Invoicing & Payments

Invoice Statuses

The Stay's Invoice (One Invoice Per Stay)

Every stay gets one invoice with one invoice number. You can open it while the pet is still with you, add to it, take payments on it, and finalize it at checkout — you never need a second invoice for the same stay.

Opening an Invoice Mid-Stay

Sometimes an owner asks for their total — or wants to pay something down — before pickup. On any checked-in reservation, click Open Invoice. This creates the stay's invoice with status Open:

• It gets its invoice number immediately (unless you've turned on deferred numbering) and lists the stay's charges so far (boarding nights, add-ons, and a preview of any automatic discounts).
• You can build the bill mid-stay exactly like on a draft: + Add Line Item for a late charge, Add Discount, remove lines, and click the per-line Taxed / Tax-free pills — no need to check the pet out first.
• You can record payments — or email it so the owner can pay online — at any point during the stay.

An Open invoice is a running total, not a final bill: it never flips to Paid mid-stay, even if payments cover the current total, because more charges may still land before pickup. Emails sent for an open invoice make this clear too — they show a Stay Total and note that charges may still be added before checkout. Open invoices appear with an amber Open badge and have their own filter tab on the Invoices list.

The Folio Tracks the Stay

An open invoice keeps itself in sync with the reservation. Add or remove an add-on service, or edit the stay's dates, and the folio's line items and total update immediately — no checkout needed — so the number you quote (or collect) mid-stay is always the true running total. Manually added line items and recorded payments always survive these updates.

Once you've recorded a payment on the folio, its stay charges stop rebuilding automatically, so the total can never drop below money you've already collected. Checkout still recalculates the final bill from the actual stay as usual.

Finalizing at Checkout

When the pet goes home, check out as normal — or click Check Out & Finalize right on the invoice page (Finalize Invoice if the pet is already checked out). Checkout finalizes the existing open invoice instead of creating a new one:

• Stay charges are rebuilt from the actual stay (real nights, add-ons, discounts) plus anything you adjust on the checkout form — the confirmation page shows the charges and payments already on the invoice.
• Manually added line items and all payments already made stay on the invoice.
• The invoice moves from Open to Draft — or straight to Paid if mid-stay payments already cover the final total.

The stay keeps its original invoice number end to end.

Folio Notes & Safeguards

• Batch checkout: stays with open invoices can be checked out together too — batch checkout reuses the oldest stay's folio as the combined bill (keeping its number, payments, and manually added lines) and folds the sibling folios into it, so a multi-dog family still goes home with exactly one invoice.
• Manual invoices: creating a manual invoice for a customer who has an in-progress, uninvoiced stay shows a warning — open the stay's invoice instead, so checkout doesn't bill the same stay a second time under a new number.
• Portal visibility: clients don't see an open invoice until you email it to them. Once shared, it appears in the customer portal marked In progress and can be paid online.
• Cancellations: cancelling a stay automatically voids its open invoice if no payments were recorded; if payments exist, the invoice stays visible so you can resolve it (refund, credit, or collect).
• No-shows: applying a Charge no-show policy to a stay with a payment-less open invoice voids that invoice first; if the invoice holds payments, the no-show charge is skipped so you resolve everything on the one invoice.

Deferred Invoice Numbering

Some facilities want their invoice numbers to reconcile with money issued, not with tabs opened. If that's you, turn on deferred numbering:

1. Go to Settings → Online Payments.
2. In the Invoice Numbering card, switch on Only number invoices at checkout and click Save Invoice Numbering.

With the setting on, a mid-stay folio shows Draft in place of an invoice number — you can still add to it, print it, and take payments on it — and it's assigned the next INV-#### the moment it's finalized at checkout. A folio voided before checkout (a cancelled stay, say) never consumes a number, so your numbered invoices match the bills you actually issued.

The setting is off by default, existing invoices keep their numbers, and pre-stay, combined, and manual draft invoices are still numbered when created.

Creating an Invoice

1. Go to Invoices → New Invoice.
2. Select the Pet Owner.
3. Optionally link to a Reservation.
4. Set the Due Date.
5. The Tax Rate defaults to your facility's configured rate; adjust if needed.
6. Click Create Invoice. You are taken to the invoice detail page.

Heads up: If the selected customer has an in-progress stay that hasn't been invoiced yet, the form warns you. In that case, use Open Invoice on the stay instead of a standalone manual invoice — otherwise checkout will bill the stay again under a second invoice number.

Adding Line Items

An invoice starts empty. Add line items:

1. On the invoice detail page, click + Add Line Item.
2. Enter a description, quantity, and unit price.
3. Click Add. The subtotal, tax, and total update automatically.

You can add as many line items as needed (boarding nights, grooming services, medications, etc.).

Add-On Services Bill Automatically

Add-on services attached to a reservation are billed automatically when the stay is invoiced — on every reservation type, not just grooming appointments. Each add-on bills at price × quantity; boarding and daycare stays list them as "Add-on — pet: service" line items, grooming appointments as "Grooming — pet: service". So two massages booked on a five-night board show up on the invoice without any manual entry.

