Important: Due to credit card processing fees charged by networks like Visa and Mastercard steadily increasing over time, 0.2% has been added to your payment processing fees [from 2.95% + $0.30 to 3.15% + $0.30] as of March 1st, 2023. 

Once you've linked your bank account information to your Online Payments account, you can begin processing client credit card payments without needing to worry about using card readers or terminals. This is a great way to help boost the financial health of your practice. Use this guide to make sure you're set up for success when processing credit cards from your SimplePractice account.

Tip: For guidance on initially setting up your Online Payments account, see: Getting started with Online Payments.

This guide covers the basics of using your Online Payments account to streamline client billing for your practice:

• Accessing your Online Payments account
• Online Payments processing fees
• Adding a card to a client's profile
• Setting a default card for a client
• Adding a nickname to a client's credit card
• Deleting a card from a client's profile
• Charging a client
• Refunding a client
• Requesting a credit card information via the Client Portal
• Keeping track of credit card payments
• How AutoPay works with your Online Payments account

Note: See Online Payments FAQs to learn more about our card processing feature. 

Accessing your Online Payments account

After your account has been set up, you can access your Online Payments account at any time by navigating to Settings > Billing and Services > Online Payments. 

Online Payments processing fees

SimplePractice is partnered with Stripe to provide a secure, integrated payment processing solution for our customers. This partnership makes online card payments easy and safe. 

The integration fee for online payments is 3.15% + $0.30 for each successful transaction, whether you're running the card at the time of service or you've stored the card to charge at your leisure. 

Some of our credit card processing competitors may offer a lower fee for card-in-hand transactions, but a much higher one for card-absent transactions. Our credit card processor gives you more power to make sure that you get paid for the services rendered and that you get paid quickly. We care about our customers' success, which is why we encourage the use of our integrated credit card processor.

Adding a card to a client's profile

Once your account has been verified or while it’s still pending, you have the ability to charge your client’s credit cards electronically.

If your client hasn’t already entered their credit card information during their intake, the first thing you'll want to do is add your client’s card number to their file. This will securely store the card and give you the ability to run transactions even when the card isn’t present.

To do this:

• Navigate to to the client’s Overview page
• Click Edit 
• Select the Billing and Insurance tab
• Scroll down to the Credit & Debit Cards section and click + Card
• Enter in your client’s credit card information

• Click Add Card

Setting a default card for a client

You also have the ability to store multiple cards for a client when you click on + Card on their Billing and Insurance tab. The first card entered will be set as the default card for the client. Once additional cards are added, you'll see the option to select the Make this the default card? toggle:

Adding a nickname to a client's credit card

To easily keep track of credit cards stored within a client's profile, you can utilize nicknames. This allows you to quickly distinguish between multiple cards without needing to reveal the full credit card details. This feature is especially helpful if:

• Your clients have multiple credit cards in their file
• A client has an FSA or an HSA card in addition to their credit card
• The members of a couple profile want to provide multiple credit cards and alternate paying for their appointments
• A minor client has multiple contacts that want to alternate paying for appointments

You’ll see the option to enter a Card Nickname when adding a credit card to a client’s file. You can also add a nickname to an existing card by editing the credit card information on the client’s Billing and Insurance tab.

Note: Clients won’t be able to add or view credit card nicknames through the Client Portal.

Deleting a card from a client's profile

You can delete a client's card from their profile at any time. To do this:

• Navigate to the client’s Overview page
• Click Edit 
• Select the Billing and Insurance tab
• Click the trash icon next to the card under Credit & Debit Cards

Note: Transactions associated with deleted cards can no longer be refunded to the client’s card, even if you re-add card to the client’s profile. These transactions will need to be refunded outside of SimplePractice. We recommend refunding any necessary transactions prior to deleting a client's card.

Charging a client

There are multiple ways to add a client payment: 

• From the appointment fly-out on the calendar
• From the client’s Overview page
• From an unpaid invoice

Adding a payment from any of these places will open the Add Payment flow. To charge a client’s credit, debit, or FSA/HSA card:

• Select the invoice

• Select Online card on file for the payment method

• If you’d like to charge a different card than the default, click Change
• If the client doesn’t have a card on file, or if you’d like to add a new card, click +New online card
• Review the Summary and click Charge

Refunding a client

If you need to refund a client for any reason, you can perform a full or partial refund. To do this:

• Navigate to Billing > Card Transactions
• Locate the transaction you’d like to refund
• Click Refund

• Under Refund amount, enter the exact amount you'd like to refund your client
• Click Refund to complete the transaction

Important: Refunds take 5-10 days to appear on a client's statement. If you issue a full refund within SimplePractice, the entire amount is refunded to your client. There’s no additional fee associated with processing refunds. However, you're responsible for the processing fee that was incurred as part of the original transaction. The processing fee is 3.15% + $0.30 for each successful transaction, and this information is included in our Terms of Service under Section 11 Stripe Payment Service. In the future, you may be able to charge your clients for credit card fees in SimplePractice, as long as this is legal in your state and permitted by card network rules. You can learn more here: Can I add a credit card processing fee to an invoice?

