Do I have to connect Stripe to use LightQuoter?

No. Stripe is optional — you can skip it during signup and set it up later in Settings, or save a backup payment link (Venmo, PayPal, Square) that customers see until Stripe is connected.

How much of the quote do customers pay upfront?

You choose. The Deposit Percentage slider in Settings goes from 10% to 100% (default 50%). After a customer signs, they are asked to pay that percentage of the quote total.

What does LightQuoter charge on payments?

A 2% platform fee on Stripe payments, which you can either absorb or pass to the customer on top of their payment. LightQuoter Pro ($497/yr) drops the fee to 0%.

When does my money arrive?

Payments go through your own Stripe account, so Stripe pays out to your bank on its normal schedule — LightQuoter never holds your money.

Connect Stripe and set up how you get paid

Customers pay their deposit right on the quote page, seconds after signing — but only if you’ve set up a way to get paid. You have two options: connect Stripe for card payments (recommended), or save your own payment link as a simple fallback.

Connect Stripe (recommended)

Go to Settings and find the 💳 Online Payments card.
Click Connect Stripe. You’ll be taken to Stripe to set up (or link) an account — business details, bank account, identity. It usually takes a few minutes.
When you finish, you’ll land back in LightQuoter on a “Stripe Connected!” screen. The Online Payments card now reads Stripe Connected with an Open Stripe Dashboard ↗ link.

That’s it — every quote you send can now take card payments. Money goes through your own Stripe account and pays out to your bank on Stripe’s normal schedule; LightQuoter never holds your funds.

If you started Stripe setup but didn’t finish, the card shows Continue Stripe Setup — click it to pick up where you left off.

No Stripe yet? Use a backup payment link

Until Stripe is connected, you can collect through Venmo, PayPal, Square, or anything else with a shareable link:

In Settings, find the Backup Payment Link field.
Paste your link — e.g. https://venmo.com/u/yourbusiness.
Click Save Payment Settings.

Customers will see a 💳 Pay Deposit → button that opens your link and enter the amount themselves. Payments made this way aren’t tracked automatically — record them yourself in the quote’s Payments panel so your totals stay right. Once Stripe is connected, the backup link is no longer used.

Zelle doesn’t offer shareable payment links, so it can’t go in this field. If a customer pays by Zelle, cash, or check, just log it with 💰 Record Payment on the quote.

Set your deposit percentage

The Deposit Percentage slider (10%–100%, default 50%) controls how much of the quote total customers are asked to pay after signing. Set it to 100% if you want full payment upfront. On multi-year contract quotes, the deposit is calculated from the discounted per-year price the customer actually signed for.

The platform fee (and how to not pay it)

LightQuoter charges a 2% platform fee on Stripe payments. Two levers:

Pass 2% Platform Fee to Customer (Settings toggle, off by default) — adds the fee on top of the customer’s payment instead of deducting it from your payout. Example on a $1,000 quote: customer pays $1,020, you receive $1,000 (minus Stripe processing).
LightQuoter Pro — $497/yr drops the platform fee to 0% on every payment. The ⭐ LightQuoter Pro card in Settings has the details; if you’re collecting more than ~$25k/season through Stripe, Pro pays for itself.

Troubleshooting

“Session expired. Please reconnect Stripe.” — the Stripe setup link timed out. Just click Connect Stripe again; your progress is saved on Stripe’s side.
Customer says there’s no payment button on their signed quote. Payment options only appear after signing — and only if Stripe is connected or a Payment Link is saved. If neither is set up, the signed quote shows no payment section at all.