Charging clients manually

For one-off services, customers without a card on file, and the occasional cash-or-check job.

Instant billing covers the everyday flow, but not every job fits that pattern. This article covers sending a one-off invoice, marking an invoice paid by cash or check, refunding a customer, and how the $3 platform fee works on off-platform payments.

Sending a one-off invoice

Use this when there's no card on file, when you're billing for an extra (gutter cleaning, leaf haul-off), or when you just want the customer to pay through a link instead of an auto-charge.

1
Open the customer's profile or the job page and click Create invoice.
2
Add line items. Pick from your saved services or type a custom line with a description and price.
3
Click Send invoice. The customer gets an email with a Stripe-hosted payment page — they can pay with any card, Apple Pay, or Google Pay. The page works on phones.
4
When they pay, the invoice flips to Paid and Stripe schedules a payout to your bank on the next cycle.

Pro tip

A customer who pays a one-off invoice can opt to save their card on the Stripe page. If they do, the next job completes with instant billing. That's the easiest way to convert a manual-pay customer into a card-on-file customer.

Marking an invoice paid by cash or check

Sometimes the customer hands you cash or mails a check. To keep your Mowzey books in sync, mark the invoice paid manually instead of letting it sit as outstanding.

1
Open the invoice from the customer profile or the Invoices tab.
2
Click Mark as paid and pick the method: cash, check, bank transfer, or other.
3
Optionally add a memo (check number, deposit date — whatever helps you remember).

The invoice flips to Paid (off-platform) and shows the method you chose. Your customer's account balance is reset.

How the $3 platform fee works off-platform

When an invoice is paid by card through Stripe, Mowzey collects the $3 platform fee automatically via Stripe's application fee. When the same invoice is paid in cash or check, there's no card transaction for Mowzey to attach the fee to.

The fee on those off-platform invoices is forfeited: Mowzey records it on the invoice for reporting purposes (so your records are consistent) but doesn't collect anything from you. It's an honor-system tradeoff that keeps off-platform payments simple.

What you'll see

On a cash-paid invoice, the platform fee line shows as $3.00 forfeited — paid off-platform. It rolls up into the same monthly fee report as your collected fees so you have a complete picture of platform activity.

Recording a refund

You can issue a full or partial refund on any Stripe-paid invoice from inside Mowzey — no need to log into Stripe directly.

1
Open the paid invoice and click Issue refund. Only org owners see this button.
2
Enter the refund amount (full or partial) and a reason. The reason shows up in the customer's receipt email.
3
Confirm. Stripe processes the refund within a few minutes; the customer's bank usually shows it in 5 to 10 business days.

The $3 platform fee is not refunded

Mowzey always retains the $3 platform fee, even on full refunds. The service portion comes out of your Stripe balance — so a $103 invoice fully refunded means $100 leaves your account, and the $3 stays with Mowzey. This is the same policy on every refund.

For cash or check invoices, refunding is on you — record it with a negative-amount manual invoice if you want it in the ledger.