You manage a private-pay client's payment settings on the profile of the person paying:
If a family member or another contact pays: open that contact's profile and find Private Payer Information.
If the client pays for themselves: open the client's profile and find Self Pay Information.
Click Edit to update the settings. If the person isn't a payer yet, click Make Payer.
Charge a credit card or bank account
To process a card or bank payment through Careswitch, use Embedded Billing. This is the only invoicing method that lets Careswitch charge a payment method directly.
In the payer edit form, set Invoicing Method to Embedded Billing.
Confirm the payer's Email is filled in. Stripe sends the payment-ready invoice to this address.
Set Payment Method to Credit Card or ACH, then click Save.
Return to the payer's profile to add and verify the card or bank account. The Payment row must show Verified. See “Add a card or bank account” below.
Open the client's invoice and choose:
Send Invoice to email the payer a secure link so they can pay online.
Charge Now to charge the saved card or bank account immediately. This option works only after the payment method is Verified.
Both actions finalize the invoice, making it read-only and locking its line items.
Selecting Credit Card alone doesn't save a card on file. Until the payment method shows Verified, there is no stored card ready to charge. Charge Now remains disabled with the message “To charge for this invoice, the payer must have a verified payment method on file.”
Finish verification first, or select Send Invoice so the payer can enter their own card or bank details when paying.
Charge a card on an invoice you've already created
The next step depends on the invoice's status:
Open or Reviewed, but not sent: switch the payer to Embedded Billing and verify the card, then open the invoice and click Charge Now. Open invoices receive the updated payment details automatically. Reviewed invoices keep the details saved when they were marked Reviewed. If you updated the payer afterward, select Mark Open on the invoice, then open the payer's Edit form and click Save again to apply the change to the invoice.
Paused: select Mark Open to take it off hold first. Paused invoices can't be sent or charged.
Already sent: open the invoice and select Actions → Mark Void and Reopen, then click Charge Now or Send Invoice. A disabled Charge Now button may show “Invoice was sent for payment. Use Actions → Void and Reopen to charge directly.” The reopened invoice may receive a new invoice number when sent again.
Failed: update the payment method if needed, then click Charge Now again to retry.
Paid another way, such as cash or check: select Actions → Mark Paid out of Band.
Already paid: leave the invoice as it is. There is no remaining payment to collect.
Invoices with a $0 balance can't be charged or sent.
Choose an invoicing method and payment method
The Payment Method options depend on the Invoicing Method selected above them:
Invoicing Method | How it works | Available Payment Methods |
Embedded Billing | Emails a payment-ready invoice through Stripe and lets you charge a saved card or bank account directly. This is the only method that processes payments through Careswitch. | Credit Card or ACH |
Email Invoice | Emails the invoice PDF to the payer. You record payments yourself. | Credit Card, ACH, Paper Check, or Wire Transfer |
Fax Invoice | You fax the invoice and record payments yourself. The form asks for a fax number. | Credit Card, ACH, Paper Check, or Wire Transfer |
Payer Portal | You submit the invoice through the payer's portal and record payments yourself. The form asks for the portal URL. | Credit Card, ACH, Paper Check, or Wire Transfer |
Print Mail Invoice | You download, print, and mail the invoice, then record payments yourself. | Credit Card, ACH, Paper Check, or Wire Transfer |
For every method except Embedded Billing, Payment Method is a record of how the payer pays. Careswitch won't charge that payment method. To choose Paper Check or Wire Transfer, select a non-embedded invoicing method first.
Check Payment Method before saving. Changing Invoicing Method resets Payment Method to the first available option, usually Credit Card.
Non-embedded methods also offer Attach care notes? to include care notes with the invoice. Embedded Billing doesn't support attachments, so this option is hidden.
Add a card or bank account
With Embedded Billing, the payer's Payment row shows a Verified or Unverified badge. After verification, it also shows the card brand or bank and the last four digits.
On the payer's profile, click Start Verification in the Payment row. A secure Stripe page opens.
Enter the payment details:
Credit card: enter the card information. If the card's bank requires an additional check and you leave before completing it, return and click Continue Verification.
ACH (bank): in most cases, signing in to the bank verifies the account immediately. If instant verification isn't available, Stripe sends two small microdeposits. The profile shows when to expect them, usually within a couple of business days. Once they arrive, click Verify Microdeposits to finish.
When the badge shows Verified, the payment method is ready to charge.
You may also see:
Change — replace a verified card or bank account.
Cancel & Start Over — discard an unfinished setup and begin again.
“The verification request is currently being processed” — wait a moment, then refresh.
