Let trusted customers pay later on Net 30
Net terms are the number of days a customer has to pay for an order they didn't pay for at checkout, such as 30 days on Net 30. There are 2 ways to pay later. Pay on Account charges the order to the customer's account, within their credit limit and on their net terms. Pay by Invoice lets them order without payment details, and you invoice them. Credit limits only apply to Pay on Account. See Which method to offer.
Before you start
- Which customers get terms, their credit limits and their terms, such as Net 30.
- How you'll invoice them: SparkLayer Invoices, your store, your own invoice files or an app. See Choose how to send invoices.
- Access to edit customers in your store admin, where the terms are stored.
Set it up
Put trusted customers in their own group
Optional, but it keeps card-only customers separate. Go to Customers,Groups (opens in your SparkLayer Dashboard in a new tab), click Create customer group, name it, for example "Trade 30 days", and add the customers to it. See Create a customer group.
Turn on Pay on Account for the group
Open the group, click Override next to Payment methods (on the Base group, Customize), tick Payment on account and click Save. Keep Card at checkout ticked if they can also pay by card.
See Choose which payment methods a customer group can use. Take the 1-minute tour.
Add the payment on account metafield
Credit limits, balances and net terms all live in one customer metafield, Credit Limit and Account Balance (sparklayer.payment_on_account). You add it once.
Shopify only
Go to Integrations,Platform (opens in your SparkLayer Dashboard in a new tab). In the Metafields card, click Configure next to SparkLayer metafields and enable it. See Add metafields automatically.
BigCommerce, Wix, WooCommerce, Magento only
Ask your developer to add it, using the settings in The payment on account metafield and the developer docs.
Set each customer's credit limit and terms
Fill in the form with the customer's limit and terms, and copy the value it writes. For a 1,000 credit limit on Net 30, it's {"credit_limit":1000,"net_terms":"30_days"}. Then open the customer in your store admin, paste the value into the metafield and save.
sparklayer.payment_on_accountLots of customers? Fill them in one tableShopify
In your Shopify admin, go to Customers, tick the customers and click Edit customers. Click Columns, tick Credit Limit and Account Balance under Metafields, then type the values (one row per customer) and click Save. Shopify's guide
Terms can be 7, 15, 30, 45, 60 or 90 days. To add an opening balance, or a currency, see Set a credit limit and account balance and Set net payment terms.
Example: $250 to spend
Available credit is the credit_limit minus the balance, which is what the customer owes you. To give them $250 to spend, enter {"credit_limit":250,"balance":0}. After a $77.80 Pay on Account order, the balance is 77.80 and they have $172.20 left. Don't set balance to 250: that means they've already used it all. See Worked example.
More detail
By default, a customer can't pay on account for an order over their credit limit. To allow it, see Let customers order over their credit limit.
Decide what happens to their orders
Shopify only
Pay on Account orders arrive in Shopify as draft orders, with Payment terms and a due date filled in, such as "Payment due on 19 June 2023 (Net 30)". To complete them automatically and collect payment later, turn on Auto-complete draft orders at Integrations,Platform,Shopify order actions (opens in your SparkLayer Dashboard in a new tab). See Process your B2B orders in Shopify.
BigCommerce, Wix, WooCommerce, Magento only
Orders are placed without payment details, and you collect payment later. On Wix, they arrive with a payment status of "UNPAID": mark them as paid once you've been paid. See How orders arrive in your store.
Choose how to send invoices
To let customers download a PDF invoice from My Account, turn on Invoices at Settings,Configurations,Quotes and invoices (opens in your SparkLayer Dashboard in a new tab) (Growth plan and above). Add your bank details with Invoice Settings. See Turn on invoices. Take the 1-minute tour.
An invoice is created once the order reaches Processing, so draft orders get one when they're completed. For other ways to invoice, see Choose how to send invoices.
Check it worked
- In SparkLayer, open the customer at Customers (opens in your SparkLayer Dashboard in a new tab). Under Financial details, Payment on account shows their Credit limit and Net terms.
- In My Account, signed in as the customer, Financials shows their balance, credit limit and payment terms.
- At checkout, Pay on Account is offered. Place a small test order with it.
- In your store, the order arrives unpaid, with its terms. On Shopify, it's a draft order with Payment due later ticked.
If something's not right
- Only card payment shows at checkout. Check the group allows Payment on account. See Payment methods.
- Pay on Account is blocked for a customer you've just given credit. Check their
balanceis 0, not the same as their limit. See Worked example. - Pay on Account disappears for a large order. The order would take them over their credit limit. See What happens when a customer goes over their credit limit?
- The balance in the metafield doesn't change. That's expected: SparkLayer works out the live balance itself. See Why is the "Payment on Account" metafield not updating?
- An order has no invoice. Draft orders and orders awaiting approval get one once they're completed. See When invoices are available.
Next steps
Last updated