Connect Stripe and get paid — and fix "Stripe is not connected"

Rentalbuddy never holds your money. Card payments go straight into your own Stripe account, and Stripe pays them out to your bank. That is why connecting Stripe is a setup step: until it is done and Stripe says the account can take payments, customers cannot pay online and no location can take paid bookings.

This guide covers the whole journey: starting the connection, getting through Stripe's questions, checking that it really worked, what to do when Stripe still wants something from you, the smallest amount customers can pay online, how payouts work, and the alternative of taking payment on site. Tax rates have their own guide (see the taxes and VAT guide).

Before you connect Stripe

A few things are easier to get right first.

• Create your first location. The Configure payments step on the Home page says "You need to create a location before you can configure payments" until you have one, and the connection status on the Payments tab is checked through the location selected in the Location picker at the top of the left menu.
• Check your currency. It is set under Settings → Payments → Checkout settings → Currency. As the screen says: "You can change currency only while this account has no active or future bookings on any location. If the selection is locked, bookings already exist."
• Use the right login. Connecting Stripe needs the Account owner role (or Partner owner for an account a partner manages). An Account member sees the Payments tab, but the connection itself is refused with a no-permission message; ask the account owner to do it (see the users and roles guide).
• New or existing Stripe account? If you already use Stripe for another website or tool you can link that account, but read the warning in the connect dialog: "Important: Stripe only allows your account to be linked to one business platform at a time. If your Stripe account is still connected to another service, disconnect it there first or use a different Stripe account."
• Not taking online payments at all? You do not need Stripe. See "Take payment on site instead" below.

Connect Stripe step by step

You can start from two places. Both open the same flow.

• Home page: in the Guide, click the step Configure payments ("Required to take payments online."). On the seven-step setup Guide that every new account gets, the item is called Connect Stripe, under Get paid.
• Settings: open Settings in the left menu, then the Payments tab. The Online payments card says "Connect Stripe to accept card payments and receive payouts for your rentals." Click Connect with Stripe to start handling payments. Under the button you see the status: Checking connection..., then Connected or Not connected. The same card also shows Stripe's smallest online payment for your currency (see "Stripe's smallest online payment" below).

The first time, a dialog titled Connect with Stripe opens: "Choose how you want to connect. If you already take card payments with Stripe on another website or tool, you can link that same account. If you are new to Stripe, we will help you create one."

1. I am new to Stripe → Set up a new account. "You will complete a short sign-up on Stripe's website. Best if you do not already use Stripe elsewhere." Rentalbuddy creates the Stripe account for you and opens Stripe's sign-up form.
2. I already use Stripe → Connect my existing account. You log in to Stripe and approve the link to Rentalbuddy.

The button changes to Opening Stripe… and Stripe opens in a new browser tab. If a pop-up blocker stops the tab, allow pop-ups for the admin and click again.

If you already started a sign-up earlier, clicking the button again skips the dialog and takes you straight back into Stripe's form, where you left off.

What Stripe asks for during sign-up

The form belongs to Stripe, not Rentalbuddy. Stripe is legally required to verify who it pays money to, so expect questions about:

• Your business: type of organisation, registration details, address, website.
• You: the person representing the business, sometimes with photo ID.
• Your bank account: where Stripe sends your payouts.

Rentalbuddy asks Stripe to collect everything it will eventually need in one go, including details Stripe would otherwise only ask for later. The form is thorough on purpose: it stops Stripe from pausing your payments in the middle of the season to ask for a missing document.

Two things you do not need to do:

• Add Rentalbuddy as a developer or team member in your Stripe account. The connection button gives Rentalbuddy the access it needs. Older instructions that ask you to invite Rentalbuddy into your Stripe team are out of date.
• Copy API keys, webhook addresses or signing secrets. There is nothing to paste anywhere. If an old guide or email tells you to copy Stripe keys into Rentalbuddy, ignore it.

Associations and non-profits without a VAT number

Associations regularly get stuck on Stripe's VAT registration question. That question is Stripe's, not Rentalbuddy's: nothing in the connection flow on Rentalbuddy's side asks for a VAT number, and no Rentalbuddy setting can remove a step from Stripe's form. What Stripe asks depends on your country and on the type of organisation you choose at the start of its form, so pick the type that really matches your organisation.

