Setting Up Payment Methods

Overview

MartialFlow is your school's system of record for membership payments: it tracks who should pay what, and by when, and lets you record every payment against the right membership. MartialFlow does not charge members' cards or collect membership fees automatically — collection happens through the channels you choose (cash, bank transfer, card at the front desk, or a direct debit provider such as GoCardless), and you record the outcome in MartialFlow so nothing slips through the cracks.

This guide explains how each payment channel fits into MartialFlow and how to set your school up for accurate payment tracking.

Prerequisites

• You have Director or Administrator permissions
• Your school has completed basic setup
• You understand your school's billing policies and preferred collection channels

How Payments Work in MartialFlow

The Payment Tracking Model

MartialFlow's billing model has four building blocks:

1. Membership plans and pricing tiers — define what each class or program costs and assign the right plan to each student
2. Expected payments — MartialFlow tracks what each customer owes, with a status and a payment deadline, so overdue accounts are visible at a glance
3. Manual payment recording — when money arrives through any channel, staff record the payment (amount, date, method) against the customer
4. Payment reconciliation — a reconciliation dashboard matches recorded payments against memberships, and a financial overview per club shows how collections are going

What MartialFlow Does Not Do

To set expectations with your staff and families:

• No automatic card charging or recurring billing engine for membership fees
• No storage of member card numbers or bank details
• No automatic payment retries or dunning — follow-up on missed payments is a human process, supported by tracking and messaging tools

Where Stripe Fits (and Where It Doesn't)

Stripe is used in MartialFlow for specific, limited purposes:

• Your school's own MartialFlow subscription — the SaaS fee your school pays for the platform
• Online shop checkout — shop orders are paid through Stripe Connect
• SMS credits — purchased through Stripe when you top up messaging

Stripe is not used to collect membership or tuition fees from your families.

Choosing Collection Channels

Pick the channels that suit your families, then make sure staff know how each one lands in MartialFlow.

Cash and Check

• Collected in person at the front desk
• Record the payment in MartialFlow immediately, noting the method
• Issue a receipt according to your school's policy

Bank Transfer / Standing Order

• Families set up transfers from their own bank
• Ask families to use a clear reference (student or family name)
• Record each transfer in MartialFlow when it appears on your bank statement

Card at the Front Desk

• Processed on your school's own card terminal (outside MartialFlow)
• Record the payment in MartialFlow once the terminal confirms it

Direct Debit via an External Provider

• Providers such as GoCardless handle mandates, collections, and retries entirely on their side
• MartialFlow stores your provider's sign-up URL on each class and redirects families to it from the Direct Debit page
• See Direct Debit Setup for the full walkthrough
• Record collection outcomes in MartialFlow so payment statuses stay current

Setting Up for Accurate Tracking

Membership Plans and Pricing

1. Define pricing per class or program

   • Set the fee for each class, including any tier differences (age, skill level, location)
   • Keep pricing aligned with what your direct debit provider collects, if you use one

2. Assign plans to students

   • Enrollment links each student to the right class pricing
   • Family and promotional discounts are reflected in what you expect to collect

See Membership Plans & Subscriptions for details.

Recording Payments

1. Open the customer account

   • Go to Tables → Customers and select the customer/family
   • Open the billing or payments section

2. Record the payment

   • Enter the amount, date, and payment method
   • Add a note if the payment is partial, custom, or covers multiple students
   • The customer's payment status updates accordingly

Reconciliation

• Use the payment reconciliation dashboard to match recorded payments against memberships
• Investigate mismatches: missed recordings, wrong amounts, or payments without a matching membership
• Review the financial overview per club to spot collection gaps early

Security and Data Protection

• No member payment credentials in MartialFlow — card numbers and bank details never pass through or get stored in the system for membership fees
• Direct debit details live with your provider, which handles mandates and banking compliance
• Shop payments are processed by Stripe; MartialFlow does not see card details
• Role-based access — limit billing screens to staff who need them, and keep an audit trail of who recorded what

Best Practices

1. One recording habit - Record payments the day they arrive, whatever the channel
2. Clear references - Ask families to reference the student or family name on bank transfers
3. Consistent methods - Note the payment method on every recorded payment for cleaner reconciliation
4. Regular reconciliation - Reconcile recorded payments against memberships weekly or monthly
5. Communicate options - Tell families exactly which payment channels you accept and how

Troubleshooting

Issue: A payment arrived but the customer still shows as unpaid
Solution: The payment hasn't been recorded, or was recorded against the wrong customer. Record it or reassign it, and the status will update.

Issue: Bank transfers are hard to match to families
Solution: Ask families to include the student's name as the transfer reference, and reconcile against your bank statement on a fixed schedule.

Issue: Direct debit collection failed at the provider
Solution: Failures, retries, and mandate issues are managed in your provider's dashboard. Once resolved (or not), update the payment status in MartialFlow and follow up with the family.

Next Steps

After setting up your payment channels:

1. Managing Customer Billing - Set up customer billing profiles and record payments
2. Membership Plans & Subscriptions - Assign plans and track what each student owes
3. Payment Status Tracking - Monitor statuses and deadlines
4. Handling Overdue Payments - Follow up on missed payments

Getting Help

For payment setup assistance:

• Review First-Time School Setup for initial configuration
• Check Family Account Management for customer billing setup
• See Direct Debit Setup for provider link configuration
• Contact support for complex payment tracking questions

With clear collection channels and a consistent recording habit, MartialFlow gives you an accurate, always-current picture of your school's payments — without ever holding your members' card details.