If your client couldn't pay an invoice online, Handoff stopped the payment to protect your business. This isn't a judgment on you or your client, and it isn't permanent.
Why it happened: the payment was larger than your account's current limits, or something on your account needs attention first, such as an open dispute.
Why we do it: a card payment can be taken back months after you've been paid. We set limits so one reversed payment can't leave your business with a bill it can't cover.
What to do now: message us in the in-app chat. We'll explain why this payment was stopped and what your options are.
What to tell your client
Your client may wonder why their payment didn't go through. You can tell them something like:
"Online payment isn't available for this invoice amount. I'll follow up with another way to pay."
It's nothing your client did, so there's no need to ask them to try again or use a different card.
Why Handoff protects you from chargebacks
When a client pays by card, they can later ask their card company to take the payment back. That's a chargeback. The money comes back out of your bank account, even if you've already spent it on materials and labor. While the dispute is open, the amount is held back from you until the bank decides.
Card networks generally give cardholders about 120 days to dispute a charge, and longer when they say the work wasn't finished as agreed. Each dispute also brings fees and paperwork, whether you win or lose.
Construction is especially exposed because of how jobs are paid for:
Payments are large. A $40,000 progress payment taken back months later can be more than a small business has in the bank.
Payment often comes before the work is done. Deposits and progress payments leave a long window between being paid and finishing the job.
Most contractors never deal with a chargeback, so it's easy not to know the risk exists until it happens. That's the situation we're trying to keep you out of. We'd rather you know before your client pays than find out after the money has moved.
Bank (ACH) payments
Bank payments are harder to take back than card payments, but they can still be returned, for example when the client's account doesn't have enough money. When a bank payment is larger than what you normally collect, our team reviews it case by case. We may ask for a few recent business bank statements.
How Handoff checks a card payment
We check each invoice when you send it, and again right before your client pays, because something may have changed in between. We look at:
The size of the payment, compared with your account's single payment limit.
How much you've collected online this month, including payments still processing. The monthly total resets on the 1st.
Recent invoices to the same client and the total on one project. We look at these together, so several smaller invoices for the same work are checked the same way as one large one.
Your connected bank account, so a reversed payment wouldn't leave you with a negative balance.
Your payment history, such as recent returned payments or open disputes.
When you open an invoice, the message above the payment details tells you where it stands. Your client can pay this invoice through Handoff means it's within your limits. Your client can't pay online at this amount means it isn't, and the message underneath says why.
Getting higher limits
Your limits are set when you're approved for online payments, based on the payment amounts you listed in your application. Limits don't change on their own. Every 90 days, you can ask us to re-evaluate them to see whether your business can support higher limits. A steady history of payments without disputes helps.
To ask for a review, message us in the in-app chat. If you know a large payment is coming, message us before you send the invoice, and we can tell you whether it's within your limits.
If you collect a payment outside Handoff, log it on the invoice so your records stay accurate.
Lower your chargeback risk
The best protection is a clear record that your client agreed to the work and that you did it:
Get the proposal signed before you start, and put every change in an approved change order.
Match deposits and progress payments to the payment schedule your client approved.
Take photos and keep daily logs as the work happens.
Make sure each invoice says what the payment covers.
Answer billing questions quickly, so your client comes to you before their bank.
If a client does dispute a payment, see How chargebacks and payment reversals work for how to respond.