Client payments

A clear payment conversation helps the client understand the price, the deposit and what happens next. Agree the work first, then use this guide to prepare a payment request and check the result. Your studio still confirms the appointment separately.

Choose how clients pay

When online payments are enabled for your studio, owners and admins can request a deposit, the full agreed price or the remaining balance through Stripe. You can return all or part of a confirmed Stripe booking payment through the booking's refund controls.

If new collection is switched off, save quotes and use your existing payment arrangements. Confirmed payment records and available refund controls remain accessible. Connecting Stripe alone does not turn on collection.

Payment requests are not VAT invoices. InkWell does not provide onsite payment QR codes or record new cash or bank-transfer receipts; keep those in your existing payment and accounting process.

Phone and walk-in appointments can use the same online payment flow without creating an enquiry. Booking time still does not require a price, payment or Stripe connection. Open the appointment’s Payments section to save its agreed price and required deposit, then prepare a request when collection is ready. Add a phone or walk-in booking.

Settings → Business verification holds your shared legal seller and Stripe verification status. Payments & payouts shows your connected account, balance and payouts. Settings → Plan & billing manages your InkWell subscription and its invoices. Subscription invoices are separate from tattoo-client payments.

Phone and walk-in payments

1. Open the saved appointment from Appointments and choose Payments. Verified owners and admins manage prices and payments.
2. Enter Agreed price and Required deposit, then choose Save price and deposit. Use 0 for no deposit; leave the total blank if it is not agreed. Saving these amounts takes no payment and sends no email.
3. Choose the available payment kind, prepare it and preview the saved request as described below.
4. Share Create private link with the client. No email address is required on the booking. No SMS is sent and card details go directly to Stripe.
5. If a current client email is saved and sending is available, review that recipient before Send payment request. This explicit payment email is separate from Email booking updates; it does not opt the client into booking messages.
6. Check the confirmed receipt and remaining balance in the same booking. After a deposit settles, use Prepare another payment for the remaining balance. A completed session can still collect its outstanding amount.

A prepared request or accepted agreement protects its saved price and deposit. Withdraw an unused request before changing its amounts or contact details. A started Checkout must be checked with Stripe before withdrawing; a receipt keeps the original financial record. Cancelling the appointment does not refund money. Cancelled and no-show sessions cannot create new payment requests.

No InkWell payments recorded means there is no confirmed receipt in this ledger, not that the client has paid nothing elsewhere. Check your cash, bank and terminal records before requesting money. External receipt entry is not available; do not collect the same amount twice. A zero-price booking needs no payment. A setup warning links to the existing payment or subscription settings; there is no separate phone-booking payment switch.

Save and send a quote

1. Open the booking from Requests or Appointments and select Payments.
2. In Quote & deposit or Agreed price & deposit, save the price and deposit requirement.
3. In Quotes & receipts, choose Share saved quote. Before booking an enquiry, Draft reply with saved quote also opens an editable conversation draft.
4. Review the saved amounts, recipient and message, then choose Confirm and send. The message goes to the existing private conversation, including after booking.

Saving the quote does not take money, send an email or reserve time. Sharing the agreed price after booking leaves the reserved session unchanged. Cancelled and no-show bookings keep receipt access; they do not offer a quote saying the session is still booked. A quote message is not a payable invoice. Clients use their private conversation link to read and reply without an account; replies appear in Studio. Client conversations explains the steps.

Studio booking terms provide the shared deposit and cancellation wording. Service settings can suggest a fixed or percentage deposit; review the actual amount in Quote & deposit for each booking. Artist profiles do not have a separate deposit policy or override the booking's amount. Existing issued terms and payment records retain their original snapshots.

Request a client payment

Before sending the link, tell the client what the amount covers and which step comes next. Check that the quote and terms match the conversation you've had with them.

