Overview
When a customer pays an invoice online, the money does not land in your bank account the same second. It is processed, batched, and then deposited.
This article explains where the money goes between the customer paying and your bank balance changing, and what to check when a deposit is smaller or later than you expected.
This applies to online card and bank payments taken through MotionOps Payments. Cash and check payments you record by hand never touch the processor, so there is no deposit to wait for.
How It Works
There are four steps between your customer clicking Pay and the money being in your account:
Authorization - the customer's card or bank approves the amount. The invoice in MotionOps shows as paid at this point.
Batch - payments taken during the day are grouped together for settlement.
Settlement - the batch is funded by the card networks or the ACH network.
Deposit - the funds arrive in the bank account you connected during your payment processing signup.
An invoice marked paid in MotionOps means the payment was approved. It does not mean the money has reached your bank yet.
How Long It Takes
Card payments and bank payments do not settle on the same schedule.
Bank payments generally take longer to clear than card payments.
Deposits move on banking days.
A payment taken on a Friday evening will not deposit over the weekend.
MotionOps is actively working with processors to improve the funding times based on your volume and activity.
If you're expecting a deposit payout but haven't received it in 3 business days after charging the customer, contact our Customer Success team to look into it.
Why a Deposit Doesn't Match Your Invoice Totals
A deposit is almost never the exact total of the invoices your customers paid. Common reasons:
Several payments in one deposit. Deposits are made per batch, not per invoice, so one deposit usually covers a group of payments.
Processing fees. Processing fees are deducted from each individual transaction.
Refunds. A refund you issued reduces the deposit it settles against.
Partial payments. If a customer is paying an invoice in instalments, only the instalment they paid is deposited.
A payment still in transit. A payment taken after the batch cutoff settles with the next batch.
If you pass a service fee on to your customers, that fee is collected from the customer and is not the same thing as the processing cost your business is charged. See Service Fee on Invoices.
Changing the Bank Account That Receives Your Deposits
The bank account that receives your deposits is the one you provided during your merchant signup, either through Plaid or by entering your routing and account numbers manually.
You can do so on the payments portal: https://payments.motionops.com or by contacting our support team.
Before you close a bank account: update your deposit account in advance. A deposit sent to a closed account is returned and has to be re-sent, which adds days.
Tips & Best Practices
Reconcile by deposit, not by invoice. Match the deposit in your bank feed to the batch behind it, rather than trying to find one invoice per line.
Don't chase a customer who already paid. If the invoice shows paid in MotionOps, the payment went through. The deposit is just still in transit.
Take payment before the crew leaves. A payment taken on site on a Thursday starts settling immediately. One taken Friday night waits for Monday.
Keep your deposit account separate from your operating account if you can. It makes spotting a missing or short deposit far easier.
Things to Know
Online payment processing through MotionOps is available to United States businesses only.
An invoice marked paid reflects an approved payment, not a completed deposit.
Deposits are made per batch, so one deposit typically covers multiple invoices.
Deposits only move on banking days. Weekends and federal holidays push the date out.
Cash, check, and other manually recorded payments never generate a deposit. See Recording a Manual Payment.
Refunds settle against future deposits rather than being taken back out of a past one. See Refunding a Payment.
Troubleshooting
The invoice says paid but nothing has hit my bank.
That is expected on the day of payment. Payments settle and deposit over the following banking days. Check the expected timing above before raising it with support.
The deposit is smaller than the invoices it covers.
Check for refunds issued in the same period, partial payments, and processing fees. A deposit is the net of everything that settled in that batch.
I have had no deposits at all since signing up.
Confirm your merchant application was fully approved and that your bank details were accepted.
A deposit was returned by my bank.
This usually means the account details on file are out of date or the account is closed. Update your deposit account, then contact support so the returned funds can be re-sent.
I need a record of my deposits for my bookkeeper.
There's a dedicated Payouts Report available in MotionOps reports.
Have questions? Reach out via the support chat or email support@motionops.com.