How to Send a Client a Payment Link for a Service

Clients ask how much they owe and staff send the whole ledger

When a client asks what to pay, someone sends a screenshot of a spreadsheet, a PDF of every invoice, or a bank account number with no amount. Each of those either shares too much or asks the client to work it out.

Sending a link that opens a full account page risks showing another client’s data or internal notes. A services firm needs a page that shows one client one thing.

Old links that never expire keep working long after the amount has changed.

Why this happens

• There is no single place that holds the amount the client is being asked to pay.
• The page sent to the client is an internal screen.
• Links are created by hand and never expire.
• The client has no way to see their own jobs and payments without calling.

Biznsbook addresses this through Payment request links, client portal links, links that expire after 30 days when Service Billing & Collections is licensed. Clients are the parties you already keep, and collectors record what they received without seeing the fee or the outstanding.

Services firms lose money in the gap between the work done and the payment recorded. Keeping the fee on the job, the payment against the job, and the collector away from the numbers closes that gap without turning the firm into an accounting office.

Step-by-step: Send a Client a Payment Link for a Service

Built for owners of services firms and the staff who collect client payments in Biznsbook Collections.

1. Decide which link the client needs. A payment request asks the client to confirm one amount, usually the next installment or the balance of one job. A client portal shows that client’s own jobs and payments and can be used again.
2. Create a request link from the job. Open the saved job, then create a payment link for the amount you want to collect. The page shows the job label and that amount only.
3. Create a portal link from the client statement. Open the client statement from a job or the dashboard client list and choose Create a client portal link. Then use Copy link; a toast confirms the copy.
4. Copy the full URL. Payment links lists every link you created. Use Copy for the full URL and send it by the channel the client already uses.
5. Let the client pay and confirm. On a request link, the client confirms that amount. After they submit, the page shows only that payment.
6. Watch the expiry. Both payment links and portal links expire after 30 days. Create a fresh link when the amount or the month changes.
7. Check the payment in Collections. The payment appears in the owner payment list with the client and the reference, and outstanding on the job follows it.

Review results after the first full weekly cycle. Adjust roles, mappings, or approvals where the same exception repeats.

Screen names in this guide match Collections in the product: Record a payment, My entries, Dashboard, Jobs, Payments, Payment links, Corrections, Service types, Settings, and Guide. Every screen has a ? help button.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Mistake 1: There is no single place that holds the amount the client is being asked to pay. Repeating this each month usually shows up first in billed, collected, or outstanding for the period.
• Mistake 2: The page sent to the client is an internal screen. Repeating this each month usually shows up first in billed, collected, or outstanding for the period.
• Mistake 3: Links are created by hand and never expire. Repeating this each month usually shows up first in billed, collected, or outstanding for the period.
• Mistake 4: The client has no way to see their own jobs and payments without calling. Repeating this each month usually shows up first in billed, collected, or outstanding for the period.

Note each recurring gap in the weekly review; each should map to a step in this guide.

Best practices that hold up as you scale

• Decide which link the client needs — A payment request asks the client to confirm one amount, usually the next installment or the balance of one job.
• Create a request link from the job — Open the saved job, then create a payment link for the amount you want to collect.
• Create a portal link from the client statement — Open the client statement from a job or the dashboard client list and choose Create a client portal link.
• Copy the full URL — Payment links lists every link you created.
• Let the client pay and confirm — On a request link, the client confirms that amount.

Firms that keep the fee on the job, let Collections compute outstanding, and correct by reversal instead of editing a row keep their period totals and their trail intact.

How Biznsbook supports this workflow

Payment request links is part of Biznsbook Service Billing & Collections. Each client is a party you already keep, each job holds its fee, and each payment keeps who entered it, when, and how the client paid.

client portal links is part of Biznsbook Service Billing & Collections. Each client is a party you already keep, each job holds its fee, and each payment keeps who entered it, when, and how the client paid.

links that expire after 30 days is part of Biznsbook Service Billing & Collections. Each client is a party you already keep, each job holds its fee, and each payment keeps who entered it, when, and how the client paid.

Ledger posting is off until Collections settings turn it on, and only when Accounting or Finance is licensed. Outstanding is the fee plus any tax, minus the payments on the job. Collectors do not see fees, outstanding, other people’s entries, the dashboard, statements, the correction queue, or a journal.

Suggested implementation timeline

1. Week 1: Add your service types, check that clients exist as parties, and open jobs with fees.
2. Week 2: Start Payment request links with one collector and a handful of clients.
3. Week 3: Add the rest of the collectors and clear the dashboard attention items daily.
4. Week 4: Review billed, collected, and outstanding by age with the client statements.
5. Ongoing: Weekly review using what the public page never shows and the dashboard.

Related guides

Start with track a service job and fee and record a client payment without showing the fee. Then bill a monthly retainer, split a fee into installments, and read billed, collected, and outstanding.

All guides: service billing & collections. Decision page: service billing software vs spreadsheets. Product page: Service Billing & Collections.

Choosing between a request and a portal

Use a request link when you want one specific amount: the next installment, a deposit, or the balance of one job. It keeps the client focused on one number and records the payment against that job.

Use a portal link when the client wants to see where things stand. It lists their own jobs and payments, so it answers the how much do I owe question without a call, and it can be opened more than once until it expires.

Links, installments, and retainers together

A job split into installments shows each part with what is left. Create a request link for the next part when it falls due.

A monthly retainer adds a billed job each month. A request link for that month’s job keeps the payment on the right month.

Ledger posting is optional and off until Collections settings turn it on. Collectors never see the journal.

Keeping links tidy

Payment links lists every link with the client, the job, the amount for a request, when it expires, and whether it has been used. Use it as the one place to answer did I already send this client a link.

Because links expire after 30 days, an old amount cannot be paid by mistake months later. When a client loses a link, copy it again from Payment links rather than creating a second request for the same amount.

Metrics to track monthly

• Billed for the date range
• Collected for the date range
• Outstanding, and outstanding older than 90 days
• Collections by payment mode
• Payments not yet reconciled

Start with three metrics; trend direction matters more than a single point-in-time snapshot.

Spreadsheets and notebooks vs Biznsbook Collections

Compare running this on spreadsheets with Biznsbook Payment request links and related capabilities.

What the public page never shows

The public pay page has no Collections menu and no staff help panel. It never shows another client, internal notes, or anything the owner did not put on the link. Money on the page uses the company currency.

Write this into your weekly owner routine and revisit it when you add collectors or new services.

Frequently asked questions

How this differs by industry