1. Check the saved quote and deposit requirement. Save the legal seller in Settings → Business verification, complete Stripe and seller verification, and publish booking terms using those shared details.
2. In Payments, choose the available Payment to request: Required deposit, Full agreed price or Remaining balance. The options depend on the quote and money already received.
3. Review the studio payment terms and choose Prepare payment request. This saves the request without charging the client or sending anything.
4. Choose Preview request and check the amount and terms.
5. Choose Create private link and share it only with that client, or review the email recipient and choose Send payment request when email sending is available.

The client opens the private page, sees the legal seller and contact details, reviews the request and agrees to the displayed terms before paying through Stripe. A request needs a current booking agreement; a link with missing or outdated seller terms cannot collect payment. Payment does not book an appointment or provide consent to tattooing.

After a request is settled, choose Prepare another payment to request an outstanding amount. Full payment satisfies the deposit requirement; it is shown as a full payment rather than entirely as a deposit.

If a request has expired or needs changing, review Withdraw payment request before preparing a replacement. Withdrawal revokes its private links. It does not refund a payment or email the client. Follow any payment-status warning before withdrawing or changing a held session.

Check payment and email status

Owners and admins can check the confirmed amount, remaining balance, source and receipt reference in the booking. Historical or studio-recorded amounts are labelled separately from payments confirmed through InkWell. Payments taken outside InkWell do not appear automatically.

A payment being confirmed is not yet a settled receipt. Check its status before creating another request. If the status says Unavailable, save any draft before refreshing or check Stripe. A required deposit is not proof of payment, and a receipt is not proof of a bank payout.

Email queued means the message is waiting to send. Acceptance by the email service does not prove inbox delivery, payment or client agreement. Use Refresh delivery status if needed; use Retry original email only when that action is offered. Review the recipient and message before confirming a send.

Remind an unpaid client

After an email is accepted, Send reminder becomes available after ten minutes if the same request is still unpaid, current and valid. Review and confirm the reminder. It reuses the existing request, amount and expiry; it never creates a second charge or revives an expired request. A failed or uncertain delivery uses Retry original email, which reuses the original message and delivery identity.

Share a confirmed receipt

In Quotes & receipts, choose View / share receipt for a confirmed InkWell payment. The preview shows the payment reference, received amount, confirmed refunds and net recorded amount. Sharing saves that record in the private conversation and queues a link email. A processing refund is confirmed separately. A receipt is not a VAT invoice, and formal client invoicing is not provided here.

Collection unavailable means new online collection cannot currently be prepared. Existing payment history remains readable. Payment details could not be loaded means records themselves could not be read; refresh before requesting money.

Know what happens next

• Quote: the price you have proposed.
• Deposit requirement: the amount you expect the client to pay.
• Confirmed payment: money received according to the payment record.
• Booked appointment: the agreed artist and time reserved in the calendar.

For an enquiry, agree the artist, price and time, then book it in Session. A phone or walk-in appointment already reserves its saved time. Collecting a payment leaves either booking’s session status unchanged.

Where calendar holds are available, a hold can protect a time while you arrange payment. Once payment has started, follow the status warnings before changing or releasing the held time. Read Enquiries and appointments.

Booking terms and consent to tattooing are separate too. Use Booking setup for agreement and staff-checklist settings, and retain your studio's health-review and consent process.

Understand fees and refunds

Check pricing for monthly subscriptions and artist capacity. InkWell charges no payment commission on deposits, full payments, balances or merchandise. Stripe processing fees apply separately. External cash, bank transfers and your own terminal remain available.

New payments have no InkWell commission to refund. Where a historical payment carried an InkWell application fee, supported refunds return its corresponding portion using the original record. Stripe processing fees may be retained. Refunds explains how to check and submit a refund.

For subscription invoices and payment methods, see Subscriptions. For bank payouts, open Payments & payouts and compare the balance and recent payout history with Stripe and your existing accounting records. Merchandise has its own order and fulfilment steps.

If payment status is uncertain

Check the original payment in Stripe before retrying or refunding. If you need help, contact Support with the payment reference, time and expected amount. Do not send card details.

Connect Stripe · Payouts and reconciliation