How do clients pay me online through MONA, and when does the money land?

Quick answer: Connect Stripe once in Settings, then Integrations, on the MONA Payments card. After that, every invoice you email carries a Pay invoice button, and you can make a payment link for any amount from Finance, then Overview. Clients pay by card or bank transfer (ACH). The Get paid card in Finance shows your Stripe balance and your next payout, and every paid invoice or link has a line saying when the money reaches your bank.

MONA never holds your money. Payments go into your own Stripe account and pay out to your bank on your Stripe schedule. MONA adds no platform fee.

Before you start

• Plan: MONA Payments needs a paid plan (Pro or Studio). On Free, Connect Stripe opens the plan picker.
• Role: the owner, admins, the Accountant role and seats with studio finance access can connect Stripe and see payouts. Members do not see the MONA Payments card or the Get paid card.
• Stripe: you onboard on Stripe’s own pages. Have your business details and bank account ready.

How do I set up MONA Payments?

1. Open Settings, then Integrations, and find the MONA Payments card.
2. Click Connect Stripe. Stripe’s onboarding opens.
3. Finish onboarding. Stripe sends you back to Integrations and the card shows active.
4. If it shows finish setup, click Finish Stripe setup to complete what Stripe still needs. Until then, emailed invoices go out as documents only, with no pay button.

Disconnect on the same card stops new pay links. Invoices already paid stay paid, and your Stripe account stays yours.

How do I pass the card fee to my client?

Once Stripe is connected, the MONA Payments card shows a Pass card fees to client switch with the fee: 2.9% + 30¢ (Stripe’s standard card fee). The fee is fixed and cannot be edited.

1. Turn on Pass card fees to client.
2. Read the Pass card fees to your clients? notice. Card surcharges are prohibited or restricted in some states (currently Connecticut, Massachusetts and Maine) and cannot exceed your cost of acceptance. Compliance in your clients’ states is yours.
3. Click Enable.

With it on, your client sees two choices: bank transfer (ACH) with no fee, always shown first, or card with the fee added as its own line. The invoice total never changes; you receive the full amount either way. Turning it off applies at once, no confirmation needed. You can override the setting on any one invoice in the send window, and on any one payment link when you create it, with the Pass card fee to client switch.

How do I get paid on an invoice?

1. Open the project and click the Billing tab. Click New invoice, add your lines, then Preview and Approve.
2. Click Send invoice and choose Email the invoice. With MONA Payments active, the email includes the secure pay link.
3. Prefer to send it yourself? Choose Mark as sent (I sent it myself); the pay link goes live without MONA emailing anyone. Publish to the client portal puts it on the project’s client portal, where your client can pay too.
4. When the payment lands, the invoice marks itself paid. Paid by check or Zelle instead? Click Mark as paid; your client’s pay link turns off.

For invoices MONA writes automatically from client approvals, see Invoices and purchase orders.

How do I create a payment link?

A payment link collects money with no invoice: a design deposit, a consultation, a retainer top-up.

1. Go to Finance, then Overview, and click New payment link on the Get paid card. Or, from a project’s Billing tab, click New payment link to file it on that project.
2. Enter Amount (USD) (at least $0.50) and What is it for.
3. Add Client name (optional) and Client email (optional).
4. Set Pass card fee to client if it shows.
5. Click Create link, then Copy link, and send it however you like.

Each link works once. Rows on the Get paid card read Open, Transfer pending, Paid or Canceled. An open link can be canceled from its row. You can also just ask MONA in chat for a payment link.

What does my client see when they pay?

Your client opens a secure Stripe checkout and pays by card or by bank account (ACH). With card-fee pass-through on, they first see a MONA page with Pay by bank transfer (ACH), marked No fee, and Pay by card, showing the fee and Stripe’s rate. A card payment clears immediately. A bank transfer takes a few business days to settle; while it clears, the link shows Transfer pending and cannot be paid twice.

You get a bell notification and an email when a bank transfer is submitted, when money is received, and if a payment fails.

When does the money land in my bank?

The Get paid card on Finance, then Overview, starts with a Payouts line built from your Stripe account, for example: Available now, Pending, and Next payout with the amount, the day it arrives and the bank it goes to. If your Stripe payouts are set to manual, it says client payments stay in Stripe until you move them, with a Payout settings in Stripe link.

