How to collect payment against your first issued invoice

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Step 1: Connecting to Stripe in Test Mode

1. Enable Test Mode:
   1. Make sure you’re in Test Mode in Orb. This is a safe environment in which you can experiment with the full payment flow without affecting live customers.
2. Connect to Stripe:
   1. Navigate to Settings > Connections in Orb.
   2. If not already connected, you should see a Connect to Stripe button.
   3. Click the button to begin the setup process. If you’re in Test Mode, Orb will automatically connect to Stripe’s Test Mode, allowing you to use test data (fake credit cards, test customers, etc.).

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Step 2: Linking a Stripe Test Customer

1. Once Stripe is connected in Test Mode, go back to your Customers page in Orb.
2. Select the customer you want to use (e.g., “Test Customer 1”).
3. Link the customer to Stripe: Either via the Orb UI or API, connect your test customer to a corresponding Stripe customer in Test Mode.

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Step 3: Issuing an Invoice

1. Navigate to the customer’s invoices page.
2. Find the invoice you want to issue (e.g., the prorated invoice for the subscription’s fixed fee).
3. Click Issue Invoice. This will move the invoice from an “Action Needed” state to an “Issued” state.

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Step 4: Testing Auto-Collection

• If auto-collection is enabled, Orb will attempt to collect payment automatically using the customer’s saved payment method.
• In this case, if the test customer doesn’t have a default payment method in Stripe, the auto-collection attempt will fail.
• To avoid this failure in the future, ensure the customer’s payment method is collected upfront during setup.

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Step 5: Manual Payment via Invoice Portal

1. If auto-collection fails, or you want the customer to pay manually, use the Invoice Portal:
   1. The Invoice Portal is an online interface that shows customers their invoice details, including usage and fees.
   2. From the portal, customers can download PDFs, share the invoice, and proceed with payment.
2. Pay the invoice:
   1. Simulate the customer’s experience by paying the invoice manually using a fake credit card provided by Stripe Test Mode.
      • Example: Enter 4242 4242 4242 4242 as the credit card number, any future expiration date, a random CVV, and a zip code (e.g., 94105 for San Francisco).
   2. Customers can also choose to Save Payment Information so that their card or bank account details are stored as the default payment method for future auto-collection.
3. Click Submit Payment. Stripe Test Mode will process the payment.

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Step 6: Confirm Payment Status

1. After submitting the payment, refresh the page to see the updated invoice status.
   1. The invoice should now display as Paid.
   2. The customer will see this status reflected in the Invoice Portal.
2. If you’re in a production environment with email notifications enabled, the customer will also receive an email confirming that their invoice has been paid.

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Step 7: Testing the Full Workflow

• Payments made in Test Mode will only reflect within the Stripe Test environment and won’t create any live resources or transactions.