“Please contact Careswitch support to finish verification” — contact support for help completing setup.
If Start Verification isn't available and the profile says “Complete billing setup in workspace settings to enable payment verification,” your workspace's online payments haven't been set up yet.
If an error says card or bank payments “aren't enabled on this workspace's Stripe account,” enable that payment type in your Stripe account or switch the payer to the other payment method.
Online card and ACH payments have a processing fee. You can pass this along as a convenience fee. See “Collecting private-pay payments and convenience fees.”
Set the billing week, frequency, and start date
These fields in the payer edit form determine how the client's shifts are grouped into invoices and when payment is due:
Invoice Frequency: choose Daily, Weekly, Biweekly, Semi-Monthly, or Monthly.
Billing Week: for weekly and biweekly billing, choose the day the billing week starts. All clients using this payer share the same billing week.
Billing start date: an optional setting for weekly and biweekly billing. Use it to align invoice cycles to a specific date rather than each client's service start date. The date must fall on the billing week's start day.
Days Until Due: set how long the payer has to pay after the invoice is sent.
Why are Invoice Frequency and Billing Week disabled?
These fields are locked while the payer has any Open or Paused invoices. The form explains: “Frequency and billing week are locked while this payer has open or paused invoices. Send, void, or delete them to make changes.”
This prevents overlapping billing periods. Otherwise, existing invoices would stay on the old schedule while new shifts created invoices on the new one. Reviewed, Sent, Paid, and Void invoices don't prevent a schedule change.
To update frequency or billing week:
Send, void, or delete the payer's Open and Paused invoices.
Edit the payer and update the fields.
New invoices use the new schedule. Completed shifts that haven't been billed yet also use the new schedule.
The lock doesn't prevent you from changing the invoicing or payment method, sending invoices, or charging a card.
Billing start date is never locked. You can use it to realign the cycle for a payer with ongoing services.
How changes affect existing invoices
Open and Paused invoices: changes to the payment method, invoicing method, and other payer details apply automatically.
Reviewed invoices: payer details remain as they were when the invoice was marked Reviewed. To update them, select Mark Open on the invoice, then save the payer's edit form again. Reopening the invoice alone doesn't apply the change. Mark it Reviewed again when you're finished.
Sent and Paid invoices: payer details remain as they were when the invoice was sent. To bill a sent invoice using a different method, such as charging a card, select Actions → Mark Void and Reopen, then send it again or click Charge Now. See “Charge a card on an invoice you've already created” above.
FAQ
I added a card. How do I charge it?
First, confirm that Invoicing Method is Embedded Billing and that the card or bank account shows Verified, rather than Unverified. Other invoicing methods don't process payments through Careswitch.
Then open the invoice and click Charge Now, or select Send Invoice so the payer can pay online. If the invoice was already sent, use Mark Void and Reopen first.
Why is Charge Now disabled?
Hover over the button to see the reason:
“The payer must have a verified payment method on file” — finish verification on the payer's profile using Start Verification, Continue Verification, or Verify Microdeposits.
“Invoice was sent for payment…” — select Actions → Mark Void and Reopen, then Charge Now.
“Cannot charge an invoice with a $0 balance” — there is no balance to collect.
If Charge Now isn't visible, check that the payer uses Embedded Billing and the invoice isn't Paused.
Can I send an invoice before the card is verified?
Yes. With Embedded Billing, Send Invoice emails a secure payment link. The payer can enter their own card or bank details when paying.
How do I choose Paper Check or Wire Transfer?
Change Invoicing Method from Embedded Billing to Email Invoice, Fax Invoice, Payer Portal, or Print Mail Invoice. All four payment methods will then be available. With these methods, you deliver the invoice and record payment yourself.
Why can't I change the billing week or frequency?
The payer has Open or Paused invoices. Send, void, or delete them first, then update the schedule. You can still change the payment method. If you only need to align when cycles start, use Billing start date, which isn't locked.
Why did changing the billing week affect other clients?
Billing Week is a payer setting. Every client billed to that payer shares it.
Why does the new card or bank account still show Unverified?
Verification hasn't finished. In the payer's Payment row, select Continue Verification for a card or Verify Microdeposits for a bank account. You can also use Cancel & Start Over to try again.
Bank microdeposits may take a couple of business days to arrive. The profile shows when to expect them.
Why does my Reviewed invoice still show the old payment method?
Reviewed invoices are locked against changes, including payer details. Select Mark Open on the invoice first. Then open the payer's Edit form and click Save again. Saving the payer copies the new details to the invoice, so follow these steps in that order.