply it only to the line items you choose * Turn tax off by unchecking **Taxable**, or by clearing your tax rate *** ## How It Works ### Connecting Your Stripe Account Stripe is the payment platform that powers BreederBuddy's invoicing, deposit, and payout system. You only need to set it up once, and it takes a few minutes. 1. Open [**Settings → Stripe**](https://app.breederbuddy.com/settings?tab=stripe). (From anywhere in the app: open **Settings**, then click **Stripe** under **Payment Processing** in the settings menu.) 2. Click **Connect Stripe Account**. 3. Stripe walks you through its own setup — it collects basic business or personal info like your name, address, and bank details for payouts. BreederBuddy never stores or sees this information. 4. When you finish, you're sent back to BreederBuddy and the Stripe tab says your Stripe account is linked. From then on, buyers can pay invoices online and the money is deposited directly into your bank account. Once connected, the same tab gives you a **Go To Your Stripe Dashboard** button to view your earnings, transactions, balances, and payout history. Only the account owner can open the Stripe dashboard. Two related settings live on the same tab: * **Default Online Payments for Invoices** — choose whether new invoices let buyers pay online through the Buyer Portal. You can override this on each invoice, deposits included. * **Pass Processing Fees to Customer** — when enabled, a "Payment Processing" line item is added to the buyer's total (BreederBuddy asks **Add payment processing fee?** each time you save an invoice, so you can skip it for buyers paying another way) so you receive the full amount you charge. The fee is charged only when the buyer pays online: their invoice shows the balance without it and what paying online would add, a payment you log with **Log Manual Payment** settles the invoice once it covers everything else, and the fee then drops off their receipt. Waitlist deposit requests are the exception to the question: BreederBuddy creates those for you when you add a buyer to a waitlist, and adds the fee without asking. When disabled, the fee is deducted from your payout instead. ### Choosing Which Payment Methods You Accept Once your Stripe account is connected, you control exactly which payment methods buyers see at checkout: 1. Open [**Settings → Stripe**](https://app.breederbuddy.com/settings?tab=stripe). 2. Scroll down to the **Accepted Payment Methods** section. 3. Flip the toggle next to each method you want to accept. Changes apply to newly generated payment links right away. The list includes **Credit & Debit Cards** (which include Apple Pay and Google Pay), **Link**, **ACH Bank Transfer**, **Cash App Pay**, **Amazon Pay**, **Klarna**, **Affirm**, **Afterpay**, and **Zip**. Each method shows its processing fee next to its name. Cards cost 2.9% + 30¢. ACH bank transfers are the cheapest at 0.8%, capped at \$5 — the trade-off is they take about 4 business days to clear. Buy-now-pay-later options (Klarna, Affirm, Afterpay, Zip) cost about 6% + 30¢ — your buyer pays in installments, but you receive the full amount up front, and if the buyer stops paying that's the provider's risk, not yours. If a method shows **Not available yet**, your Stripe account doesn't have it activated. Open your Stripe dashboard, activate the method under its payment settings, then come back and toggle it on. BreederBuddy automatically hides any method that doesn't fit a particular payment — for example, buy-now-pay-later options have per-purchase limits, so they won't appear on very large invoices. ### Showing Your Venmo, PayPal, Cash App, or Zelle Even without Stripe, you can tell buyers how to pay you. These details appear on their invoices and in the Buyer Portal: 1. Open [**Settings → Other Payment Methods**](https://app.breederbuddy.com/settings?tab=other%20payment%20methods). 2. Click **Edit Your Payment Handles**. 3. Fill in any of **Venmo Handle**, **PayPal Link**, **Cash App Handle**, **Zelle Info**, or **Other Payment Instructions**. 4. Click **Save**. The preview on the page shows exactly what buyers will see. These apps aren't connected to BreederBuddy, so a payment sent this way won't mark the invoice paid on its own. When the money arrives, log it with **Log Manual Payment** (below). ### Recording a Manual Payment If a buyer pays you outside of BreederBuddy — cash, check, Zelle, Venmo, PayPal — log it on the invoice so the balance and status stay accurate: 1. Go to [**Finances → Invoices**](https://app.breederbuddy.com/invoices) in the left menu and open the invoice. 