FAQ & GETTING STARTED
Start clearly. Know what happens next.
A practical guide to setting up ProofPay, sending your first approval, collecting payment, and managing the customer handoff.
YOUR FIRST ORDER
Five steps from setup to completion
You can use ProofPay for custom work without publishing services or a booking page. Those tools are optional.
- 1
Set up your business
Save your business name, contact details, cancellation policy, and branding in Settings.
- 2
Connect Stripe
Complete Stripe’s hosted onboarding so customer card payments go directly to your connected account.
- 3
Create an order
Add the customer, scope, visual proof, price, payment timing, due date, and terms.
- 4
Send the approval link
Email it, text it to an opted-in customer, copy it, or share it through your usual messaging app.
- 5
Finish the workflow
Track approval and payment, send progress updates, mark the order ready, and offer a scheduled handoff when needed.
COMMON QUESTIONS
Straight answers about the workflow
Approvals and orders
Does the customer need a ProofPay account?
No. Customers use the secure link you send them to review the order, approve the current proof and terms, pay, view updates, and schedule an available handoff.
Can I request approval without charging a deposit?
Yes. Choose pay when ready for established customers, or use a zero-dollar approval when you only need the customer’s decision recorded.
Can I charge the full amount after approval?
Yes. An order can require a deposit, require full payment after approval, or defer payment until the work is ready.
What happens if the order changes after approval?
Use a change order. ProofPay preserves the earlier approval record and asks the customer to approve the new revision before its changed terms take effect.
Does an approval guarantee that my terms are legally enforceable?
No. ProofPay records the proof, terms, typed name, revision, and timestamp to document the workflow, but it does not provide legal advice or guarantee enforceability in every jurisdiction.
Payments and taxes
Does ProofPay hold customer money or provide escrow?
No. Direct Stripe Connect charges are processed on the merchant’s connected Stripe account. ProofPay does not hold customer funds or provide escrow.
What fees does ProofPay charge on a payment?
ProofPay charges the selected monthly subscription and does not add a platform transaction fee. Stripe’s standard processing fees still apply to Stripe payments.
Can customers use Apple Pay or Google Pay?
Stripe Checkout can display eligible wallets and payment methods based on the customer’s device, browser, location, and the merchant’s Stripe settings. They will not appear for every customer or device.
How do Venmo, Cash App, PayPal, cash, and check work?
After approval, ProofPay can reveal the merchant’s configured external-payment instructions. A customer can report that payment was sent, but the merchant must verify receipt before ProofPay records it as paid.
Does Stripe Tax file or remit sales tax for me?
The current integration can calculate and collect tax on eligible Stripe payments after the merchant configures an active Stripe Tax registration and tax category. Filing and remittance remain the merchant’s responsibility unless they separately enroll in a filing service.
Who handles cancellations, refunds, and payment disputes?
The merchant provides the underlying goods or services and controls their cancellation and refund policies. Stripe and the merchant handle payment processing and applicable disputes.
Booking, pickups, and messaging
Can ProofPay provide a business booking page?
Yes. Merchants can publish a hosted business profile with services, hours, availability, gallery images, booking, and QR links without building a full website.
Can a customer schedule a pickup or another next step?
Yes. After an order is ready, the merchant can offer configurable handoff methods such as shop pickup, porch pickup, delivery, walkthrough, drop-off, or a service visit. Customers can reserve or reschedule an available time from their secure order link.
Are ready notifications sent automatically?
No. Marking an order ready unlocks the next step, but the merchant chooses when to send the customer an email or text. Copy and share options remain available when email or SMS is not appropriate.
When can ProofPay text a customer?
Transactional texts require the customer’s affirmative consent and an eligible merchant plan. Customers can reply STOP to opt out or HELP for assistance.
Can I embed booking on an existing website?
Yes. The booking widget can be embedded on an existing site, while the hosted ProofPay business page and QR link provide alternatives for merchants without a website.
Accounts, security, and plans
Does ProofPay store card numbers?
No. Card and wallet credentials are collected and processed by Stripe. ProofPay stores payment status, amounts, and provider references needed for the order record.
Which proof files can I attach?
Each order can include up to five PNG, JPG, WebP, PDF, or DOCX files, with a 10 MB limit per file. Images and PDFs can be reviewed on the secure customer page; DOCX files are provided as protected downloads.
How are proofs and documents protected?
Proof files are stored in a private bucket and displayed or downloaded through short-lived signed links. Merchant access is restricted to the appropriate workspace, and the approval record fingerprints the reviewed file set.
How is a merchant account protected?
ProofPay uses verified authentication, server-validated sessions, tenant-isolated database policies, bot protection on account entry points, and server-only payment and integration credentials. Merchants should also use a unique password and protect access to their email account.
What is included in Starter and Pro?
Starter covers the core order, approval, Stripe payment, booking-profile, and QR workflow. Pro adds transactional SMS notifications and automated appointment and pickup reminders.
Can I subscribe to Team?
Team is coming soon for new subscriptions. Existing authorized Team workspaces remain active while expanded team operations, custom-domain support, and branding controls are completed.
Can another business system connect to ProofPay?
Yes. Merchant-scoped integration keys currently support the Unified Shop order workflow without exposing Stripe or Supabase credentials. More event and webhook capabilities are planned.
Still have a question?
Email support@vouchpayment.com. Payment, cancellation, or fulfillment questions about a specific order should first go to the merchant shown on that order.