Sending invoices without Stripe

You don't need a payment processor to use the invoice side of BidCraft. When you have no processor connected — or you just haven't gotten around to setting up Stripe yet — invoices still get created, still get emailed, and still show up in your Payments section. The only difference is the homeowner gets a plain invoice document instead of a Pay button, and you log payments by hand as checks/cash/Zelle come in.

This means you can ship and bill jobs right away, and add Stripe later when you're ready.

What changes when no processor is connected

The whole proposal-to-payment flow works the same with one switch:

You're getting the same proposal-as-contract, the same milestone schedule, the same audit trail — just routed through whatever payment channel you already use.

Set up your payment instructions first

Before you send your first plain-mode invoice, tell the homeowner how to pay you.

[!steps]

1. Go to Settings → Proposal Settings.
2. Tap the Invoices & receipts card and find Payment instructions.
3. Type how you want to be paid — check address, Zelle handle, Venmo username, wire routing details, anything that gets you paid.
4. Hit Save at the bottom of the card.

Example:

Make checks payable to Acme Tile.
Mail to 123 Main St, Anytown TX 75001.

Or Zelle to billing@acmetile.com.
Or Venmo: @acme-tile

Plain text. Line breaks preserved. Goes on every plain-mode invoice you send from now on — both the email body and the public invoice page.

If you leave it blank, the homeowner sees "Please contact {your business} to arrange payment" instead. That works, but it's an extra step for them. Filling it in usually leads to faster payments.

What the homeowner sees

When they click the link in their email, they land on a page with:

• Your business name and logo at the top
• The milestone label and total amount due
• When it's due, or when it was due if it's late (it can still be paid)
• A How to pay block with whatever instructions you saved
• A back-link to the proposal

No payment form, no surprise fields, no Stripe branding. It reads like an emailed invoice that opens in a browser.

The page is still tracked — when they open it, the invoice updates to Viewed in your Payments section so you know they saw it.

Logging the payment when it arrives

When the check shows up (or the Zelle hits, or the cash gets handed over), open the project's Payments chip and hit Record payment on the right invoice. See Recording manual payments for the full walkthrough.

The invoice flips to Paid the moment your recorded payment covers the amount. If it's the deposit on a fresh project, the whole project advances to Paid automatically.

Billing something that isn't on the schedule

Plain mode doesn't limit you to the milestones the proposal laid out. + Add invoice at the top of the Payments section creates a progress draw for any amount you name — it goes out as the same plain invoice document with your payment instructions, and you record the payment by hand when it lands. See Deposits and milestone invoices for the walkthrough.

Switching to Stripe later

You're not locked into plain mode. Set up Stripe whenever you're ready and any NEW invoices you send will route through Stripe — same project, same flow, no migration needed. Invoices you already sent stay where they are (don't get retroactively re-routed) but new milestone sends pick up the new processor.

[!steps]

1. Go to Connected Apps.
2. Open the Stripe tile.
3. Walk through the onboarding (typically 5-10 minutes).
4. Your next Send Invoice click on any project now goes out with a Pay button.

See Setting up Stripe payments for the full onboarding flow.

What about HighLevel?

If you route invoicing through HighLevel, the homeowner pays through HighLevel — not through BidCraft's pay page. But the BidCraft Payments section still shows up so you can manually record what the homeowner paid through HighLevel, keeping your BidCraft project totals in sync with reality. Recording manual payments works the same way.

When this is the right approach

• Brand-new contractor account — you want to start sending proposals and billing before sorting out Stripe
• You only take checks/cash — you've never wanted to take cards and don't want to start
• You have an existing arrangement with a homeowner (wire, ACH-by-hand, owner-financed work) and don't want a Pay button on that specific invoice
• Stripe's not available in your country yet — BidCraft still works, just record payments by hand

When Stripe is worth setting up

• Most of your homeowners want to pay by card — Stripe pays out 2 business days after the charge, no waiting on the mail
• You want the deposit to fire the moment they sign — Stripe's automatic, plain mode waits for you to log the check
• You want the audit trail — Stripe's payment record + BidCraft's signature audit trail together are airtight if a dispute comes up

It's a one-time setup, takes 5-10 minutes, and there's no penalty if you want to go back to logging payments by hand for specific jobs later.

Next steps

• Recording manual payments — how to log each payment as it arrives
• Setting up Stripe payments — flip to processor-collected payments when you're ready
• Deposits and milestone invoices — the full milestone-by-milestone flow once Stripe is connected