2. Click **Log Manual Payment** in the actions bar at the top. 3. Fill in the payment details: **Amount Paid**, **Payment Method** (Cash, Check, Zelle, Venmo, PayPal, or Other), **Payment Date**, and an **Optional Note**. 4. Optionally click **Add receipt** to attach a photo or file of the receipt. 5. Leave **Email a receipt to the customer** checked to email them a receipt as soon as the payment is saved. Uncheck it when you're catching up on older payments, since those buyers don't need the email. 6. Hit **Save**. The payment is logged and the invoice balance updates — once the full amount is covered, the invoice shows as paid. You can log more than one manual payment on the same invoice (handy for installments), and every logged payment appears in the **Manual Payments & Receipts** section of the invoice. If you make a mistake, use the trash icon there to remove a manual payment. ### Emailing a Buyer Their Receipt Online payments email a receipt automatically. For a cash, check, or Zelle payment, or any time a buyer asks for another copy, send one yourself: 1. Go to **Finances → Invoices** in the left menu and open the invoice. 2. Click **Email Receipt** at the top. It appears as soon as any money has been received on that invoice. 3. The buyer gets your branded receipt with the amount received, the date, how they paid, and any balance still owed. For one specific payment, click the receipt icon on its row under **Manual Payments & Receipts**. You can send a receipt as many times as the buyer needs it. To add your own message, go to [**Communications**](https://app.breederbuddy.com/communications?tab=templates) in the left menu, open the **Templates** tab, and edit **General Payment Receipt**. ### Setting Up Tax Tax only appears when two things are true: you've saved a sales tax rate in your settings, **and** a line item is marked **Taxable**. 1. Open [**Settings → Stripe**](https://app.breederbuddy.com/settings?tab=stripe) and scroll to **Configuration Settings**. 2. In **Sales Tax Rate**, type your rate as a percentage (for example, **8.25**) and click **Save Rate**. You'll see "Sales tax active at 8.25%". If your Stripe account is connected, BreederBuddy sets the rate up in Stripe automatically so online payments are taxed too. 3. Optional: check **Make new invoice line items taxable by default** if most of what you sell is taxable. 4. Now, when building an invoice, each line item has a **Taxable** checkbox. Check it on the items you want taxed. The **Summary** section also has a **Charge sales tax** switch to turn tax on or off for the whole invoice, with a spot for a tax-exempt reason. This is a flat rate. It doesn't change based on the buyer's location. If you've already created a tax rate yourself in Stripe, you can paste its ID (it starts with `txr_`) under **Advanced: Stripe Tax Rate ID** instead of using the percentage field. ### Turning Tax Off If tax keeps showing up on your invoices and you don't want it, here's where it's coming from and how to stop it: * **On an invoice:** while editing, turn off **Charge sales tax** in the **Summary** section, or uncheck **Taxable** on individual line items. * **For new invoices:** in **Settings → Stripe**, uncheck **Make new invoice line items taxable by default**. * **Everywhere:** clear the **Sales Tax Rate** box (or enter 0) and click **Save Rate** to turn sales tax off completely. * **On a product:** if a product from your catalog keeps bringing tax with it, go to **Products**, edit that product, and uncheck **Apply default tax rate when this product is used**. Changes here affect future invoices, not existing ones. Once tax is off on your line items and products (or your rate is cleared), no tax is applied. *** ## Key Terms | Term | What It Means | | - | - | | Stripe | The secure payment processor behind BreederBuddy's online payments and payouts | | Manual Payment | A payment you collected outside BreederBuddy (cash, check, Zelle, etc.) and logged on the invoice | | Tax Rate ID | The ID of a flat tax rate you created in Stripe (starts with `txr_`) — used as your default tax rate | | Processing Fee | The card-processing cost on online payments — deducted from your payout, or added to the buyer's total if you pass fees on | *** ## Tips & Common Questions > **What are the fees for online payments?