Deposits and invoices
Collect upfront deposits and send payment links for completed work.
Deposits protect you against no-shows. In Settings, then Payments, you can require a percentage or a fixed deposit, auto-email a Stripe link when a booking is created, and set a grace period before an unpaid deposit is chased.
Invoices collect the balance. From a booking you can create an invoice or payment link so the client pays online. The money goes straight to your connected Stripe account.
Not every client pays by card. You can also mark deposits or payments as received manually when someone pays by e-transfer or cash, which keeps your records accurate even when the money did not go through Stripe.