If Stripe still insists on a VAT number you do not have, contact Stripe's support, and do not enter a made-up number. Whether Stripe accepts an organisation without VAT registration is Stripe's decision. (Your Rentalbuddy subscription is a separate matter: its billing form has its own "no VAT number" choice, see the account settings guide.)

Coming back from Stripe: what the status page means

When you finish Stripe's form, or leave it, Stripe sends you back to a status page in the admin.

• Stripe successfully connected! "You have successfully connected your Stripe account. You can now start accepting payments through Rentalbuddy." If you linked an existing account, a banner also says "Your existing Stripe account was linked." Rentalbuddy now reads the tax rates in your Stripe account. If you had created taxes in Rentalbuddy before connecting, a notice says for example "4 taxes are not in Stripe yet." with a Review taxes link (see the taxes and VAT guide).
• Stripe is not connected with "The onboarding process with Stripe is not completed yet. Please click the button below to resume connecting your Stripe account." Stripe does not yet accept the account. Click Connect with Stripe to start handling payments on the same page: it resumes where you left off.
• Stripe is not connected with "The link to Stripe either expired, was already visited or was shared in a third-party application such as a messaging client that attempts to access the URL to preview it." Stripe's links work once and only for a short time. Click the button for a fresh one, and don't send the link through a chat app.
• "We could not reach Stripe to check your connection. Nothing has been changed; reload this page in a moment to check again." Stripe did not answer. Your connection has not been lost; reload the page later.
• "We could not finish linking your Stripe account. If you still use Stripe with another website or app, disconnect it there first, then try again." Linking an existing account failed, usually because that Stripe account is still tied to another platform.

Check that payments really work

Rentalbuddy asks Stripe directly whether your account can take card payments. It counts as connected as soon as Stripe says card payments are enabled. Information that Stripe will only want later no longer keeps the status at Not connected or the Configure payments step open; it is shown as a note on the Payments tab instead (see the next section).

You know it worked when:

• Settings → Payments → Online payments shows Connected.
• The Configure payments step in the Home page Guide is ticked.
• Your locations' readiness no longer lists Configure payments as a reason they can't take bookings.

Once the setup guide is complete, the Home page shows your dashboard instead. If Stripe later stops card payments for your account, a notice appears at the top of Home: "No location can take bookings until payments are set up." with a Configure payments link to the Payments tab, together with the Stripe needs your attention notice described below.

Then make a test booking on your own booking page before you go live, ideally one with a real payment, so you see the money reach Stripe. Open the location and press Make a test booking in the bar at the top, next to Save (see the setup checklist guide).

The Stripe notices on Home and on the Payments tab check again by themselves when you switch back to the admin's browser tab, at most once a minute. After fixing something in Stripe, just return to the admin tab: there is no need to reload. The Connected or Not connected status under the button is checked again every time you open the Payments tab.

What Stripe still needs: the notice on the Payments tab

When Stripe wants something from you, Settings → Payments → Online payments says so in words, above the connect button. One of these sentences appears:

Notice	What it means
"Customers cannot pay right now: Stripe is waiting for information from you." (red)	Stripe has paused card payments. Customers cannot pay online, and the account counts as Not connected.
"Customers can pay, but Stripe is holding your payouts until you complete the missing information." (amber)	Bookings and payments work, but Stripe keeps the money until you finish what is missing.
"Stripe needs more information from you by {date}, or payments will be paused." (amber)	Everything works today, but Stripe has set a deadline. Without a date it reads "Stripe needs more information from you to keep payments running."
"Stripe is reviewing your account. There is nothing for you to do right now." (blue)	Stripe is checking what you sent. Wait for Stripe.
"Stripe will ask for more information later. Nothing is paused, and you can complete it already now." (blue)	Nothing is due yet. Completing it now saves you a request in the middle of the season.
"Stripe has closed this account for payments. Contact Stripe support to find out why." (red)	Only Stripe can say why or reopen it.

If Stripe refused something you sent, for example an unreadable ID document, Stripe's own reason follows "Stripe could not accept what was sent:".

