What are Checkout Links?

Checkout Links allow you to create unique reusable links to get paid upfront for an item or service for multiple clients. Share Checkout Links on your website, social media, or anywhere online to let your clients select and pay at fixed prices from the same Checkout Link.

 

Checkout Links can only be used with FreshBooks Payments, PayPal, and Stripe Standard.

 

• Set Up Checkout Links
• Manage Checkout Links
• View Checkout Link Payments
• Client View of Paying a Checkout Link
• FAQs

 

Set Up Checkout Links

Create a Checkout Link for your clients to pay online by using the steps below: 

New Checkout Link

1. Select the Payments section
2. Then select the Checkout Links sub-section
   
3. Select the New Checkout Link button or the + button next to All Checkout Links
4. Under Item/Service, add an existing item or service or enter a new one
   
5. If needed, under Description, add a short description about your Checkout Link (256 characters maximum)
6. Next, if needed, under Terms and Conditions, add any details that your clients should know when purchasing
7. Then under Price, add your subtotal
8. If needed, select Add Tax, then select up to two taxes and select Apply Taxes. Next, review your settings for this Checkout Link with the additional steps below.

 

Settings for This Checkout Link

1. While creating your Checkout Link, under Settings on the right, select Online Payments and choose the Payment Method
   1. If needed, check off the box(es) under Payment Method to accept specific types like credit card, bank transfers (ACH) and/or debit cards
   2. Select Done to apply the payment settings
2. Then if needed, select Collect Shipping Address
   1. Next, check off the box next to Collect clients’ shipping address
   2. Select Done to apply the changes
3. Next, if needed, select Currency
   1. Then select a different currency
   2. Select Done to save
4. Then if needed, select Notifications
   1. Choose between Send me a notification email after each new payment or Do not send notification emails – clients will still receive receipt emails automatically
   2. Select Done to apply the notification settings
5. Then when you’re finished, select the Create button at the top right to make your new Checkout Link
6. A pop-up will appear with the link - select the Copy to Clipboard link and then select Done to dismiss the pop-up. The link can now be shared anywhere on your website, social media and more to start receiving payments.
   

 

Notes:

• If you'd like to share a QR Code instead, use the Android app or iOS app to generate the QR Code
• The logo on your Checkout Links are based off the logo uploaded for your simple template
• If Track Inventory is activated for an item that’s on a Checkout Link, this will decrease the inventory

 

Manage Checkout Links

You can quickly edit, share the link, pause or delete a Checkout Link that you’ve created. Go to the list of Checkout Links and hover over a row to access any of these options:

• Edit - Select the pencil icon and you’ll be taken to the edit screen of your Checkout Link where you can adjust and save afterwards
• Share - Select the link icon and the pop-up will appear with the full link for you to copy
• Deactivate / Activate - Select the pause icon to temporarily stop receiving payments for that link, and your clients will view an unavailable page instead, or select the play button to resume accepting payments
• Delete - Select the trash can icon to delete the Checkout Link. You can view all deleted Checkout Links by selecting the deleted link at the bottom of the list

 

View Checkout Link Payments

To review all payments and shipping addresses made from a Checkout Link, use these steps depending on whether you want to review all Checkout Link payments or payments from a specific Checkout Link:

1. Select the Payments section
   1. Then select Checkout Links underneath to view payments from a specific Checkout Link
      1. Under the Activity column in the list of All Checkout Links, select x payments
         
      2. A filtered list of payments from that Checkout Link will be displayed
   2. Or, select the Checkout Link Payments tab to view all payments from all Checkout Links
      
2. From here, select the unique Receipt Number under any client's name to view the details of the payment and their shipping address (if activated on Checkout Link).
   

 

Client View of Paying a Checkout Link

Once a Checkout Link is generated and shared, clients can pay using the below steps:

1. Select the Checkout Link
2. If multiple tabs are displayed, choose between the Credit Card tab or the Bank Transfer tab depending on how you’d like to pay
3. Enter your payment details
4. Then select the Pay $xx.xx button
5. Your payment will begin processing and a thank you message will appear. A receipt will be emailed to you afterwards.

 

FAQs

How do I add a Checkout Link to my website?

Most website builder sites will include buttons that you can incorporate into your website. Select any of the links listed to find steps on how to add a button, then use the Checkout Link you've created to paste the link in the button's clickthrough URL:

• Squarespace
• Wix

 

How do Checkout Link Payments affect my client limit?

All Checkout Link Payments will be linked to an existing client or secondary contact based off the email address used for the payment. If the email doesn't match an existing client, a new client is created instead so current and future payments can be associated with this client. Any clients created over your plan's limit will be visible in your list of clients and locked until you can upgrade your FreshBooks subscription to continue working with these newly added clients.