Manual Discount Line Items

To apply a manual discount to an invoice:

1. Click + Add Line Item.
2. Use one of the quick-add discount buttons: Multi-pet discount, Loyalty / returning client, or Manual credit.
3. Enter a negative unit price (e.g., −$12.00) to deduct from the total.
4. Click Add.

Discount line items appear on the invoice with their own line, making the price adjustment transparent to the client.

Applying a Promo Code to an Invoice

On the invoice detail page, enter a valid promo code in the Promo Code field and click Apply. The discount is applied to the subtotal.

Manual Invoice Discount (% or $)

You can also apply a one-off discount directly on a draft invoice — no promo code required:

1. On the invoice detail page, click Add Discount.
2. Use the % / $ toggle to choose between a percentage off or a flat dollar amount.
3. Enter the value (e.g., 10 for 10% off, or 25 for $25 off).
4. Click Apply.

Flat dollar discounts are validated to be positive and not greater than the chargeable subtotal so the invoice can never go negative.

Automatic Discounts Stay in Sync

System-generated percentage discounts — multi-pet, extended-stay, and percentage promo codes — recalculate automatically when you add or remove charges on a draft invoice, so a "10% off" line always equals 10% of the current charges (tax recomputes too). Manually added discounts and fixed-dollar promo codes never move, and once an invoice is sent or paid all discounts are locked.

Selective Taxability

By default, sales tax is applied to the entire invoice subtotal. Some facilities only need to tax certain categories (e.g., retail add-ons but not boarding). To configure:

1. Go to Settings → Payments → Tax Settings.
2. Set your Tax Rate (e.g., 8.5 for 8.5%).
3. Toggle which line item categories are taxable: Boarding, Board & Train, Daycare, Service / Grooming, Add-on, Custom.
4. Click Save.

Board & Train stays bill under their own Board & Train category, so you can tax them independently of regular boarding.

On any draft invoice, each line item now shows a Taxed or Tax-free pill. Click the pill to override the facility default for that specific row (handy for one-off non-taxable items). Overridden rows show a small dot indicator and a Reset button to revert to the facility rule. When part of an invoice is taxable, the totals section displays a Taxable portion row so the math is transparent.

Backward compatibility: Facilities that haven't configured per-category taxability continue to tax the full subtotal, so existing workflows are unaffected.

Client Credits

If a pet owner has a positive credit balance, their credits are applied automatically when they pay an invoice through the Customer Portal. Credits reduce the amount charged to the client's card. You can add credits from the pet owner's detail page — see Managing Pet Owners for details.

Sending an Invoice

Click Send Invoice. The owner receives an email with a link to view and pay the invoice online through the Customer Portal.

Recording a Payment

To record a payment (cash, card, check, etc.):

1. Open the invoice detail page.
2. Click + Record Payment.
3. Enter the payment amount, date, and method.
4. Click Save Payment.

If the payment covers the full balance, the invoice automatically moves to Paid status.

Editing a Payment

Recorded the wrong amount or method? Each manual payment row in the invoice's payment history shows a small pencil edit icon. Click it to amend the amount, date, method, or notes — the invoice totals and paid status are recalculated automatically. Payments collected through Stripe or Square are read-only and don't show the edit icon.

Mark as Paid (Manual Override)

Click Mark as Paid to immediately set the invoice status to Paid without recording individual payment details.

Voiding an Invoice

Click Void Invoice to cancel an invoice. Voided invoices are retained for record-keeping but are removed from outstanding balances.

Re-invoicing after a void: When an invoice is voided, the linked reservation(s) become eligible for invoicing again. You can immediately create a new invoice for the same reservation without any manual cleanup.

Downloading a PDF

Click Download PDF to download a professionally formatted PDF of the invoice.

Emailing an Invoice

Use the Email Invoice button (separate from Send Invoice) to re-send the invoice email at any time.

Deposits & Pre-Payment

You can collect a deposit — or full payment (pay in advance) — before the stay begins. On any upcoming (pending or confirmed) reservation, click the Bill Deposit / Pre-Pay action. Both modes open the stay's one invoice with the full projected charges for the stay; they differ only in what you ask the customer for:

• Deposit only — records a requested deposit amount, prefilled from your facility's deposit percentage (25% unless configured otherwise) but fully editable, capped at the stay total. The email the owner receives has a "Deposit of $X requested" subject and leads with the ask.
• Full amount (pay in advance) — asks for the whole estimated stay up front.

Payments land directly on the stay's invoice — there is no separate pre-stay invoice to reconcile later. In the customer portal, a deposit request leads with a Pay $X Deposit Online button (with an "or pay the full $Y" option below it), and Goodstay marks the reservation deposit collected automatically the moment payments reach the requested amount.

At checkout the invoice finalizes as usual: everything already paid counts toward the final bill, so a fully prepaid stay owes $0 at pickup and a partial deposit simply reduces the balance due. Cancelling the reservation voids the invoice if nothing has been paid on it.

