#mikereem - invoice
undone basin
👋 Thanks for reaching out
You can create an invoice for a single payment using APIs and set collection_method:send_invoice
https://stripe.com/docs/api/invoices/create#create_invoice-collection_method
And if you want no code integration
https://stripe.com/docs/invoicing/quickstart-guide
frail reef
I was trying exactly that. A link was sent in email where the invoice can be paid (but the customer already paid it in our scenario). It contains a link saying "Pay this invoice", which is misleading for the user. When I then marked the invoice as paid (this could be done automatically after creating the invoice by the API, then the PDF invoice still contained the Amount Due (like it is not paid) and it also contains a link to "Pay online"
I was also considering to create an invoice first and get a payment link for that, where the user would be redirected when clicks on the Purchase button on our pricelist page. But to create an invoice in advance, I need the customer details, which I usually don't have. The customer want to fill the billing address, vat number and choose a payment method during the payment.
junior gale
Hi there 👋 our Invoice objects are intended to collect payment, as you mentioned. What sounds like the best approach is for you to create an Invoice, and then use that to collect payment as you're suggesting.
frail reef
but how can I create an invoice for an unknown customer (unknown in terms of what matters on an invoice: billing details)?
junior gale
You would collect that information first and then create the Invoice.
frail reef
but then I have to collect the billing information on my own UI, not on the Stripe checkout page? It would mean that I should develop this with features like validating VAT numbers, which is now done by Stripe
junior gale
Correct, there is currently not a way to create an Invoice from one of our prebuilt/hosted experiences.
An alternative approach, is you could look for or build a utility that consumes information from an existing Checkout Session and creates an invoice for you from the provided information.
frail reef
yes, that seems easier. the only problem which then comes in if we want to let the customer use the customer portal to manage subscriptions, where he/she would see completely different type of invoices (generated for recurring subscriptions by Stripe) than what we were sending in email from our side
junior gale
That is true.
frail reef
Do you know the reason why invoices are not generated for one-time payments? Is it planned? I understand that in general an invoice is a request for payment. But still I am receiving an invoice for everything I purchase online, like a software license, etc and the provided receipt does not contain anything about the customer (no billing address, vat number), so it cannot be used by a customer.
junior gale
I don't know the decisions behind that, but I know that the information which needs to be provided to customers after purchase fluctuates by country. So it is possible that our currently built solutions are not suitable for all regions.