Stripe is a payments platform we have integrated into TutorCruncher. It allows you to take payment from your clients and pay your tutors automatically.
Note: For companies based in the United Kingdom, the biggest benefit of this integration is that it allows companies to act as Employment Agencies.
The Stripe Account Overview page is found via System > Settings > Payment Integrations > Card Payments with Stripe and contains an overview your Stripe account, including processed transactions, a record of any payments made via Stripe to your company, as well as a schedule of future payouts to your company and any transactional disputes. Here you can also use the View account in Stripe button to view your Stripe dashboard.
An example of a Stripe Account Overview page (user-specific account information has been censored here).
How do I create a Stripe account for my company?
To sign up to Stripe, navigate to System > Settings > Payment Integrations > Card Payments with Stripe and click Connect to Stripe. If you are registered with Companies House (UK), you will be asked to provide your CRN number - if you aren’t registered with Companies House, and don’t have a CRN number, simply check the ‘I do not have a CRN’ checkbox.
Connecting to Stripe.
How do I verify my Stripe account and start processing payments?
1) When you click the 'Connect to Stripe' button on TutorCruncher, you will be redirected to Stripe’s website. There, you can create a new Stripe account by filling out your business details, including your email address, phone number, business address, industry, and other information.
2) After entering these details, you will be taken to Stripe's ID verification page, where you will be asked to upload your documents. You can use any government-issued ID, such as your passport or driving license.
Verifying your identity on Stripe.
3) Once you click on 'Upload Document,' you will be prompted to select a verification method. You can choose one of the following options:
Automated Verification: Biometric fingerprint technology will use your ID card, images, and other data sources to verify your identity. This process typically takes only 1-2 minutes.
Manual Verification: A qualified specialist will verify your ID card and selfie. This process can take up to 2-3 days.
Verifying your identity on Stripe.
4) Once you have verified your identity on Stripe, you will be redirected back to your TutorCruncher dashboard. Next, you will need to book a call with one of our team members to complete a video verification process.
Completing the video verification process.
During this 10-minute call, we will ask you 4-5 questions about your business. Following this, your Stripe account will be linked up and ready to receive card payments from your clients.
How do I view my Stripe payments and payouts on TutorCruncher?
While you can view all Stripe transactions on your Stripe Dashboard, you can also view your payments and payouts by navigating to System > Settings > Payment Integrations > Card Payments with Stripe (New).
An example of the Stripe Account Payments page.
Here you have two tabs: 'Payments' and 'Payouts'. The 'Payments' tab records all payments received from clients, while the 'Payouts' tab helps you monitor all the payouts you have received from Stripe. Moreover, you can click the little download arrow next to the payment/payout to download a spreadsheet containing a list of payments included in it.
Can I link my current Stripe account to TutorCruncher?
You cannot link an already-existing Stripe account to TutorCruncher, but you can migrate all of your old customers to a new account. More on that below.
How do I copy my customers from my old Stripe account to my new Stripe account?
You will first need to create a new Stripe account to be linked to your TutorCruncher account. Then, you will need to follow the steps here before reaching out to the team at support@tutorcruncher.com requesting a Stripe data migration
Note: Migrating Stripe customer data over will not change your TutorCruncher workflow or platform in any way - all of your Clients payment details will be seamlessly saved to their profiles, so you can continue to take card payments as normal.
What information can I see from my Stripe dashboard?
From your dashboard, you'll be able to see data relating to how much is on the way to your bank account, money you've earned that's not yet paid out, as well as your total earnings.
An example of a Stripe dashboard.
Once a Client has paid an Invoice, when will I receive the money in my bank account?
Once an Invoice has been paid by one of your Clients, that payment will usually be shown in your Stripe dashboard in the ‘On the way’ tab straight away. Within three days you can then expect to see that money in your main Stripe balance. From there, it is usually sent to your bank account around seven days later (for a total wait time of around 10 days).
How much do card payments with Stripe cost to use?
All payments processed through Stripe will be charged at the following rates inclusive of TutorCruncher’s fee:
Pay as you Go: Stripe payments will cost 2.65% of the amount charged.
Startup: Stripe payments will cost 2.3% of the amount charged.
Is there an additional fee for international payments?
There is an extra fee for international payments - at which point this fee is applied will depend on how the Client is being charged within TutorCruncher:
All international cards are charged at an additional 1.5% of the amount charged.
If you’re using Ad Hoc Charges to charge Clients in foreign currencies, this payment is deposited into the Stripe account of your company, but will be held separately from your regular cash flow. It will instead be kept in a separate account balance for foreign currency earnings. When this separate balance is drawn down from Stripe into a local currency bank account, a currency conversion fee of 1% will be incurred.
Are there any card types that are charged at a higher rate?
Certain card providers cost a lot more to process - we charge an extra 2% fee per transaction for the following card types:
American Express
Diner’s Club
JCB
Any prepaid debit/credit cards.
How do I enable Split Payments?
Within the settings tab of your Stripe account overview you will find the ‘Split Payments’ checkboxes - here you will have the option to enable or disable split payments on your branch.
Note: These will read slightly differently if you are acting as an Employment Agency - here you will instead have the option to split all available payments, or only split payments for Invoices to Clients where you are acting as an employment agency:
Read more about split payments here.
Can I choose whether to accept American Express?
Yes - within your Stripe Account Settings, you can navigate to the ‘Settings’ tab where you will find an ‘Accept American Express cards’ checkbox. You can toggle this checkbox to allow/prevent American Express card payments to your TutorCruncher platform.
How do I enable 'require a post code/zip code when saving a new card for a Client'?
