Do I need my own GoCardless account?
Yes. Socket doesn't provide or manage GoCardless accounts. You'll need to sign up for your own GoCardless account directly at gocardless.com before you can connect it to Socket.
GoCardless fees are set by GoCardless and depend on your plan with them. Socket doesn't charge any additional fees for the integration itself.
Once you have a GoCardless account set up, connecting it to Socket takes just a couple of minutes. Here's how.
GoCardless collects one-off and recurring invoice payments from your clients. If you already use Xero for billing and have GoCardless connected to Xero, setting it up in Socket is quick and easy.
Go to Practice Settings > Integrations and toggle 'Show All Available Integrations' to find the GoCardless Mandate Link.
Direct Debit Link
Clicking on this button will reveal the mandate link box, where you'll need to paste your GoCardless authorisation link. You should find this in your GoCardless account by clicking on "Invite Customer" and then "Copy Link", see below.
Making Direct Debit optional or mandatory on a proposal
When creating or editing a proposal, you can control whether clients are required to set up a Direct Debit or whether it is optional. This setting is found on the Customise step of the proposal wizard, under Additional Customisation.
If a client has asked to have the Direct Debit requirement removed after you've already sent the proposal, you can revert the proposal to draft (provided the client hasn't signed yet), change the setting, and resend. To do this, open the proposal, select Revert to Draft from the three dots menu, then go to the Customise step and adjust the Direct Debit setting under Additional Customisation before sending again.
Note: if you use Adfin rather than GoCardless, the Direct Debit toggle appears in the top right of the Customise screen rather than in Additional Customisation, but the same process applies.
Adding Prompt Text
You can add an optional prompt message to appear on the client view of the proposal, just above the payment setup link. This message will vary depending on whether the client is an Organisation or an Individual.
The prompt text will be displayed in different locations alongside the payment link, depending on the option you choose.
1. Showing the Payment Link Before the Client Signs the Proposal
If you select the 'Before Proposal Signature' option, then this will be shown on the fees page of the proposal.
When a client clicks the 'Set Up Payment' button, a new tab will open, taking them directly to GoCardless and your authorisation link, where they'll enter their payment details.
Once complete, they can return to the Socket tab and tick the box to confirm they have provided their payment details. They won't be able to proceed until this box is ticked.
2. Showing the Payment Link After the Client Signs the Proposal
This means the 'Set Up Payment' button will appear after the proposal has been signed and accepted. Once the client clicks the link, they will be redirected to your GoCardless payment link, just like in the first option.
With option 2, it's important to note that if you have chosen to direct clients to a website after signing the proposal (as per Proposal Settings below), then this website link will take priority and the GoCardless payment link will not be shown.
If you do want to continue directing clients to a website, then you could either:
Keep the website URL in place and choose the "Before Proposal Signature" option.
or
Remove the website URL from the Proposal Settings so Socket will show the "Proposal Approved - Confirmation and Next Steps" wording. This wording can be customised to include a website link and can be found at Settings > Content > Proposal Approved - Confirmation and Next Steps. The 'Set Up Payment' button will display below.