Every paid or clearing invoice and payment link also gets its own line saying where the money is:

• Bank transfer clearing, usually 4 business days, with the expected day.
• Available in Stripe on a date, then lands about a date when your schedule pays out later.
• Arrives on a date when it is in a payout on its way to your bank.
• In your bank on a date once that payout has arrived.
• In your Stripe balance. Payouts are manual, so move it in Stripe on a manual schedule.

The rules MONA uses: on a daily payout schedule, money reaches your bank the same day it becomes available in Stripe. On weekly or monthly schedules, it goes out on your next payout day. Dates marked as estimates firm up once Stripe puts the payment in a payout. If Stripe cannot be reached, the line is simply left off; it never shows a made-up date or $0.00. Ask MONA “when will my money land?” in chat for the same answer.

How do I set the Bill To on an invoice or proposal?

MONA uses one rule for the Bill To block on every invoice, proposal, PDF and pay page:

1. A Bill To you typed on that document wins.
2. Next, the project’s own Bill To, if you set one.
3. Otherwise, the client’s name, their company as a c/o line, and the billing address on their contact, or their primary company’s address.
4. Only when there is no billing address does it print the project’s job address.

To bill someone other than the client on every document for a job, such as a co-op’s managing agent, open the project’s Settings tab, then Bill To. Pick the Billing party (or leave it on The client (default)), optionally fill Bill To name and Bill To address, and click Save. Clear Bill To (bill the client) undoes it.

To change it on one invoice, open the draft invoice’s Preview and type in Bill to, one line per printed line, then click Save details. On a draft proposal, click Edit next to Bill to; Use the client’s address goes back. Bill To can only be edited while the document is a draft.

What it does not do (yet)

• No refunds from MONA. Refund card and bank payments in your Stripe dashboard.
• No payout schedule changes in MONA. Change your schedule in Stripe.
• Payment links do not post to Books. Invoices do.
• Payout details are studio-level only. Seats with project finance access do not see the Payouts line.

Want a hand?

Book a 30-minute setup call and we will connect Stripe and send your first pay link together.

Related articles

• Invoices and purchase orders as PDFs, tracked in a database
• How do I enter vendor bills and track what my studio owes in MONA?
• How do I track contractor and vendor estimates in MONA?

Frequently asked questions

How do clients pay a MONA invoice online?

Once MONA Payments is active, an invoice you send with Email the invoice carries a Pay invoice button. Your client opens it and pays by card or by bank transfer (ACH). The invoice marks itself paid when the payment lands. Publishing the invoice to the client portal works the same way.

How long until the money is in my bank?

It depends on how the client paid and on your Stripe payout schedule. A bank transfer usually takes about 4 business days to clear first. After that, the money is in your Stripe balance and goes out on your schedule: on a daily schedule it reaches your bank the day it becomes available, on weekly or monthly it goes out on your payout day. MONA shows the expected date on each paid row.

Does MONA take a fee on payments?

No. Payments run through your own Stripe account, and Stripe’s processing fees are charged to that account. MONA does not add a platform fee on top.

Can I pass the card processing fee to my client?

Yes. Turn on Pass card fees to client in the MONA Payments card. Your client then chooses between bank transfer with no fee and card with Stripe’s standard card fee of 2.9% + 30¢ added. You can override it per invoice when you send it, and per payment link when you create it. Some states, currently Connecticut, Massachusetts and Maine, prohibit or restrict card surcharges; compliance in your clients’ states is your responsibility.

What does Transfer pending mean on a payment link?

Your client submitted a bank transfer and it is still clearing. The link cannot be paid twice while it is pending. You get a notification and an email when the transfer is submitted, when it settles, and if it fails. A failed transfer makes the link payable again.

Can I refund a client from MONA?

Not from MONA. There is no refund button for card or bank payments. Issue the refund from your own Stripe dashboard. Credits you issue a client on a project can be recorded as refunded in the project’s Billing tab.

Who can set up MONA Payments and see payouts?

The owner, admins, the Accountant role and seats with studio finance access. Members do not see the MONA Payments card or the Get paid card. Members can still create a payment link from a project’s Billing tab unless your studio limits who can.

How do I change the Bill To address on an invoice?

Open the draft invoice’s Preview, type the block you want in Bill to, one line per printed line, and click Save details. Leave it blank to print the project’s Bill To or the client’s name, company and billing address. On a draft proposal, click Edit next to Bill to; Use the client’s address switches it back. To change it for every document on a job, use the project’s Settings tab, then Bill To.

Do I need a paid plan for MONA Payments?

Yes. Getting paid through MONA starts on Pro or Studio. On Free, pressing Connect Stripe opens the plan picker.