How payment services work in Xero

Find out about payment services and the steps you need to take to accept online payments.

Get paid online in 4 easy steps

Image showing payment services workflow.

  1. Add a payment service and apply it to a branding theme.
  2. Apply a branding theme to an invoice.
  3. Email the invoice to your customer.
  4. Your customer uses the payment button to pay you securely through your payment service.

Online payment link

When you email a PDF invoice to a customer, it contains a link to open an online invoice. Your customer will be able to pay using the payment button on the online invoice. Your customer doesn't need to have a Xero login to be able to pay your invoice online.

Image of PDF sales invoice with link to online invoice.

You can apply both PayPal and another payment service (under credit card service) to a branding theme. If you apply both, your customer will be able to select a payment method on the online invoice.

Image of Pay Now button with credit card and PayPal options.

When your customer makes an online payment via their Xero invoice, the payment service used is responsible for the payment and the deposit into your bank account. You'll need to contact your payment service provider to see when those funds will be deposited in your bank account.

Reconciling is easy

When a customer pays you online, Xero marks the sales invoice in Xero as paid, unless the payment was made through a custom URL.

For payments made with a custom URL, reconcile the payment with the invoice once it's received in your account.

Xero displays the transaction reference ID from the payment gateway in the Reference field of the payment transaction.

If your payment service provider charges a fee, reconcile the payment by adding a bank fee.

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