Products, payment links and subscriptions

This guide is for businesses that sell the same thing again and again. You will save products, create a payment link anyone can use to pay, and set up a subscription that sends a new invoice on a schedule.

Before you begin

• Complete Invoice identity and connect a ready payment account in Payments → Settings. See Set up payment accounts.
• Payment links need a product first. Create it in Products.
• Decide whether you need a subscription or a membership. A subscription only sends invoices. A membership also tracks what the customer can use, such as classes or sessions.

Products

Products are saved items with a price. You can use them on invoice lines, payment links and membership plans.

1. Open Payments → Products and choose New product.
2. Enter Name, Description, Currency and Unit price.
3. Leave Active on so the product can be picked.
4. Choose Save.

Changing a product later never changes invoices you already created. To stop offering a product, use Archive instead of deleting it.

Payment links

A payment link is a reusable checkout page for one fixed-price product. You do not need to create an invoice for each buyer. It works well for simple offers, such as a one-hour consultation.

Create a payment link

1. Open Payments → Payment links and choose New payment link.
2. Under Link details, enter an Internal name. Only your team sees it.
3. Choose the Product. Its name and price are copied into the link when you create it.
4. Choose the Payment account.
5. Optional: turn on Let the customer choose quantity and set a Maximum quantity (1–100).
6. Optional: set an Expiration.
7. Choose Create payment link.
8. On the link page, choose Copy link and share it by email, on your site or in social posts.

What your customer sees

The customer enters Your name and Email for receipt, picks a quantity if allowed, and sees the total. They then pay on the provider's secure page. The payment appears in Transactions.

Manage payment links

The list shows each link's status (Active, Expired or Archived), price and how much it has Collected. To stop a link, open it and choose Archive. To change the price, create a new link with an updated product, then archive the old one.

Subscriptions (recurring invoices)

A subscription creates a normal invoice on a repeating schedule. Each invoice appears in Invoices and can be paid, reminded and refunded like any other.

Create a subscription

1. Open Payments → Subscriptions and choose New subscription.
2. Under Customer and schedule, enter the Subscription name, Customer name, Customer email and Currency.
3. Choose a Frequency: Weekly, Monthly, Quarterly or Yearly.
4. Check the Timezone, then set the First invoice date. Add an End date (optional) if the schedule should stop.
5. Set Payment terms (days). This is how long the customer has to pay each invoice.
6. Add an Invoice memo (optional).
7. Turn on Email each invoice automatically if Spacebrain should send each invoice for you. Turn on Use invoice reminders to follow your reminder defaults.
8. Add line items. A discount here is a fixed amount on every invoice.
9. Choose Create subscription.

What you should see

The subscription shows Active, the Frequency, the Next invoice date and the amount. After each run, the invoice history lists the new invoice and whether it was Sent, is Pending, needs Manual sending or Needs attention.

Pause, resume or cancel

• Pause stops new invoices until you choose Resume.
• Cancel subscription stops all future invoices. Existing invoices and payment history are kept. Confirm in the Cancel subscription? dialog, or choose Keep subscription to back out.

Automatic card collection

Some subscriptions, such as those started from a signed agreement that uses automatic card collection, show an Automatic collection panel.

1. Choose Create private payer setup link and share it only with the payer. Creating the link does not send a message or give consent.
2. The payer opens the link and sets up a payment method. They can also replace or revoke it later.
3. Once the payer has authorized the schedule, you can choose Review collection of this invoice, check the details in Collect this invoice?, then choose Queue collection.

Each schedule needs its own payer consent. Adding a card does not collect earlier unpaid invoices by itself.

Worked example: a monthly retainer

A marketing consultant bills a client the same amount on the first of every month.

1. Create a product called "Monthly retainer".
2. Create a subscription with Frequency set to Monthly and the First invoice date on the 1st.
3. Set Payment terms (days) to 14 and turn on Email each invoice automatically and Use invoice reminders.
4. Each month, a new invoice is issued and emailed. The consultant checks Invoices for anything Overdue.

If something goes wrong

• "No payment links yet" and I can't create one. Create a product first, then try again.
• A subscription invoice was not sent. Open the subscription's invoice history. If it shows Manual, send it from the invoice. If it shows Needs attention, open the invoice to see why.
• I need to change the price of a subscription. Cancel the old subscription and create a new one from the next billing date, so the customer is not billed twice.
• The link says it has expired. The Expiration date passed. Create a new link and share it.

FAQ

Is a subscription the same as automatic card billing?

No. A subscription creates and sends invoices on a schedule. Customers pay each invoice unless the payer has separately authorized automatic collection.

Can I use a payment link for different prices?

No. Each link sells one product at one price. Create a separate link for each price.

Next step

Check payments and issue refunds.