To fix it:

1. Press Complete at Stripe under the notice. It opens Stripe's guided page in a new tab, where Stripe asks only for what is missing. The button is shown to roles that may manage billing, such as Account owner and Partner owner; an Account member sees the notice but not the button.
2. If you linked a Stripe account you already had (Connect my existing account), the button is Open Stripe instead. It opens your own Stripe dashboard, where Stripe lists the tasks. Open Stripe is also the button when Stripe has closed the account.
3. Finish every item Stripe shows, then switch back to the admin's tab. The notice updates by itself.

You don't have to wait until you open the Payments tab. The states that cost money (payments paused, payouts held, a deadline running, or the account closed) also appear on Home under Stripe needs your attention, even while the setup Guide is still running, and the Payments tab gets a mark. "Stripe is reviewing your account" and "Stripe will ask for more information later" are only shown on the Payments tab.

If no notice is shown but the status still says Not connected, click Connect with Stripe to start handling payments: it reopens Stripe's form, which shows anything still missing. If that doesn't help either, contact support.

While card payments are paused, customers who try to pay are stopped at the payment step, typically with "The payment could not be started. Please try again or contact the location." or, when Stripe refused the payment, "The payment could not be started. Please check your details and try again, or contact the location.", even though times are free. Customers see these messages in the language they book in. That is the checkout failing, not a lack of availability (see the guide for when a customer can't pay).

Stripe's smallest online payment

Stripe has a smallest amount it accepts for one payment, and it depends on your currency (for example 3 SEK, 3 NOK, 2.50 DKK or 0.50 EUR). The Online payments card shows yours: "Stripe's minimum for an online payment is … Free bookings are not affected." For a currency without a fixed figure it says "Stripe sets a smallest amount for each online payment, so a very low total can be refused. Free bookings are not affected." The note is hidden while Disable Stripe Payments is on.

A booking that costs something, but less than that minimum, cannot be paid online: the customer is told so at Checkout and can't continue to payment. A total of exactly 0 is always fine. What customers see, and how to help them, is in the guide for when a customer can't pay.

Taxes after connecting Stripe

Once Stripe is connected, your tax rates live in Stripe. The Taxes tab reads them from Stripe, new taxes are created in Stripe, and taxes that exist only in Rentalbuddy must be added to Stripe or deleted before products can charge them. All of that is explained in the taxes and VAT guide.

Take payment on site instead (Disable Stripe Payments)

If you do not want online payment, open Settings → Payments → Checkout settings and switch on Disable Stripe Payments, then save. The admin describes it: "When Stripe payments are disabled, customers can complete bookings without paying online at checkout (typically unpaid or pay on site)."

What changes:

• The last button in the booking window says Book instead of Pay, and there is no payment step.
• Bookings are created straight away as unpaid, marked as paid on site. You collect the money yourself and register it on the booking (see the booking edit guide).
• Payment option is greyed out: "Payment option only applies when Stripe payments are enabled."
• The Configure payments step counts as done without Stripe.
• Customers can still extend a booking; the extension is also recorded as paid on site.
• Taxes still apply to prices and appear on the order lines and confirmations.

Careful at self-service locations. With online payment off, the customer gets their booking, confirmation and PIN code without paying anything. At an unmanned location that means anyone who books can open the lock. Only use this switch where someone collects payment in person, or where free access is intended.

Payouts: how the money reaches your bank

Payments land in your own Stripe account, and Stripe pays them out to the bank account you gave during sign-up. You do not need to transfer anything, and Rentalbuddy never touches the money on the way.

Everything about payouts is set in Stripe, not in Rentalbuddy:

• How often you are paid out. Stripe's payout schedule (for example daily, weekly or monthly) is a Stripe setting. Many operators choose fewer payouts to make bookkeeping easier.
• Which bank account. Changed in Stripe.
• Fees. Stripe deducts its processing fees from the payments, so what you are paid out is less than the booking totals. Stripe's reports show each fee.
• Held payouts. If Stripe holds your payouts, Settings → Payments says so ("Customers can pay, but Stripe is holding your payouts…") with Complete at Stripe. What Stripe wants is completed on Stripe's side.

