How payments work in Invoice Ninja
Invoice Ninja's payments page tells you to connect your preferred payment gateway under Settings, then Online Payments. It calls Authorize.net a trusted US gateway for credit card processing and lists token billing for recurring invoices and refunds as supported features.
It also says you can connect multiple gateways at the same time, for example bank transfers through Stripe and card payments through Authorize.net.
Invoice Ninja is invoicing software, free to self-host or hosted.
This guide covers online and invoice payments, the ones Invoice Ninja takes through its payment connection.
What changes and what stays
What changes
- The payment connection inside Invoice Ninja: either a new gateway login, or a new account behind the gateway you already use. We tell you which after we read your statement.
- Who settles your card money and sends your monthly statement.
- Your fees. We show you the real numbers from your own statement and never predict them.
What stays
- Invoice Ninja itself, with your customers, records and the way you work.
- What your customers see when they pay, in most cases.
Who this suits
Best fit
- A freelancer or small firm that invoices clients online and can adjust settings on its own.
- Your processing contract is near its end, or you can time a change around it.
- You have not looked at your statement in a while and want a person to read it with you.
Not a fit
- A firm with only a few invoices a month, where fixed gateway fees matter more than the rate.
- Your statement is already clear and you are happy with it. Then the honest answer may be to stay where you are.
- You are in the middle of a contract with a large early cancellation fee and cannot time a change.
What a switch involves
- Send your latest statement. A person reads it with you and works out your effective rate. This is free and there is no pressure to switch.
- We check what Invoice Ninja allows for your setup. Plans and settings differ, so we confirm what your Invoice Ninja account can do. If the honest answer is to stay, we say so.
- Apply for the new account, if a change makes sense. This takes business and bank details. How long it takes varies with the account review and with any hardware involved.
- Update the payment connection in Invoice Ninja. Enter the new connection details in your payment settings and run a test payment before you tell customers anything.
- Move saved cards and recurring payments, then close the old account. Do this when your contract allows it. Closing the old account too early can stop recurring charges.
Timing varies. We give you a realistic timeline for your setup when we read your statement.
What to watch
- Because you can connect more than one gateway, decide which one customers see first so payments do not split by accident.
- Cards your customers have saved on file. Ask whether they can be moved to the new setup, or whether customers would need to enter them again.
- Recurring billing and subscriptions, which are tied to those saved cards.
- Gift card balances, if you sell gift cards.
- Card surcharges. Card network rules and some state laws limit them, so check before you add or keep one.
- Your current contract end date and any early cancellation fee.
Questions merchants ask
Can I use more than one gateway?
Invoice Ninja's page says you can connect multiple gateways at the same time.
Where do I add one?
Under Settings, then Online Payments, according to Invoice Ninja's payments page.
Does it handle recurring invoices?
The page lists token billing for recurring invoices and refunds as supported features for Authorize.net.
How do I see what I pay now?
Open your monthly processing statement and add up every fee. Divide that total by your card sales for the month. The result is your effective rate, the real percentage you pay after every fee. Our free statement review walks you through it.
See what you pay, for free
A person reads your statement with you and tells you what each fee means and whether a different processor is even possible with Invoice Ninja. There is no pressure to switch.