Follow a Direct Debit from request to payout

This article is for operators and their teams. It explains the four steps StoreBay shows on a Direct Debit, what happens at each, and what to do, and not do, when a collection fails or stalls. For what your customer sees, read When a Direct Debit counts as paid.

The four steps

Every Direct Debit goes through the same four steps, and the payment shows each with its date. The invoice shows the same steps, plus the advance notice, while the money is on its way, and stops at Collected: a payout is your money, not the invoice's. They follow GoCardless's own events, so the dates are GoCardless's.

• Requested. We've asked GoCardless to collect, for the date in your customer's advance notice. A collection requested without a date waits until the bank can no longer debit it before that date, so it is never collected earlier than your customer was told.
• With the bank. GoCardless has submitted the collection to the bank.
• Collected. The money has left your customer's account and GoCardless holds it. The date shown is the day the bank debited, normally confirmed the working day after.
• Paid out. GoCardless has paid the money out to your bank account, on your payout schedule.

What happens when it's collected

Collected is the moment your customer has paid, so StoreBay treats it that way: the invoice is marked paid, the receipt goes out unless you've switched receipts off, the arrears case clears with a restore of access queued for any overlocked unit (or, for a padlock, a task for your team to take it off), and the payment.succeeded and invoice.paid webhooks fire. Takings and reports count a Direct Debit on the day the bank debited it, not the payout day. A collection debited on Monday is Monday's takings, even though it appears on Tuesday, when GoCardless confirms it.

A collection isn't final

Under the Direct Debit Guarantee a customer's bank refunds a collection taken in error, and GoCardless says there is no time limit on when claims can be made. When a collection comes back:

• Before it's paid out, the payment shows as failed and the invoice reopens by what that payment paid, unless you've since voided, credited, refunded or written it off. StoreBay then re-presents it, as below.
• After it's paid out, the payment shows as a late failure or a chargeback, and collections reopens straight away. GoCardless takes the amount back from your next payout, and a chargeback also raises an indemnity claim.

Credit notes and deposits while a collection is on its way

You can't apply a credit note or a held deposit to an invoice while its Direct Debit is Requested or With the bank. The bank has already been asked for the full amount, so a lower balance would mean collecting more than is owed. If the collection fails, the invoice is still owed. If it's collected, the invoice is paid, so there's nothing left to apply it to.

When a collection fails

StoreBay retries a failed Direct Debit itself: it gives your customer fresh advance notice (at least three working days), then collects again, up to two times, before the arrears process takes over. You can also use Retry collection on the payment, which goes out at once with no fresh notice (unless a notice already names a date still ahead, in which case it waits for that date).

Don't press Retry payment in GoCardless. A payment retried there is the same payment going round again, and StoreBay's own retry is a separate collection of the same money. Both can succeed and debit your customer twice. If someone does press it, StoreBay notices and alerts us so we can check. If StoreBay's own retry hasn't gone yet, it holds it while GoCardless's attempt runs; if it has, both can collect.

The same goes for a failed payment on an invoice you have voided. StoreBay closes that payment when you void the invoice, so money collected by a retry in GoCardless has nowhere to go: StoreBay can't apply it, alerts us, and your customer would need refunding.

When a collection seems stuck

Direct Debits normally resolve within a few days. If one is still Requested or With the bank a week after its collection date, Stop waiting… becomes available on the payment. Check GoCardless before you use it. Stopping only tells StoreBay to stop counting the collection against the invoice; it isn't cancelled at GoCardless. If it lands later and you've collected another way, your customer has paid twice, and the extra goes to their account credit.

For the same reason the invoice still can't take a credit note or a deposit, be voided or be put on hold until GoCardless collects the payment, fails it or cancels it. GoCardless can cancel a payment only while it still shows it as pending submission; StoreBay hears of the cancellation and the invoice is free again. A payment that has gone to the bank can't be cancelled: check where it stands in GoCardless and contact support, and we'll bring StoreBay up to date with what GoCardless shows.

Who to contact

If a Direct Debit's steps or dates don't match what GoCardless shows, contact support with the payment's reference and we'll look into it with you.