The full split of what is done in Rentalbuddy and what in Stripe is in the guide on Rentalbuddy versus Stripe.

Switch to a different Stripe account or remove the connection

You cannot do this yourself in the admin. If you try to link an existing account while one is connected, you see "This Rentalbuddy account already has a Stripe connection. Disconnect it first if you want to link a different Stripe account." There is no disconnect button for operators: contact Rentalbuddy support, who can remove the connection so you can connect another account.

To stop taking online payments for a while without removing anything, use Disable Stripe Payments instead.

Once connected, manage your Stripe account (bank details, payouts, payment methods, receipts) by logging in at stripe.com.

If the connection will not complete

Work down this list.

1. You left Stripe's form early. Click Connect with Stripe to start handling payments again. It resumes your sign-up; nothing is lost.
2. The Stripe page says the link has expired or is invalid. Links work once and only for a short while. Start again from Settings → Payments to get a fresh link.
3. You finished the form, but Rentalbuddy says Not connected. Stripe has not enabled card payments yet. Read the notice on the Payments tab and press Complete at Stripe (see "What Stripe still needs" above).
4. A tab opens and closes at once, or nothing happens. Allow pop-ups for the admin in your browser and try again. If you are not the account owner, the connection is refused; ask the owner.
5. Linking an existing account fails. Stripe allows one platform per Stripe account. Disconnect it from the other service first, or choose Set up a new account instead.
6. "This Rentalbuddy account already has a Stripe connection." Contact support to change accounts.
7. Stripe emails you about a failing webhook. Accounts that were set up before the connect button existed may still have an old webhook in their Stripe account. Don't delete it on your own: contact support, who can tell you whether your account still uses it.
8. Stripe doesn't support your country. Stripe only works in the countries it supports. Check Stripe's own list before you start.

Still stuck? Contact support and tell us exactly what the status page or Stripe said.

Common questions

Do I have to have Stripe to use Rentalbuddy? Only for online payment. Without it, switch on Disable Stripe Payments and take payment on site.

I made a live booking and the money didn't go to my account. Can you send a new Stripe invitation? There are no invitations: the payment goes to the Stripe account connected under Settings → Payments. If the status there is Not connected, click Connect with Stripe to start handling payments to finish or redo the connection.

Stripe says my account is fine, but Home still says payments aren't set up. Why? Rentalbuddy reports Connected as soon as Stripe has enabled card payments. If it still says Not connected, Stripe has not enabled them yet: read the notice on Settings → Payments, press Complete at Stripe, then switch back to the admin's tab; the status updates by itself.

I fixed everything in Stripe. Do I have to reload the admin? No. The Stripe notices check again by themselves when you switch back to the admin's tab (at most once a minute), and the Connected status is checked each time you open the Payments tab.

The Payments tab says "Stripe will ask for more information later". Do I have to do something? Not now: nothing is paused and customers can pay. You can press Complete at Stripe and finish it already, so Stripe doesn't pause anything later in the season.

Stripe is holding my payouts. What do I do? Customers can still pay. On Settings → Payments, press Complete at Stripe (or Open Stripe) and finish what Stripe asks for; Stripe then releases the payouts.

What is the smallest amount a customer can pay online? Stripe's minimum for your currency, shown on the Online payments card (3 SEK, for example). A booking that costs more than 0 but less than that can't be paid online.

Do I need to add Rentalbuddy as a developer in my Stripe team? No. The connect button gives Rentalbuddy the access it needs; nothing has to be added in Stripe's team settings.

Do I need to transfer the money to my bank myself? No. Stripe pays out automatically to the bank account you gave in Stripe, on the schedule set in Stripe.

We get a payout every day. Can we get one per month? Yes, that is a payout schedule setting in your Stripe dashboard. Rentalbuddy has no payout settings.

The Stripe link says it has expired. What now? Links work once and only for a short while. Go to Settings → Payments and click the connect button again for a fresh one.

Can I use Rentalbuddy without card payments for a staffed location? Yes. Disable Stripe Payments makes the booking window say Book and creates unpaid bookings you collect payment for on site. Don't use it at self-service locations unless free access is intended.