Once your Practice Better Payments account is active, you have multiple powerful ways to collect payment from clients — from sending invoices they can pay instantly online to processing charges on their behalf using saved cards. This guide covers everything you need to know about accepting payments, protecting your revenue, and creating a seamless payment experience for your clients.
In this article:
- Enabling Payment Collection on Invoices
- Two Ways to Collect Invoice Payments
- Requiring Billing Information at Booking
- Storing Cards for Future Use
- Setting Up Recurring Payments and Installment Plans
- Processing In-Person Payments with the Terminal Reader
- Accepting Apple Pay and Google Pay
- Next Steps
Enabling Payment Collection on Invoices
Once Practice Better Payments is set up, your account will automatically be configured to accept invoice payments. This means your clients can pay with a credit card as soon as they receive an invoice from you — no additional configuration required.
Global Settings
You can always confirm this setting by going to your Settings > Invoices & Payments page. After making updates on this apge, click Save Changes near the top-right.
Invoice Creation
When you create a new invoice, the Accept payment for this invoice using Practice Better option is enabled by default in the Payment Options section.
Flexible Payment Requirements
You have control over how clients can pay each invoice:
- Require client to pay in full — clients must pay the entire invoice amount before it's marked as paid
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Allow client to pay in installments (manual) — clients can make partial payments at their own pace until the balance reaches zero
💡 Pro tip: Enabling Save billing information for future payments creates a faster checkout experience and makes it easier to process recurring charges or payment plans.
Two Ways to Collect Invoice Payments
Practice Better Payments gives you flexibility in how you collect payment — you can send invoices for clients to pay themselves, or you can process payments on their behalf using saved card information.
Option 1: Send an Invoice to Your Client for Payment
This method puts payment control in your client's hands while making it effortless for them to complete the transaction.
How It Works:
When you send an invoice to a client, they receive an email notification with a Pay Invoice button.
Clicking this button redirects them to a secure payment page where they can review the invoice details and enter their credit card information.
The Client Experience:
Your clients see a professional, branded payment page that displays:
- Invoice date and number
- Itemized list of services or products
- Total amount due
- Secure credit card entry fields
- Option to store card details for future payments
A receipt is automatically emailed to your client once the payment has been confirmed — no manual follow-up needed from you.
Option 2: Process a Payment on Your Client's Behalf
When you have a client's card stored on file, you can process payments directly from your Practice Better account. This is perfect for scheduled appointments, recurring services, or when you want to handle billing immediately after a session.
Step-by-Step Process:
- Create an invoice for your client.
Learn more about Creating and Managing Invoices in Practice Better →
- Select Process from the upper right-hand corner of the screen.
- Select the Payment Method and Submit.
If you have stored your client's card information, it will appear here as a payment method option.
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Confirm whether you want to send an email with a receipt to both you and your client or only your client.
Payment Confirmation:
You'll receive confirmation when the payment processes successfully. Both you and your client will receive email receipts, and the invoice automatically updates to "Paid" in your records.
Requiring Billing Information at Booking
Requiring billing or card information at the time of booking ensures you can collect payment for services provided, late cancellations, and no-shows. This proactive approach protects your business and provides clients with a seamless checkout experience.
Setting Up Billing Requirements:
- Go to My Practice > My Services.
- Click Edit on the service or package you wish to collect billing information for.
- On the Edit Service or Edit Package page, click on the Advanced Options tab.
- Check the "Require billing information when clients book this service/package" checkbox.
- Click Save Changes to save details for the service or package.
What Your Clients See:
With this option selected, your clients will see a message on the booking page informing them that their billing information will be saved. If their billing information has previously been saved and they book a session from the client portal, they won't need to enter it again.
Protecting Your Revenue:
Once you've required billing information at booking, you can set up your cancellation policy and enable cancellation charges for no-show sessions — ensuring your time is valued and compensated.
Learn more about enabling cancellation charges for no-show sessions →
Storing Cards for Future Use
Saving client card information creates a frictionless payment experience and enables powerful features like automated payment plans and instant invoice processing.
Three Ways to Save Card Information:
1. During Invoice Payment
When clients pay an invoice, they can check "Securely store my payment details in Practice Better for future use" to save their payment method.
2. At Booking Time
Enable "Require billing information when clients book this service/package" in your service or package Advanced Options (covered above).
3. Manually on Behalf of Client
You can add a credit card to a client's file directly through their Billing Information tab. This is useful when collecting card details over the phone or in person.
