Payments
BookSwift has two completely separate Stripe systems - easy to mix up, so we keep them clearly apart here. This page covers charging your own clients. For the monthly subscription to BookSwift itself, see the Account & Subscription guide.
01How it gets turned on
Online payments are approved by NRT (see Settings) - it's not something you self-activate. Once approved, a "Connect with Stripe" button appears in Settings, which walks you through Stripe's own account setup (business details, bank info, etc). When you come back, BookSwift checks your status right away; if Stripe is still reviewing your details, you'll see "Setup not finished" until that clears.
02How charging works
Once connected, any booking a client makes themselves (through the client portal or an external booking page) becomes pay-up-front - the client is redirected to a Stripe payment page, and the appointment is only created once payment goes through.
Money goes straight into your own Stripe account - BookSwift/NRT never touches the funds, no cut of your revenue. It's charged in whatever currency you set in Settings → Currency.
If someone else takes that slot in the brief window between payment starting and being confirmed (rare, but possible), the payment is automatically refunded and the client gets an apology email.
03Manual bookings and payments
Appointments you or your staff manually enter into the Calendar never go through Stripe charging, whether or not payments are turned on - that's only for clients booking themselves.
Cancelling an already-paid appointment does not automatically refund it - not when you change its status to "cancelled," and not when a client cancels it themselves through their manage-appointment link. Automatic refunds only happen when a payment succeeds but the booking itself then fails (e.g. someone else took the slot in the meantime), or when you cancel an entire group class session (every paying attendee gets refunded). For a normal single-appointment cancellation, refund it manually through your own Stripe dashboard if you want to give the money back.
Stuck, or something isn't working the way it should? Reach out, happy to help:
info@book-swift.com