Industry
Payments software for home services and trade contractors
Home service businesses lose money in the gap between finishing a job and getting paid. Enterprise Pay Gateway closes it: a deposit checkout link when the quote is accepted, a balance link the technician sends from the driveway, and recurring maintenance plans billed monthly or annually. Payouts land in your own bank account, on a fixed monthly subscription plus a platform fee from 0.20% to 0.75%, with Stripe's processing fee billed separately by Stripe.
Last updated 9 September 2026
Typical job value
$180–$14,000
A service call and a system replacement need different payment flows: one instant charge, one deposit-and-stages structure.
Maintenance plan fit
High
Annual or monthly maintenance agreements smooth seasonal revenue and dramatically raise repeat-call rates.
Days to payment
0 vs 30+
Card-on-site payment settles in days. Invoicing after the fact routinely runs past thirty days and generates chase work.
Where the money leaks
Invoices sent after the van leaves
Every day between completion and payment lowers the chance of collecting in full. A link sent while the technician is still on site is paid at a far higher rate.
Materials funded out of cash flow
Large installs mean buying materials before any money arrives. A deposit at quote acceptance funds the job instead of the business.
Maintenance plans sold on paper
Annual agreements collected by cheque or not at all. Recurring card billing turns them into predictable revenue and a reason to visit.
No visibility across technicians
Who sold what, at what value, is spread across job sheets. Consolidated payment reporting shows real revenue per technician and per service type.
The four payment flows you need
- 1
Quote deposit
Send a deposit checkout link the moment the quote is accepted, sized to cover materials.
- 2
Progress or completion payment
Send a balance link from site. The customer pays by phone before the technician leaves.
- 3
Maintenance plan
Bill monthly or annually with automatic retries so the agreement renews without a phone call.
- 4
Reporting
Track revenue by service type, technician and plan renewals in one dashboard.
What home services payment processing costs
Stripe bills card processing directly to your account — the published US online card rate is 2.9% plus 30 cents at the time of writing. Card-present readers are priced lower and are worth using for on-site work.
Enterprise Pay Gateway charges a fixed monthly subscription from $49 plus a platform fee: 0.75% on Starter, 0.60% on Growth, 0.40% on Pro, negotiated 0.20%–0.35% for larger contractors.
A contractor turning over $200,000 a month sits on Pro or Enterprise. At Pro that is $199 plus roughly $800 in platform fees, alongside Stripe's processing — worth negotiating an Enterprise rate at that volume.
Deposits that hold up
State the deposit amount, what it covers and the cancellation window on the quote itself, and repeat it in the checkout description. That description is the evidence a card issuer looks at in a dispute.
Keep deposits proportionate to materials and mobilisation. Oversized deposits on unstarted work attract disputes and slow acceptance.
For staged installs, take payment at defined milestones rather than a single balloon at the end. Smaller, more frequent charges are collected more reliably.
Turning one-off calls into recurring revenue
A maintenance agreement is the highest-value thing most trades can sell, because it converts an unpredictable emergency business into a subscription with scheduled visits.
Bill it on a card with automatic retries, and let customers update payment details themselves. Renewal by card beats renewal by reminder letter by a wide margin.
Frequently asked questions
- Can a contractor take a deposit before starting work?
- Yes. Create a deposit product sized to cover materials and mobilisation, share the checkout link when the quote is accepted, and credit it against the final balance. Put the deposit terms on the quote and in the checkout description.
- Can technicians take payment on site?
- Yes. Send the customer a checkout link by text from the job. They pay on their own phone and you see the payment in the dashboard immediately.
- Can we bill annual maintenance agreements?
- Yes. Set the agreement up as a recurring product billed monthly or annually, with automatic retries on a declined card and a self-serve portal for updates.
- What does it cost?
- Stripe's card processing fee plus a platform fee. Enterprise Pay Gateway charges $49 to $199 a month plus 0.75% down to 0.40%, with negotiated 0.20%–0.35% pricing at higher volume.
Start taking deposits this week
Create your account, verify with Stripe, and share your first checkout link. Card processing is provided by Stripe under its own agreement with you.