Refunds in SimplePractice can be made within 180 calendar days of the initial transaction, and the card that was originally charged must still be on file.

The refund can’t be made if:

• The card was deleted and later re-added
• A client paid through their Client Portal and didn’t check the box to allow the system to save their credit card information

Refunds for older transactions may fail for a variety of reasons. We recommend confirming with your client that the card is still open, as refunds to cards that have been closed will still appear as if they went through. In this case, your client will need to follow up with their bank to track the refund.

Note: If you'd like to refund a credit card payment that doesn't meet the refund requirements above, you can either enter that refund amount on a more recent Stripe Credit Card payment or handle the refund outside of SimplePractice. If you refund the client outside of SimplePractice, see Refunding a client to learn how to record this in your client's file.

Keeping track of credit card payments

The Card Transactions report details all of the credit card charges processed through your Online Payments account, making it easy to to keep track of transactions associated with your account. You can access this report by navigating to your Calendar homepage and clicking Billing > Card Transactions. This report will show you the following details relating to each charge: 

• The Date of the charge
• The Client charged
• The Type of transaction
• The Status of the charge
• The Fee associated with the transaction
• The Amount charged

Clicking Details will allow you to view the Transaction Details associated with the charge:

• The Payment ID associated with the transaction
• The Statement Descriptor 
• The Amount of the charge
• The Fee 
• The Net amount of the charge that will be paid out to you
• The Date and Time that the transaction occurred
• The Payout date
  • View payout links you to the exact payout this transaction was included in
• Additional details about the card that was charged

You can track the actual payouts delivered to your bank account by utilizing the Payouts report. You can access this report from your Analytics dashboard by navigating to your Calendar homepage and clicking Analytics > Reports > Payouts. The Payouts report outlines the details of each payout, including:

• The Date of the payout
• The Status of the payout
  • If the Status is Failed, hover over the information icon to learn more
• The Bank/Card used for the payout
• The Description of the payout
• The Est. Arrival of the payout
  • For Pending or In Transit payouts, this is the expected date your payout will arrive in your bank account
• The Amount of the charge

Clicking Transactions to the left of a payout will take you to the Card Transactions report. This report will show you a breakdown of every transaction included on each payout you receive.

Requesting credit card information via the Client Portal

You can securely request credit card information through the Client Portal by sharing the the Credit card information form. Clients can also view and pay their invoices using their credit card in the Client Portal.

Tip: For more information on setting up your Client Portal, see: Setting up the Client Portal. To learn more about helping clients make credit card payments in the Portal, see: Using the Client Portal to make credit card payments.

To request a client add their credit card information, send them the Credit card information form. To do this: 

• Navigate to the client’s Overview page
• Click Share in the upper right corner

• Select the Credit card information form
• Review your selection and the associated email, then click Share & Send Now

If the form has already been sent but has not been completed by the client, you will need to delete the first request and then resend the form. To do this:

• Navigate to client's Overview page
• Scroll down and on the right side, find the Shared With Client box

• Next to the Credit card information form, click the X
• Click Delete now in the confirmation modal that appears
• Choose Share in the upper right corner of the client Overview page
• Select the form you want to resend to the client
• Review your selection and the associated email, then click Share & Send Now

The Credit card information form is selected by default in the Share items flyout, to save you time and include it in the intake packet you send to new clients. If you don’t want to include the Credit card information form in the intake packet, you can deselect the checkbox next to it:

If you don’t want the Credit card information form to be selected by default, you can change the settings by following these steps:

• Navigate to Settings > Client Portal > Shared Documents and Files
• Scroll down to Demographic & Credit Card Forms
• Deselect the Include checkbox next to Credit card information so the form isn’t sent by default

Note: The most recently added credit card via the Credit Card Information form won’t automatically be set as the Default credit card in the client's file. To learn how to set a default credit card for a client, see: Setting a default card for a client.

How AutoPay works with your Online Payments account

Enrolling your clients in AutoPay can significantly streamline your billing workflow. Clients who opt for this option will automatically be charged their full invoiced balance overnight between 12-2am.

To enable this feature:

• Navigate to Settings > Billing and Services
• Scroll down to the AutoPay section and toggle AutoPay button On

• Click Save

Once you’ve enabled AutoPay, your clients with credit cards on file will be automatically enrolled in AutoPay. You'll want to make sure to deselect any clients that you don’t want to be enrolled before you click Save (e.g., clients with high balances or special billing needs).

On this page, you’ll also be shown a list of clients who don’t yet have card information stored. If you click their name, you'll be taken directly to their Billing and Insurance tab, where you can easily add a card.

You can also enable or disable AutoPay for individual clients from their Billing and Insurance tab at any time. To do this: 

• Navigate to the client's Overview page
• Click Edit
• Select the Billing and Insurance tab
• Scroll down to the Credit & Debit Cards section
• Uncheck the box next to AutoPay Enrolled

• Click Save Client

Related Guides:

• Getting started with Online Payments
• Online Payments FAQs
• Getting started with AutoPay
• Credit card processing: Steps to take when a client disputes a charge