Security & Compliance:
All credit card information is encrypted, tokenized, and stored by Stripe — never by Practice Better. This ensures PCI Level 1 compliance and protects both your practice and your clients' sensitive financial data.
Learn more about Adding a Credit Card to a Client's File →
Setting Up Recurring Payments and Installment Plans
Recurring payments and installment plans make your services accessible to more clients while providing your business with steady, predictable revenue. Both options facilitate ongoing relationships with your clients and are easy to set up and manage within Practice Better.
Benefits:
- Recurring payments (e.g., memberships) — steady, predictable revenue stream
- Installment plans — make high-value services accessible to budget-conscious clients
- Automated processing — payments happen automatically on schedule
- Reduced administrative work — no manual invoicing or follow-up required
Setting Up a Recurring Payment (Ongoing Subscription)
Perfect for memberships, monthly retainers, or ongoing coaching programs.
- Navigate to My Practice > My Services > [Service/Package name] > Edit > Advanced Options.
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Fees & Taxes > Pricing model > Ongoing Payments.
- Configure he payment plan details including recurring payment amount, frequency, and duration of payments and click Save.
- You’ll see this saved under the Payment Plans section of the service’s Advanced Options. Review your expected payment plan structure by clicking Preview Payments.
Setting Up an Installment Plan (Fixed Payments)
Ideal for packages or programs where clients pay over time for a set total amount.
- Go to My Practice > My Services > [Service/Package name] > Edit > Advanced Options.
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Fees & Taxes > Pricing model > Fixed fee.
- Enable Require billing information when clients book this package (optional but recommended).
- Click the Add plan under the Payment Plans section.
- Optionally enable a deposit by clicking the checkbox beside Require clients to pay a deposit at booking.
- Click the checkbox beside Allow clients to pay in installments.
- Add Installment Plan details including installment amount, installment start date, and frequency of installment payments.
- Select Save when all information has been entered.
- You’ll see this saved under the Payment Plans section of the service’s Advanced Options. Review your expected payment plan structure by clicking Preview Payments.
Learn more about Setting up Payment Plans for Packages, Programs and Services →
Processing In-Person Payments with the Terminal Reader
Accept integrated in-person payments with your WisePOS E terminal reader. The reader seamlessly displays invoice amounts, processes payments, and automatically records transactions in your Practice Better account.
How to Process a Payment on the WisePOS E:
- Create a new invoice for your client.
Learn more about creating invoices in Practice Better →
- Select Process in the top-right corner of the Create/Edit invoice page to process a payment for the invoice on your client's behalf.
- On the Pay Invoice page, you'll see an option to use your reader to process payment. Select the reader then click Submit in the bottom-right corner.
- You'll see a prompt instructing you to complete the charge on the reader. Hand the reader to your client to either tap, insert, or swipe their card to pay.
- You'll receive a confirmation prompt when the charge is completed.
Saving Cards with the Terminal:
The WisePOS E can also be used to quickly and securely store card information for future payments without processing a charge.
- Open a client record and go to their Billing & Payments > Billing Information tab.
- Click the Fast Action Button in the bottom-right corner and select Add card with reader.
- Select a reader from the list of online devices. Present the reader to your client to tap/insert/swipe their card.
Learn more about Using the Practice Better Payments Terminal →
Accepting Apple Pay and Google Pay
With Practice Better Payments, your clients have faster, more convenient ways to pay for invoices, services, packages, and programs. If they use Apple Pay or Google Pay, they can skip manually entering credit card information entirely.
Platform Availability:
- Apple Pay is available on Safari on Apple Mac and iPhone
- Google Pay is available on Google Chrome
How It Works:
When clients are ready to pay on a compatible browser and device, they'll see the option to Purchase with Google Pay or Pay with Apple.
Storing Payment Methods:
Card information submitted through Apple Pay or Google Pay can also be stored on file to collect future payments. Clients must set up Apple Pay or Google Pay on their device before using these features.
💡 Pro tip: Encourage clients to set up digital wallets for faster checkout — it reduces friction and increases the likelihood of immediate payment.
Next Steps
Now that you know how to process payments with Practice Better Payments, explore these related topics:
- Using the Practice Better Payments Dashboard — monitor transactions, manage payouts, and track disputes →
- Creating Custom Payment Plans for Clients — set up subscriptions and installment schedules →
- How do I bill a card on file? — quickly charge saved payment methods →
You're now equipped to handle all payment processing needs with confidence. Our support team is always here if you need assistance or have questions about maximizing Practice Better Payments for your practice!