Legacy pre-stay invoices: Before the one-invoice-per-stay change, Bill Deposit / Pre-Pay created a separate pre-stay invoice whose payments were banked as account credit and netted against the final bill at checkout. Any of those still in flight keep working exactly that way, and remain excluded from revenue reports — revenue is recognized at checkout either way, so prepaid stays are never double-counted.

Deposits & Cancellation Policies (Coming Soon)

Automatic deposit collection and cancellation/refund policies are coming soon. You'll be able to require an upfront deposit at the moment a reservation is booked and configure refund rules for cancellations.

In the meantime, request deposits with Bill Deposit / Pre-Pay (above), and handle refunds with credits or manual line items.

Online Payments (Stripe or Square)

To accept online payments from clients through the Customer Portal:

1. Go to Payment Setup in the navigation.
2. Choose your preferred processor — Stripe or Square.
3. Click Connect and complete the onboarding flow for your chosen processor.
4. Once connected, clients can pay invoices directly in the portal using a credit or debit card.

Collecting on a Square Register

For in-person card payments on Square hardware, the invoice page has a Send to Square Register button. This creates a Square Invoice that appears natively in your Square Invoices list on the Register and in the Square Dashboard. Staff open it there and charge the customer's card in person. Until it's paid, the invoice shows an "In Square — collect under Invoices" ready state in Goodstay.

Important: Facilities that connected Square before this feature was released must disconnect and reconnect Square to grant the new permissions. Otherwise, sending to the Register will fail.

Tips / Gratuity on the Square Register

The Square Register can prompt the customer for a tip using your configured Square tip presets. You must set up tip amounts in your Square settings for the prompt to appear. Tips are collected and deposited by Square directly and are not tracked in Goodstay — they won't appear in Goodstay payment history or reports. Online Square Checkout links do not prompt for tips.

In-Person vs Online Payment Emails

Owners receive a "payment received" email only for online payments. Payments you collect in person on the Square Register do not email the owner. In payment history, in-person payments are labeled "Collected in person via Square" and online ones "Paid online via Square".

Batch Checkout & Combined Invoices

When a pet owner has multiple reservations to check out (e.g., two dogs boarding at the same time), you can process them together in a single combined invoice.

1. Open the pet owner's detail page.
2. Click the sky-blue Create Invoice button in the top-right header (shown as just Invoice on mobile). It's always available. You can also start from the owner's Invoices tab, where the same button reads New Invoice.
3. Select reservations: Choose which reservations to include. Both checked-in and already-checked-out-but-uninvoiced reservations are available.
4. Review & confirm: The confirmation page shows all selected reservations with pricing, automatic multi-pet discount (if configured), optional add-ons, account credit application, and custom manual line items.
5. Click Check Out & Generate Invoice (or Generate Invoice if all are already checked out).

Auto-redirect: When checking out a single reservation, if the owner has additional uninvoiced reservations, Goodstay automatically redirects to the batch checkout flow.

Open folios combine too: if the selected stays already have open invoices, batch checkout reuses the oldest folio as the combined invoice — its number, payments, and manual lines carry over, the sibling folios are absorbed and voided, and the invoice lands straight on Paid when mid-stay payments already cover the total. With deferred numbering on, a multi-dog family's checkout issues exactly one invoice number.

What the Customer Sees on the Invoice

The invoice email and attached PDF list every reservation billed on the invoice — each stay's pet name(s) and dates, earliest check-in first — so a combined invoice never hides a stay. Line items are grouped under service-date headers (boarding and daycare charges under each stay's dates, grooming under the appointment date), with discounts and credits undated at the bottom, so a multi-stay bill reads chronologically. Invoices created before this feature shipped may show a flat, ungrouped list.

Merging Invoices

Two invoices for the same pet owner that should really be one bill — say two dogs boarding in separate kennels, each with their own open folio — can be merged from the Invoices list:

1. Tick the checkbox on each invoice you want to combine (they must all belong to the same owner).
2. Click Merge Selected in the toolbar that appears.

The earliest invoice becomes the combined bill and keeps its invoice number, payments, and manually added line items; the others move their charges, payments, and credits onto it and are voided. You can merge draft invoices together or open folios together, but never a mix of the two — a folio is still accruing charges, while a draft is a finished bill.

A merged folio covers several stays: it keeps tracking each of them as services and dates change, and it finalizes through batch checkout when the dogs go home — so you can send one mid-stay invoice for the whole family before anyone checks out.

Selection follows you across pages: the Invoices list shows 20 invoices per page, and ticked checkboxes are remembered as you move between pages — the toolbar reads e.g. "4 invoices selected (2 on another page)" so the count always adds up.

Invoice Logo

You can upload a custom logo that appears on all your PDF invoices:

1. Go to Facility Settings.
2. Scroll to the Invoice Logo section.
3. Upload your logo image.
4. Click Save.

The logo appears in the top-left corner of every invoice PDF (max 160×60 pixels). When a logo is present, the facility name text is hidden to keep the header clean. To remove the logo, click Remove Logo.

Invoice Policies

In Settings → Policies there's an Invoice Policies card where you can enter policy text (up to 2000 characters). When set, it appears as a Policies section on invoice emails and on the invoice PDF, so your terms travel with every bill you send.