How to Set Up Recurring Payments for Your Small Business
Stop chasing the same clients for the same money every month. Recurring card billing collects on schedule and pays out to your bank automatically.
The short answer: create a subscription plan in HandyPay, send the client a signup link, and their card is charged automatically each cycle after they consent once. Receipts go out on their own, failed charges are retried, and the funds join your normal payout flow.
If your business gets paid by the month, you are probably re-earning money you already earned: sending the reminder, resending the account details, checking whether the transfer landed, nudging again on the 5th. Recurring payments end that loop.
Who Recurring Billing Is For
Any business where the same customer pays the same-ish amount on a rhythm:
- Personal trainers, coaches, tutors, and classes with monthly clients
- Lawn care, cleaning, pest control, and pool service routes
- Agencies, bookkeepers, and IT support on retainers
- Gyms, studios, co-working spaces, and clubs with memberships
- Churches and nonprofits collecting recurring giving
- Anyone selling a plan: meal prep, produce boxes, storage, parking
If you send the same invoice more than twice, it should be a subscription.
How It Works
A subscription stores the customer's card securely with the payment platform (never with you) and charges it automatically each billing cycle:
- Create the plan. Name it, set the amount and the interval, monthly being the usual choice.
- Send the signup link. The customer opens it, enters their card once, and approves the recurring charge. That consent step matters: it is what makes the automatic billing legitimate and dispute-proof.
- Billing runs itself. Each cycle, the charge happens on schedule, the customer gets a receipt, and the funds join your normal payout flow to your bank: typically 1 to 2 business days for US-registered businesses, 2 to 3 in most other supported countries (details in how long card payouts take).
- You stay in control. Your dashboard lists every subscriber, upcoming charges, and lets you cancel a subscription when a client wraps up.
What About Failed Charges?
Cards expire, limits get hit. This is the part manual collectors fear and automatic billing quietly handles: failed charges are retried, and you can see the subscription's status in your dashboard rather than discovering the gap at month end. The practical playbook is simple. Watch for past-due subscriptions weekly, and message the customer to update their card while the relationship is warm, not three missed months later.
What It Costs
There is no extra charge for using subscriptions. You pay the standard per-transaction fee on each successful charge: 4.9% plus US$0.40 on the free plan, or 4.2% plus US$0.40 on the US$29 per month Pro plan, which also adds your branding to the emails and invoices your subscribers see (see HandyPay fees explained). No setup fees, and you can start on the free plan to test a single client.
Why This Beats "Just Send Me the Transfer Every Month"
- You get paid on the 1st, not when they remember. The schedule belongs to the system, not to anyone's memory.
- Revenue becomes predictable. Ten subscribers at US$100 is a number you can plan a business around; ten clients who "usually pay early in the month" is not.
- Customers actually prefer it. One consent beats a monthly homework assignment, and card statements give them a clean record.
- Cancellations are graceful. Ending a subscription is a click, which keeps goodbyes professional and reviews friendly.
Getting Your Existing Clients Onto Subscriptions
The migration message that works is short and framed as convenience: "I'm moving my monthly clients to automatic card billing so you never have to think about the transfer again. Here's your signup link, it takes one minute." Start with your most reliable payers, who will say yes immediately, then let the stragglers see that everyone else has switched. Pair it with a payment link for one-off work so every kind of payment has a clean path.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do my customers need an app to be billed monthly?
No. They sign up once through a secure link in their browser. After that, billing happens without any action from them.
Can I offer different amounts to different clients?
Yes. Create a plan per client or per tier. Retainers at different rates just mean different subscriptions.
Can the customer cancel?
You can cancel any subscription from your dashboard whenever a client asks, and doing it promptly is what keeps recurring billing trusted.
Is storing cards safe?
Cards are stored by the underlying payment infrastructure (HandyPay runs on Stripe), not on your phone or laptop. You never see or hold card numbers.