How Does Scaftra Handle Customer Payments?

How does a contractor collect a card payment from a homeowner against the project's billing?

Scaftra's customer-payment foundation lets a contractor take a card payment from their client on the contractor's own payment account, recorded against the project, with the contractor as the merchant.

The problem it solves

A residential contractor bills a homeowner and needs to collect, often by card. The homeowner pays an invoice, not an AIA pay app, and the funds should flow to the contractor's own account, not through the software vendor. The customer-payment side is about the construction company collecting from its clients through the client portal, on the tenant's own account.

Why it matters

Collecting a card payment that records cleanly against the project's billing closes the loop between the work and the money. The architecture stance is that funds flow directly from the payer to the contractor: the contractor is the merchant of record, and the software never custodies the money. Getting that separation right is what keeps the contractor in control of their own receivables.

Common mistakes

How it works

1. Bill the client

   The contractor issues the client's billing against the project, on the residential direct-invoice path for homeowners.
2. Prepare the card payment

   The contractor prepares a card payment on their own payment account through the client portal.
3. The client pays

   The homeowner pays by card; the funds flow directly to the contractor as the merchant of record.
4. Record against the project

   The payment is recorded against the project's billing so the work and the money stay tied together.

How Scaftra does it

Scaftra's customer-payment foundation is built and live: the card-payment paths that prepare and record a card payment, mirror the client's payment identity, and create and submit a residential direct invoice all ship. The architecture is tenant-owned: the contractor collects from its clients on the contractor's own connected payment account, with Scaftra orchestrating the payment and the contractor as the merchant of record, never custodying funds. Residential homeowners pay direct invoices, a separate billing path from the AIA pay-app workflow used on commercial and sub work. This surface is partial: the card-rail foundation is in place, while the broader customer-payment experience is still being built out across the client portal. [OPERATOR: confirm which client-facing payment screens are live on beta versus still in build before publishing.]

Key capabilities

• Contractor as merchant of record: Funds flow directly to the contractor's own connected account; the platform orchestrates but never custodies the money.
• Card-rail foundation: The paths to prepare and record a card payment and mirror the client's payment identity are built and live.
• Residential direct invoice: Homeowners pay direct invoices, a separate path from the AIA pay-app workflow on commercial work.
• Recorded against the project: A card payment records against the project's billing, keeping the work and the money tied together.

Benefits

• The contractor collects on their own account and stays in control of their receivables.
• Homeowners pay invoices on the path built for residential billing, not AIA pay apps.
• Card payments record against the project's billing rather than a side ledger.

Who it's for

• Residential contractors.Shops billing homeowners who want to collect a card payment on their own account.
• Controllers.Finance staff who need client payments to record against the project's billing.

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