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paywise for Stripe

Stripe
The Stripe integration hands overdue invoices from Stripe Billing straight to paywise for collection. Typical case: a subscription or invoice payment where the card on file can no longer be charged and Stripe leaves the invoice open.
paywise reads from Stripe and never writes back. Nothing in your Stripe account is changed, cancelled or marked as paid.

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Before you start

  • A Stripe account in which you may create API keys.
  • A paywise account.
  • At least one open invoice in Stripe.
If a DATEV import is active for the same company, deactivate it under DATEV Einstellungen → Gefahrenzone → Integration deaktivieren before using the Stripe invoice picker. This makes it clear which source should supply new claims.

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Permissions paywise needs

paywise reads only what is needed for debt collection: These three rights are enough — paywise writes nothing to your Stripe account. A standard key (sk_…) of your account or an organisation key (sk_org_…) already carries them; nothing needs configuring there.

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Creating the Stripe key

Inside paywise this guide is available at any time via „Was ist das?“ on the Stripe page.
1

Sign in to Stripe

Sign in at dashboard.stripe.com.
2

Open API keys

In the menu, go to Entwickler → API-Schlüssel (Developers → API keys).
3

Create a restricted key

We recommend a restricted key that grants access only to the resources needed. In the Eingeschränkte Schlüssel section, choose Eingeschränkten Schlüssel erstellen (create restricted key).
4

Grant the three read permissions

In the key configuration, grant the three read permissions from the table above: Connect › Accounts, Core › Customers and Billing › Invoices.
5

Copy the key

Copy the newly created key and paste it into paywise.

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1. Connect Stripe

1

Open the connection page

Go to app.paywise.de/connect/stripe/.
2

Paste the key

In the Stripe-Schlüssel verbinden section, paste any Stripe API key. paywise automatically detects whether it is an organisation key (sk_org_…), the key of your main account, or the key of an additional Stripe account (brand).
3

Accept the terms and connect

Tick Ich akzeptiere die Nutzungsbedingungen and choose Schlüssel verbinden (connect key).
4

For additional accounts: give it a display name

If the key belongs to an additional Stripe account, paywise asks for an Anzeigename der Marke (brand display name). Confirm with Als Marke hinzufügen (add as brand).

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Multiple Stripe accounts

The Stripe-Konten section manages all connected accounts. Each shows its type and status: Use Konto hinzufügen to connect another account, Ersetzen to replace a key (the new one takes effect immediately; claims already imported are unaffected), and Konto entfernen to stop importing from that account.

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2. Submit invoices for collection

1

Open the invoice picker

On the Stripe page in paywise, choose Rechnungen einreichen.
2

Pick the invoices

The invoice picker shows invoices with the Stripe status open — with invoice number, customer, invoice date, due date and open amount.The due date comes straight from Stripe; paywise calculates nothing here.
3

Check the debtor data

Name and address come from the Stripe customer, and the invoice PDF is attached from Stripe. Carefully check the due date, currency, open amount and recipient data, and complete anything missing.
4

Record your payment reminder

Stripe has no reminders in the sense of German dunning practice. Enter how and when you asked the debtor to pay — in writing or verbally, the date, and any payment deadline you set.This matters legally: for consumers a reminder is normally required before default interest and collection costs can be claimed.
5

Send the order

Confirm how collection should start, answer the legal questions, accept the terms and choose Auftrag absenden.

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What the invoice picker shows

The standard Stripe invoice picker filters on the status open. Before displaying an invoice, it does not additionally check whether it is already due, denominated in euros, or has complete recipient and PDF data. open therefore does not automatically mean that the claim should already be submitted. You can complete missing address and contact details in the paywise draft after adding the invoice. A customer name must already be stored in Stripe. If a usable invoice PDF is missing, paywise cannot add the invoice either; provide the PDF in Stripe and try again.
Review and complete the claim in paywise before sending the order. In particular, do not submit a claim that is not yet due or has already been paid.

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Mahnservice: importing invoices continuously

This integration feeds more than the one-off collection handover — it can also supply the paywise Mahnservice, the pre-collection dunning service. paywise then fetches your open invoices regularly and sends payment reminders on your behalf, before a case becomes a collection matter. You set the Mahnservice up at app.paywise.de/mahnservice/.

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Prerequisites

All of the following must be in place before the recurring sync starts:
  • An active Stripe connection.
  • A Mahnservice subscription and the accepted Mahnservice terms.
  • A decided import scope — you determine once which invoices should be taken over.
  • The opt-in per Stripe account: you decide for each connected account or brand whether its invoices flow into the Mahnservice.

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Which invoices the Mahnservice imports

The Mahnservice applies a stricter automatic check. A Stripe invoice is imported only if all of the following hold:
  • Its status is open.
  • Its due date is in the past and its remaining balance is greater than zero.
  • Its currency is euro.
  • A customer with a name and postal address is attached.
  • An invoice PDF exists.
  • The invoice has not already been handed to collection or the Mahnservice.

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What paywise checks before every reminder

1

Regular sync

paywise fetches your open invoices from Stripe at fixed intervals. Newly opened invoices are picked up automatically.
2

Status check immediately before sending

Right before a reminder goes out, paywise queries the current invoice status in Stripe once more. If the invoice has been paid or cancelled in the meantime, no reminder is sent.
3

When in doubt, nothing is sent

If the status cannot be established beyond doubt — because Stripe is temporarily unreachable, for instance — paywise holds the reminder back. That is deliberate: a reminder sent late is better than one sent to somebody who has already paid.
Payments paywise finds in Stripe during a sync end the dunning process automatically.

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3. Disconnect

On the Stripe page, choose Konto entfernen for the account in question — or Verbindung löschen for the whole connection, confirming with Löschen. The stored key is removed and the import from that account stops. Claims already imported remain. You can store the key again at any time. If the account supplies the Mahnservice, no further reminders are sent while paywise cannot verify invoice status through an active connection.

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Troubleshooting

Check that you copied the complete key and that it belongs to the right Stripe account and environment.
paywise names the missing rights. Add them in Stripe under Eingeschränkten Schlüssel bearbeiten and paste the key again.
The key was revoked or rotated in Stripe. Store a current key via Ersetzen.
Work through the list under Invoices that cannot be submitted. Most often the customer has no postal address, or the invoice is not denominated in euros.
No key is stored for that account and it does not use an organisation key. Add a key via Ersetzen.

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Questions

Write to [email protected].