You can enable ‘Require zipcode/postcode when saving a new card for a Client’ by navigating to the 'Settings' tab under System > Settings > Payment Integrations > Card Payments with Stripe (New).
How do I remove Stripe from TutorCruncher?
Simply navigate to your Stripe Account Overview before opening the ‘Settings’ tab and clicking the red Remove Stripe from TutorCruncher button to the right handside of the page.
Can my Clients pay by bank transfer?
Note: This functionality is currently only available for companies using Stripe Express (only available in the UK) and can only be used by clients with bank accounts based in the UK.
Yes - to enable bank transfer payments, simply navigate to System > Settings > Payment Integrations > Card Payments with Stripe (New) > Settings then tick ‘By default, Clients are allowed to pay by Bank Transfer’ and submit. Please keep in mind that in order to have the option to pay via Bank Transfer, either an Administrator or the Client should first remove their card details from the billing section on their profile.
With this enabled, your Clients will have the option to pay via bank transfer when they go to pay an Invoice.
An example of an Invoice payment portal, with the Pay by bank transfer button highlighted.
Selecting this option will redirect the Client to a page displaying the dynamic bank details generated for that Invoice that the Client can use to pay the Invoice. Once they have made the transfer, they can confirm this has happened by clicking Payment will be made in the next 5 days. If the transfer was successful, the Invoice should be marked as ‘Paid’ five days later.
Note: It's important that your Client ensures all the details listed, including the unique reference generated when they select Pay by bank transfer are correct - otherwise the payment will not go through or we may be unable to match the payment to the correct Invoice.
You can enable/disable bank transfer functionality on a per-Client basis by navigating to their profile, selecting Actions > Edit Profile and expanding the 'Accounting & Client Manager' tab and overriding your default settings for them via the 'Allow payment by Bank Transfer override' dropdown menu.
Overriding a branch’s bank transfer settings for a particular Client.
If your Client transfers the incorrect amount:
If they transfer less than the Invoice total, the transfer will be refunded automatically, and the Invoice will remain marked as ‘Unpaid’. If they overpay the Invoice total, the difference will be refunded back to them.
Note: After you initiate a refund, Stripe submits refund requests to your Client's bank or card issuer. Your Client sees the refund as a credit approximately 5-10 business days later.
Refunds issued shortly after the original charge appear in the form of a reversal instead of a refund. In the case of a reversal, the original charge drops off the Client's statement, and a separate credit isn’t issued.
If your Client inputs an incorrect reference number:
Stripe will attempt to match the bank transfer to the correct Invoice - if it is unable to do this, the full amount transferred will either be automatically refunded back to the Client (and the Invoice will remain marked as Unpaid) or, if the monies paid can be used to pay for an already-outstanding Invoice that had been raised at an earlier date, Stripe will automatically use that money to cover a different Invoice.
Note: Currently, for Invoices where the organisation is acting as an Employment Agency, Clients who have previously saved their card details within TutorCruncher will not have the option to pay by bank transfer.
How do I deal with chargebacks/disputes?
A chargeback is a charge that is returned to a customer’s card after they successfully dispute an item on their Invoice. When a chargeback is initiated, Stripe will notify us and we will in turn notify you via email. Stripe acts as the mediator here, and each chargeback request/dispute is dealt with on a case-by-case basis.
If you have been notified of a dispute, you will have 6 weeks to provide supporting evidence. You can do this by navigating to your Stripe account overview and opening the ‘Disputes’ tab, where you can view the details of the dispute and submit evidence proving the legitimacy of the charge, usually in the form of screenshots. This evidence is then submitted to the bank on your behalf for them to review.
If the bank reviews this information and believes that the chargeback is legitimate, the full amount will be charged to your company in the form of an Invoice, which you can view via System > Billing. There is no way of passing this cost onto the Tutor within TutorCruncher. If we receive a large amount of chargebacks, TutorCruncher reserves the right to suspend your Stripe account from our platform.
Note: Stripe charges a £20 chargeback fee for all disputes, won or lost, and we will have to charge this to your account in cases where a client opens a dispute.
How do refunds processed via Stripe work?
Refunding Invoices paid via Stripe works the same way as refunding any Invoices (read more about that here) - the difference lies in how that refund is processed.
When refunding an Invoice that is being processed via Stripe, TutorCruncher will check both your Stripe balance, and that of the associated Tutors to see if both parties have the available funds in their Stripe accounts before processing the refund.
How do I change to the new version of Stripe?
In order to use New Stripe, there are a few steps you must complete in order to transition from your existing Legacy Stripe account to the New Stripe system within TutorCruncher. These are as follows:
1) Go to System > Settings, and click Card Payments with Stripe (New). If you have registered with Companies House and have a Company Registration Number (CRN), you must enter it on that page. If you are sure that you do not have a CRN, tick the box for "I do not have a CRN". Click "Connect to Stripe".
2) That's it! You're now connected to the new version of Stripe!
Please note: You should start migrating your customers to New Stripe only after you have completed this step.
How do I copy (migrate) my customers' card details onto the new version of Stripe?
You are then required to follow these steps:
Log into your Stripe account and navigate to the 'Customers' page.
Click the Copy Customers button.
In the 'Copy Method' field, choose Copy all customers.
Enter our account ID
acct_1Hr3LQDQ1y5Lg5MJand click Continue. You should receive a message stating that we need to authorise your request - click Confirm.After successfully sharing the data, you should see the pending copy request at the top of the Customers page.
Let one of the team know at support@tutorcruncher.com that you've initiated a migration request and supply us with the migration request ID Stripe provided you (
migreq_xxx).In addition to this, please share your Company number (if registered w/ Companies House), VAT number (if VAT registered) and how long the business has been operating for.
We will work some magic on our end and let you know once the migration has been completed.