** > > Stripe charges a standard 2.9% + 30¢ per card transaction, plus BreederBuddy's 0.1% platform fee — 3.0% + 30¢ total. Manual payments you log yourself have no fees. If you'd like to pass fees to the buyer instead, turn on **Pass Processing Fees to Customer** in the Stripe tab of Settings. > **How do I email a receipt for a payment?** > > Open the invoice and click **Email Receipt** at the top. It's there as soon as any payment has been received. Online payments already send a receipt on their own; for cash, check, or Zelle payments, either leave **Email a receipt to the customer** checked when you log the payment, or send it later from that button. If you'd rather attach something to your own email, **Print / Export** downloads the invoice as a PDF showing every payment received. > **Do I have to use Stripe?** > > No. You can use it as much or as little as you'd like. If you prefer collecting cash, checks, Zelle, or Venmo, just log those on the invoice with **Log Manual Payment**. You can also turn off **Default Online Payments for Invoices** in Settings so new invoices don't offer online payment. > **How do I get rid of the taxes on my invoices?** > > Tax is only applied to line items marked **Taxable**. While editing the invoice, turn off **Charge sales tax** in the **Summary** section (or uncheck **Taxable** on each line). To stop it on future invoices, uncheck **Make new invoice line items taxable by default** in **Settings → Stripe**, or clear your **Sales Tax Rate**. If tax keeps appearing when you add a product from your catalog, edit that product on the **Products** page and uncheck **Apply default tax rate when this product is used**. > **Can buyers pay me with Venmo, PayPal, Cash App, or Zelle?** > > Yes, but outside BreederBuddy. Add your handles under **Settings → Other Payment Methods** so they show on invoices and in the Buyer Portal. When the money arrives, open the invoice and click **Log Manual Payment** so it shows as paid. > **Where do I add my PayPal link, bank details, or other payment instructions?** > > Open [**Settings → Other Payment Methods**](https://app.breederbuddy.com/settings?tab=other%20payment%20methods) and click **Edit Your Payment Handles**. Paste your PayPal.me link into **PayPal Link**. For bank transfer details, a payment link from another service, or anything else, type it into **Other Payment Instructions**. Click **Save**. Buyers see these on their invoices and in their Buyer Portal. When the money arrives, log it on the invoice with **Log Manual Payment** so it shows as paid. > **Do buyers who pay cash, Zelle, or Venmo get charged the processing fee?** > > No. The fee is charged only when a buyer pays online through the Buyer Portal. If it's on their invoice, the invoice and their portal show the balance without it, marked "If paid online" with the fee added, and a payment you log with **Log Manual Payment** settles the invoice once it covers everything but the fee. The receipt and the printed invoice then leave the fee out. When **Pass Processing Fees to Customer** is on, BreederBuddy asks **Add payment processing fee?** each time you save an invoice (waitlist deposit requests get the fee automatically, without the question); click **No thanks** if you'd rather the buyer never see it. > **Why can't I open the Stripe dashboard?** > > Only the account owner can open the Stripe dashboard. If you're a team member and the button is greyed out, ask the account owner to open it or adjust your access. > **What payment methods can buyers use online?** > > Credit cards, debit cards, Apple Pay, and Google Pay work out of the box. You can also accept ACH bank transfers (lowest fees), Cash App Pay, and buy-now-pay-later options like Klarna, Affirm, and Afterpay — with those, the buyer pays in installments but you receive the full amount up front. Manage which methods you accept in **Settings > Stripe > Accepted Payment Methods**. Note that buy-now-pay-later methods carry a higher processing fee (about 6% + 30¢) than cards. *** ## Still Have Questions? We're here to help. If something isn't working the way you expect, or you'd like to have a discussion around a certain topic, please reach out to us anytime through the chat in the bottom right corner of your screen. Thank you. This documentation is built and hosted on [Mintlify](https://mintlify.com), a developer documentation platform.