Customers choose from the payment methods their customer group allows, on the Review & Pay step of the My Cart interface. A group can have several, for example card and on account for long-standing customers, and card only for new ones.
| Pay Online by Card | Pay by Invoice | Pay on Account | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Customer pays | At checkout | After receiving an invoice | By their due date, for example Net 30 |
| Your credit risk | None | Short term | Managed with credit limits |
| Admin for your team | Very little | Send invoices, track payment | Set terms once, then automate |
| Arrives in Shopify as | A paid order | A draft order, or an unpaid order if Auto-complete draft orders is on | A draft order with payment terms, or an unpaid order with terms if Auto-complete draft orders is on |
| Best for | New customers and one-off orders | Buyers who need an invoice to get sign-off | Established, repeat customers |
| In the customer group rule | Card at checkout | Pay by invoice | Payment on account |
| Core Script name | upfrontPayment | paymentByInvoice | paymentOnAccount |
Quotes aren't a payment method: with the Quoting Engine, the customer chooses how to pay when they complete the quote.
The customer pays in full at your Shopify checkout, so every order arrives already paid, with no credit risk and nothing to collect.
That's all: card is on or off for each group. To turn it off, untick Card at checkout.
When a sales rep orders for a customer and chooses card, the customer is emailed a link to pay. The order is paid once they've used it. See Order for a customer.
Reliable repeat buyers are good candidates for Pay on Account.
Give card customers a downloadable invoice for their records.
At Storefront > Options > Checkout, drag the methods under Payment methods, in order. The first is selected by default. A developer can set paymentMethodsOrder in the Core Script instead. How to
Add translation overrides at Storefront > Options > Translation overrides, no code needed. How to
Payments visibility shows customers whether each order is paid. It's on by default.
No payment is taken at checkout. The order arrives in Shopify as a draft order (or an unpaid order, if Auto-complete draft orders is on), the customer gets an invoice, and they pay against it. You choose how the invoice is created.
You can also attach invoices from another system with the invoice_url order metafield, or use an app such as Sufio.
Click Send invoice on the draft order. The customer gets a link to pay at the Shopify checkout.
A PDF invoice is created automatically, and customers download it from My Account.
The invoice is created in your accounting software. With Xero, payments come back to the SparkLayer order; QuickBooks is one way only.
Invoices appear once an order is Processing. Refunded or cancelled orders don't get one, and a split shipment's invoice shows every product on the order. See Invoices.
QuickBooks needs your B2B products set up with matching SKUs and tax rates first. See the Xero and QuickBooks Online guides.
Invoices are created in your accounts. With Xero, payments come back to the order automatically.
With Payments visibility and a real-time account balance, customers see what's paid and what they owe.
Customers who regularly pay on invoice may be ready for Pay on Account.
For established customers. They order now and pay within their net terms, and an optional credit limit caps how much they can owe at any time.
Net terms set the due date. Customers see them in the Financials section of My Account, and the Shopify order has Payment due later ticked, with the payment terms and issue date filled in.
payment_on_account customer metafield: go to Integrations > Platform and, in the Metafields card, click Configure next to SparkLayer metafields.7_days 15_days 30_days 45_days 60_days 90_days
{"net_terms":"30_days"}Add a limit, and the balance the customer owes you now, to the same metafield. SparkLayer compares each Pay on Account order with the credit the customer has left.
{"credit_limit":1000,"balance":250,"net_terms":"30_days"}With Xero or QuickBooks, Pay on Account invoices are created on order (one invoice when the order is Processing) or on shipment (one for each fulfilment, for split shipments). The due date comes from the first of these that's set:
Invoices and due dates are handled for you. With Xero, payments reduce the customer's balance automatically.
With Payments visibility on, set an opening balance so customers see what they owe.
Ready-made flows handle common net terms tasks. See Shopify Flow.
Let larger accounts have several buyers. Order approvals need the Growth plan or above.
You can mix and match. Payment methods are set for each customer group, so different customers can see different options. On Shopify, a company or location with Let them pay later off can only pay by card, whatever its group allows.
Both let customers order without paying at checkout. Pay on Account adds net terms (a due date) and optional credit limits. With Xero or QuickBooks, Pay by Invoice orders are due on the order date.
Invoices are only created once an order is Processing (or Shipped). Check the order isn't still a Shopify draft order, and that it was placed after you turned on Invoices. For Xero or QuickBooks, also check the integration is turned on and the customer could be matched to a contact, or created.
By default, Pay on Account is turned off for that order and the customer must choose another method, such as card. To accept the order with a warning that it may be delayed and subject to approval, open the customer group, click + Override next to Credit settings and turn off Prevent placing an order if exceeding credit limit. See Let customers order over their credit limit.
Yes. The Financials section of My Account shows their payment terms, unpaid balance and credit limit, so they can see how much they can still spend before they reach the limit. With Payments visibility, which is on by default, each order also shows whether it's paid. See Show a real-time account balance.
The rep chooses from the payment methods the customer's group allows, and the order arrives in Shopify as a draft order. With Pay Online by Card, the customer is emailed a link to pay, and the order is paid once they've used it. Pay by Invoice and Pay on Account orders are left for your team to process. See Order for a customer.
Yes. Add translation overrides at Storefront > Options > Translation overrides, without code, or ask a developer to set them in your Core Script. See Rename payment methods.
No. You can send invoices from Shopify draft orders on any plan, or use SparkLayer Invoices on the Growth plan and above. The accounting integrations are for teams that want invoices created in their accounts.
No. With the Quoting Engine, customers ask for a quote instead of paying, and choose how to pay when they complete it.