SortMyBooks Direct Debits with Go Cardless

You can now streamline your collections process by offering your customers the convenience of direct debit payments.

We are integrated with GoCardless for this feature.

Have a look here to see how you can easily set it up and get paid.

Click the link to see this video: GoCardless How To

Part 1: Connect GoCardless to SortMyBooks

Do this once, when you first set up the integration.

1. Log in to your SortMyBooks file.
2. Click Home → Settings → API. This is where all of SortMyBooks' integrations live.

The API integrations screen in SortMyBooks Settings.

3. Find the GoCardless box and click Setup Now.
4. On the next screen, click Authorise.

Authorising the GoCardless connection.

5. If you already have a GoCardless account, log in with your existing details. If not, click Sign up now and create one.

Logging in to (or signing up for) GoCardless.

Note: If you're setting up a brand-new GoCardless account, you'll need to enter your company details and complete GoCardless's verification process before continuing.

6. Enter your company details: Business name, type, email address, phone number and password.

Entering details

7.  You will be brought back to SortMyBooks. 
8. Set the Bank Account for incoming payouts. Go to Accounts > Bank, add an account, and name it GoCardless (type - bank).

9. Set the GoCardless as a VAT-registered, reverse-charge supplier. Go to Purchases > Suppliers, add a supplier: name - GoCardless Fee, country - France, select Payee type - Supplier, and click OK. Click GoCardless in the list of suppliers, then go to the Financial tab and select VAT Type - Reverse Charge EU.

   

10. Go to Home, Settings, API, and click to configure your GoCardless settings.

11. The GoCardless Creditor field will already be filled in for you.

12. Set the Bank Account of incoming payments — GoCardless account. Invoices that your customers pay are automatically marked as paid into this account.

13. Set the Bank Account of incoming pay-outs — this is the account you nominated on the GoCardless side to receive the funds GoCardless collects from your customers (e.g. a current account).

14. Select GoCardless Supplier - GoCardless Fee. Click Save.

Configuring the GoCardless creditor and bank accounts.

Part 2: Set Up Your Customers for Direct Debit

1. Go to Sales → Customers and find or add the customer you want to set up.
2. Click the Financial tab and set the Payment Type to GoCardless.

Setting a customer's payment type to GoCardless on their Financial tab.

3. Click Email Mandate Request. This sends the customer a Direct Debit mandate to complete once, so you can collect their outstanding invoices by Direct Debit going forward.

Sending a Direct Debit mandate request to a customer.

4. The customer receives an email like this—they click the link and enter their bank details.

The mandate request email your customer receives.

5. Once they've completed the mandate, you'll receive a confirmation email.

Confirmation email once the customer completes their mandate.

Part 3: Invoicing with GoCardless

1. Go to Sales → Invoices, click Add, and create the invoice exactly as you normally would.

Creating an invoice as usual.

2. When you send the invoice, you'll see a box confirming that payment will be collected via GoCardless.

The “payment to be collected by GoCardless” notice is displayed when sending an invoice.

3. Your customer's emailed invoice will include a notice telling them not to pay it directly, since it will be collected by Direct Debit.

The customer-facing invoice, showing the Direct Debit collection notice.

For maximum automation

If you invoice the same customer regularly — monthly, weekly or yearly — set the invoice's recurring status so it goes out automatically on that schedule.

Setting an invoice to recur monthly, weekly or yearly.

Collecting in batches

You can also collect a batch of invoices by Direct Debit in one go. Set the payment type to GoCardless on the batch, and all due invoices will be emailed out and collected together.

Collecting a batch of due invoices by GoCardless in one go.

Part 4: Bookkeeping and Reconciliation

This is where SortMyBooks saves a lot of back-and-forth between business owners and their bookkeeper or accountant when reconciling merchant accounts — because it's all automatic.

1. On any invoice paid by Direct Debit, click the Payment tab. You'll clearly see its status and where it is in the collection cycle, with a link straight back to the GoCardless account if you need it.

The Payment tab on an invoice, showing its GoCardless collection status.

2. Go to the GoCardless Account Statement in SortMyBooks to view the automated transactions, presented in bank account format.

The GoCardless Account Statement in SortMyBooks.

On that statement, you'll see: the invoice being paid; the money, less GoCardless's fees, being transferred to your nominated payout account; and the GoCardless fee recorded as a payment on account to the GoCardless supplier. All of this happens automatically.

The automated invoice payment, payout and fee entries on the statement.

3. Once a month, you'll receive a proper fees invoice from GoCardless — a reverse-charge VAT invoice. Bring this into SortMyBooks using your usual method for purchase invoices.

GoCardless's monthly reverse-charge VAT fees invoice.

4. Go to Purchases → Payments to reconcile the GoCardless fees invoice against the fee amounts already posted.

Reconciling the GoCardless fees invoice under Purchases → Payments.

Once GoCardless is connected, your customers are set up, and their invoices are marked for GoCardless collection, the whole cycle — collecting the money, transferring it to your account, and recording GoCardless's fees — runs automatically, ready for you to reconcile each month.