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With the “Pay by invoice” payment method (Pay-Later), your customers book without an immediate obligation to pay. They receive an invoice after the booking and can pay flexibly by bank transfer or online. This lowers barriers during checkout and is especially suitable for B2B customers or scenarios where payment should happen later.
For Pay-Later, the payment type Pay by invoice must be active in the booking option’s Payments tab. In addition, at least one of the following options must be active under Account → Settings → Invoicing: Allow online payment or Allow payment by bank transfer.

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How does pay by invoice work?

When you activate “Pay by invoice” for a booking option, the checkout flow changes:
  1. Customers complete the booking without entering payment details.
  2. anny automatically creates an order with an invoice draft.
  3. The invoice is finalized on the booking day and sent to the customer by email (with automatic invoice generation active).
  4. Customers then pay flexibly: by bank transfer, online via the invoice link, or on site.
Until it is sent, the invoice remains editable as a draft. You can adjust line items, add items or enter discounts before you finalize it.
If payment reminders are activated in the global invoice settings, anny automatically sends up to three reminders (on the due date, then 7 and 14 days later).

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When do I use this?

  • Your customers are companies or public authorities with internal invoice approval: Pay-Later allows booking without a credit card and delivers a proper invoice for internal processing.
  • You want to increase checkout conversion: Customers do not need to enter payment details, which reduces drop-off rates.
  • You offer services where payment is usually made after delivery: For example consulting, room rental or events.
  • You want to give customers a choice: Combined with “Pay online in advance”, customers see both options during checkout and decide for themselves.
  • Not suitable for: Scenarios where prepayment is mandatory (e.g. high no-show rate or tickets without a cancellation option). Here “Pay online in advance” is the better choice.

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Relationship with other features

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Settings & options

Path: Catalog → Services → booking option → Payments tab
If “Track payment status” is deactivated, all orders are automatically set to “paid”. With Pay-Later this can lead to inconsistencies, because payment is still pending. Always activate this setting for Pay-Later.

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Behavior during checkout

Customers see the available payment methods at a glance during checkout. If several options are active (e.g. “Pay online in advance” and “Pay by invoice”), customers can choose freely.

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Behavior in the order overview

In the admin order overview, Pay-Later orders show the value Online and offline in the “Payment” column. This is correct, because at the time of booking it is not yet clear whether the customer will later pay online (via the invoice link) or offline (bank transfer, cash).

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Practical examples

A coworking space rents meeting rooms to companies that want to settle internally via a collective invoice.
1

Configure payment method

Open the meeting room’s booking option under Catalog → Services → booking option → Payments tab. Choose Pay by invoice and activate Generate invoice automatically and Track payment status.
2

Activate payment reminders

You don’t set payment reminders on the booking option but for the whole organization: go to Account → Settings → Invoicing and activate Send payment reminders. Set the due date to 14 days.
3

Check the result

Corporate customers book without payment details. The invoice is sent on the booking day and the payment status stays “open” until you confirm receipt of payment.
A consultant wants customers to pay only after the appointment, but still receive an automatic invoice.
1

Set up Pay-Later

Open the “Consulting appointment” booking option under Catalog → Services → booking option → Payments tab. Choose Pay by invoice.
2

Configure invoice timing

Activate Generate invoice automatically. The invoice is created at the time of booking. Alternatively: deactivate automatic generation and finalize invoices manually only after the appointment.
3

Track incoming payments

In the order overview under Management → Orders, you see open payments. Mark them as “paid” manually once payment arrives.

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FAQ

Yes. With the invoice, customers receive an online payment link they can use to pay by credit card, PayPal or other methods. This requires that online payment is allowed in the global settings.
With automatic invoice generation active, the invoice is finalized and sent by email on the day of the booking. Until then, it remains editable as a draft.
If payment reminders are activated, anny automatically sends up to three reminders. You then have to set the payment status to “paid” or “cancelled” manually.
Not for the same booking option. You choose one payment method per booking option. But you can create different booking options on the same resource with different payment methods.

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Troubleshooting

In the global settings under Account → Settings → Invoicing, either “Allow online payment” or “Allow payment by bank transfer” must be active. Without one of these options, Pay-Later is not available.
Check whether “Generate invoice automatically” is active in the booking option. If the setting is deactivated, the invoice stays saved as a draft and must be finalized manually.
The “Track payment status” setting is deactivated. Activate it in the booking option under Payments so that orders stay in the “open” status.