How to set up Stripe so your families can pay online
Connecting Stripe lets families pay invoices by card from a link on the invoice. Payments go straight to your bank account, and Octavia records each one against the invoice for you. It takes a few minutes and you only do it once.
You can skip this entirely and record bank transfers and cash by hand. Both ways of paying work side by side.
Step 1 — Open School Settings
In the sidebar on the left, find the Setup section and click School Settings.
Step 2 — Choose Integrations
School Settings opens with a list of sections. Choose Integrations.
Only school admins can see this section. If you don’t see it, ask an admin at your school to do this setup.
Settings
Sections
Choose an area to manage school, teacher, and account configuration.
Step 3 — Open the Stripe tab
Select Stripe from the row of tabs. Until Stripe is connected you’ll see a short summary of what online payments give you.
If you see a message saying Stripe billing is part of the upgraded plan, upgrade your school first and then come back to this step.
Get paid online (directly to your bank)
Parents pay invoices online, and payments go straight to your bank account. We use Stripe to handle payments securely — we never see your money.
Parents can pay invoices online in one click.
Payments are automatically recorded and matched to invoices.
Stripe deposits funds directly into your bank account.
Step 4 — Set your school’s country, if Octavia asks
If you see One quick step before you start, Octavia needs your school’s country before it can set up Stripe. Select Invoice Settings in the message, or go to Billing settings and find the Invoice Settings section.
Choose your country from the School country list. It saves as soon as you pick it, and the Stripe tab is ready to use when you go back.
Get paid online (directly to your bank)
Parents pay invoices online, and payments go straight to your bank account. We use Stripe to handle payments securely — we never see your money.
Parents can pay invoices online in one click.
Payments are automatically recorded and matched to invoices.
Stripe deposits funds directly into your bank account.
One quick step before you start
Set your school’s country in Invoice Settings (under Billing settings) so Stripe knows where to send payouts.
Invoice Settings
Currency and region
Used on invoices and for online payments.
A 2-letter country code. Needed before you can connect Stripe for online payments.
Step 5 — Click “Get paid with Stripe”
Back on the Stripe tab, click Get paid with Stripe.
Get paid online (directly to your bank)
Parents pay invoices online, and payments go straight to your bank account. We use Stripe to handle payments securely — we never see your money.
Parents can pay invoices online in one click.
Payments are automatically recorded and matched to invoices.
Stripe deposits funds directly into your bank account.
Step 6 — Follow Stripe’s secure sign-up
Octavia sends you to Stripe’s own secure page, where you create a Stripe account or connect one you already have, confirm your identity, and add the bank account you want to be paid into.
Octavia never holds your money. Payments go from your families to Stripe and then to your bank. When you finish, Stripe brings you back to Octavia automatically.
If you get interrupted, nothing is lost. Come back later and pick up where you left off (see step 8).
Step 7 — Check that all three badges are green
Back in Octavia, the Stripe tab now shows your connected account and three badges: Charges enabled, Payouts enabled and Details submitted.
When all three are green, you’re ready to take payments. If a badge hasn’t caught up yet, click Refresh to check with Stripe again.
Get paid online (directly to your bank)
Parents pay invoices online, and payments go straight to your bank account. We use Stripe to handle payments securely — we never see your money.
What “Charges enabled” means
Once enabled, your school can accept card payments through Stripe. This is the key flag for “ready to take payments”.
Step 8 — If you see “Finish setup”, carry on where you left off
If Stripe is waiting on something (for example you stopped partway, or Stripe asked for more information), one or more badges stay red and the button reads Finish setup.
Click it to reopen Stripe exactly where you left off. Later on, the same button reads Update Stripe details and lets you change your bank account or other details without disturbing existing payments.
Get paid online (directly to your bank)
Parents pay invoices online, and payments go straight to your bank account. We use Stripe to handle payments securely — we never see your money.
What “Charges enabled” means
Once enabled, your school can accept card payments through Stripe. This is the key flag for “ready to take payments”.
Step 9 — Send an invoice as usual
There’s nothing more to turn on. When you send an invoice, Octavia adds a payment link to it automatically as long as there’s a balance to pay and Stripe is ready.
Families open the link, pay by card on a secure page, and the payment is recorded in Octavia for you. Once an invoice is fully paid, a receipt is created automatically.
Families who prefer bank transfer or cash can still pay that way, and you record those payments yourself as before.
Invoice
INV-0042
Pay online
Families click thisOpen payment link