Invoicing clients and getting paid

Premium and Business providers in the United States can invoice their clients through Bornbir. The family pays by card on Stripe's secure checkout, and Stripe sends the money to your bank account. You can invoice any family on your Clients page: families you've added from a conversation, and clients you've added by hand who aren't on Bornbir (see "Managing your clients"). Setting up payouts takes about five minutes.

Setting up payouts

Click Get paid in your portal sidebar (or open Account settings → Payouts → Get paid).
Click Set up payouts, then Set up payouts on Stripe. You're taken to Stripe's secure site to confirm your identity and add the bank account your payouts go to. In the Bornbir app, this page opens in Safari. Finish there and come back.
When Stripe finishes checking your details (usually a few minutes, occasionally a day or two), the Get paid page says "You're set up to get paid through Bornbir." If Stripe still needs something, the page lists it with a Continue setup on Stripe button. Setup links work once; if one has expired, click the button again.

Payouts are available to US providers for now. If your profile's country is elsewhere, the Get paid page tells you we're working on other countries, and the Invoices and Payments tabs on your clients' profiles show as coming soon. Keep arranging payment with families directly in the meantime.

Once payouts are set up, ticket sales for your paid classes and events priced in US dollars also go straight to this bank account (see "Hosting classes and events").

Sending an invoice

Open Clients, choose the client, open the Invoices tab, and click New invoice.
Optionally fill in What it's for (for example "Postpartum package — balance"). If you leave it blank, the invoice is named after its first line, or after the days it covers if it's all shifts ("Shifts · Sep 12–17").
Add what you're charging for. Click one of your packages under Add from your packages, tick completed visits under Add [name]'s shifts, or click Add a line and enter a description, quantity, and rate. You can also click Add a discount (in dollars) or Add tax (a percentage, up to 30%).
Choose when it's Due: On receipt, or in 7, 14, or 30 days. Add an optional note.
Check the summary, which shows what the family pays, the Bornbir fee, and You receive. Then click Send invoice.

Each invoice gets its own number, such as INV-0001. The total has to be between $1 and $5,000. A client can have several open invoices at once.

How the invoice reaches the family

A family you met on Bornbir gets the invoice as a card in your conversation ("You sent an invoice for $500" on your side) and by email. If they've verified their phone number but not their email, we text them the link instead.
A client you added by hand gets the invoice by email at the address on their profile, with a link to pay. They don't need a Bornbir account.
A client with no email on their profile gets nothing from us. The invoice page shows their link with a Copy link button, so you can text or email it yourself. Anyone with the link can see and pay that invoice.

Invoicing shifts you've worked

If you bill by the hour, enter Hours when you add a visit under Upcoming on the client's Overview tab, then mark the visit done once it's over. Completed visits you haven't invoiced yet appear under Add [name]'s shifts in the invoice form. Ticking one adds a line with its hours, and fills in the rate if you have exactly one hourly package. A shift can only be on one invoice at a time; if that invoice is withdrawn, expires, or is refunded, you can invoice the shift again.

Requesting a payment from the conversation

You can also ask for a quick deposit without building an invoice. In a client's conversation, click Request payment above the message box, enter the Amount (USD), What it's for, and an optional note, then click Send request. (If you haven't set up payouts yet, the chip reads Set up payouts to request payment.)

Payment requests are for clients only. If the family isn't a client yet, choose Hired me from the status menu at the top of the conversation to add them (see "Managing your clients"). Requests you send from the conversation also show on that client's Invoices tab.

Tracking what you're owed

The client's Invoices tab lists every invoice with its status: Awaiting payment, Overdue, Paid, Refunded, Under review, Withdrawn, or Expired. When something is unpaid, a note at the top says how much the client still owes. Click an invoice to open its page. The Status card shows when you sent it, when the family first opened it ("Viewed by [name]"), every reminder, and when they paid.

The Payments tab adds it up for that client: what you've invoiced, what they've paid (and what you received after fees), and what they still owe, plus a Payments received list. Payments made outside Bornbir aren't recorded there.

Sending a reminder

Click Send a reminder on an unpaid invoice's page (or on the Invoices tab when only one invoice is open). We email the family "A reminder from [your name]", or text them if their email is unproven. Reminders are never sent automatically, and you can send another one 3 days after the last. A client you added by hand needs an email on their profile to get reminders.

Withdrawing an invoice

Open the invoice, click the ⋮ menu, and choose Withdraw invoice (or click Withdraw on the card in your conversation). The family can no longer pay it, and you can send a new one anytime. Unpaid invoices and payment requests expire 30 days after you send them.

Fees and payouts

Bornbir keeps 5% + $0.30 of each payment. The card processing cost is covered out of that, so the You receive amount is what lands in your Stripe balance. Stripe pays each payment out to your bank on your payout schedule, starting 7 days after the payment. Click Open Stripe dashboard on the Get paid page or a client's Payments tab to see your balance, payout schedule, and bank details, or to change your bank account. On the web, the dashboard opens in a new tab.

When a family pays

We email you "[Name] paid you $500", and the Bornbir app sends a Payment received push notification. The card in the conversation changes to "[Name] paid $500", and the invoice shows as Paid. Every payment is also listed under Payments received on the Get paid page, with the amount, fee, and what you receive. If you're a doula, lactation consultant, or midwife, you can now make the family a superbill; see "Creating superbills for insurance reimbursement".

Refunds and disputes

Refunds aren't self-service. Choose Request a refund from a paid invoice's ⋮ menu, or email support@bornbir.com with the family's name and the amount, and we'll issue it through Stripe. Refunded payments show as refunded in your payment lists. If a family's card issuer opens a dispute, the payment shows as Under review while Stripe handles it. We'll be in touch if we need anything from you.

Who can use it

Invoices and payment requests come with Premium and Business; on a free account the Get paid page shows "Requesting payments is part of Premium." See "Bornbir Premium and Business plans and pricing". On a Business account, only the account owner can set up payouts, send invoices, or see what clients have paid. Team logins see "Invoices are for the account owner" instead.

Keeping it safe

Only invoice for something you've agreed on with the family. Bornbir never asks families to pay outside the conversation, and their email says so. Invoices that don't match what you discussed are the fastest way to lose a client's trust.