Offline Payments
How staff register cash, terminal, transfers, and other manual payments.
Offline payments are registered manually by staff and represent money received outside of Stripe.
Offline payments are always created by users, never by clients.
Best practice
If you take cash/terminal payments, set up a daily verification routine so revenue reporting stays reliable.
Offline Payment Methods
Before using offline payments, define offline payment methods in your organization settings, for example:
- Cash
- Card terminal
- Bank transfer
- Mobile payment services
- Any custom method you use
These are labels only. They do not contain accounting logic.
Creating Offline Payments
Offline payments are created on the booking and recorded against that booking.
Where to create an offline payment:
- Open the booking
- Go to the Payments tab
- Create an offline payment
Required fields:
- Amount
- Purpose (Deposit, Service payment, Other)
- Payment method
Optional fields:
- Tax behavior
- Note
- External reference ID and type (under Additional info)
Offline payments are usually recorded and verified later, unless your settings allow auto-verification.
Why revenue can look “too low”
If an offline payment is recorded but not verified yet, it won’t count as revenue until it’s verified.
Choosing A Purpose (Deposit vs Service Payment vs Other)
Purpose is how you explain why the money happened.
- Deposit: money collected to reserve the booking ahead of time
- Service payment: money collected for the service itself (often on the service day)
- Other: money that doesn’t cleanly fit deposit/service (for example a no-show fee)
If you’re unsure, choose the purpose that matches what you want to see in reporting later.
Typical Offline Workflows
Common patterns:
- Deposit online, remainder offline on service day
- Entire booking paid in-store via terminal
- Bank transfer recorded with a reference note
Verification Best Practices
Offline payments often require a verification routine.
- Record payments as they happen (or at the end of the day)
- Verify them from Finance → Payment verification
- If a verified payment needs changes, you must unverify it first (with a reason)
See: Payment Verification & Approval
When To Use Offline Vs Online Payments
Use offline payments when:
- Money happens outside of Stripe
- Staff need to record money with method and notes
Use online payments when:
- You want a client-facing checkout link
- You want Stripe to handle card capture and confirmation