Getting Paid: Connect Stripe

How payments work — the short version

You bill your tenants. We bill you. Two separate flows.

For us billing you: there's a wallet on your partner account. Top it up by credit card. Monthly platform fees, DID monthly costs, and per-minute usage all draw down from this wallet automatically. If the wallet runs low and you have auto-recharge on, your card is charged to top it back up.

For you billing your tenants: there are three modes. Pick one.

The three Stripe modes

Mode	How it works	When to use it
Platform (default, no setup)	Tenants pay our Stripe account. We send you the money manually (configurable schedule).	Fastest to start. No Stripe account needed on your side. Good for testing or while you wait for Stripe Connect approval.
Connect (Express)	You complete a 5-minute Stripe-hosted onboarding. Tenants pay charges land in your Stripe account directly. We take a 3.99% application fee, you keep the rest.	Recommended. Money goes straight to you. Stripe handles disputes/refunds. The onboarding is genuinely 5 minutes if you have your business info handy.
Custom Keys	You provide your own existing Stripe sk_live_... key. We charge through it as if it were ours.	Advanced. Use only if you already have a complex Stripe setup you don't want to touch (e.g., custom subscriptions, products, webhooks already in place).

For 95% of partners, the answer is Connect. The rest of this chapter walks you through that path.

Setting up Stripe Connect

Click Settings → Billing in the top nav. Click the Tenant Billing tab on the billing page.

You'll see a card explaining the three modes. Click Connect with Stripe.

A new browser tab opens to Stripe's hosted onboarding. You'll be asked for:

• Business type — Individual / Sole Prop / LLC / Corporation
• EIN or SSN — for tax reporting
• Business address and contact info
• Business website (your portal URL is fine)
• Bank account — where you want payouts to land
• Identity verification — usually a photo of your ID; sometimes asks for a selfie

Stripe processes the application in under a minute for most US-based individuals and businesses. Some applications need manual review (24-48 hours).

When you're done, Stripe redirects you back to the platform. The Tenant Billing tab now shows Stripe Connect Active with a green badge.

The statement descriptor

This is the text that shows up on your customer's credit card statement when you charge them. Default is the generic platform name — change it to your brand so customers recognize the charge.

Maximum 22 characters. No special punctuation. Examples: ACME PHONES, HRC TELECOM, PINEDALE VOIP.

Get this right. The #1 reason for chargebacks on phone-service charges is "I don't recognize this on my statement." Use a name customers will identify even at a glance.

Click Save Descriptor.

Verifying it works

Best test: create a fake tenant, add a $1 invoice, charge a card you own. The charge should land in your Stripe dashboard within a minute, and the descriptor on your card statement should match what you set.

You can do this in test mode if you've added your Stripe test keys, or live mode with a real $1.00 charge that you immediately refund. Either is fine.

What's next

Your money plumbing works. Now let's make the dashboard look like yours, not ours.