Scout SuiteHow-to guide
Connecting GoCardless
For the Treasurer or anyone who can manage finances for the Group. The Group stays the one collecting: payments go into the Group's own GoCardless account and are paid out to the Group's bank.
Connect your GoCardless account
Open Settings → Payments. On the Direct Debit (GoCardless) card press Connect your GoCardless account. You are taken to GoCardless's sign-in page to sign in and allow Scout Suite to use it, and then brought back to the Group's finance page. No GoCardless account yet? The card has a link to create an account on GoCardless first; once it's set up, come back and connect it.
The link from Connect your GoCardless account works for an hour and only for the person who pressed it. If it has expired, press the button again.
One GoCardless account can be connected to one Group only. If the account you sign in with is already connected to another Group in Scout Suite, the connection is refused and you're told so: disconnect it from that Group first, or connect a different GoCardless account. The other Group's connection keeps working.
If there's no Direct Debit (GoCardless) card on Settings → Payments, GoCardless isn't available on this Scout Suite yet.
Once connected, the card shows your GoCardless account's name and its status with GoCardless: Verified, Being checked, or Action needed (finish setting up your account in your GoCardless dashboard before GoCardless can pay money out to your bank). Below it, Direct Debits lists every Direct Debit on your GoCardless account with its status, such as Active, Being set up or Cancelled, and the parent it belongs to.
Disconnect on the same card removes Scout Suite's access. Payments already recorded stay.
Collect subs by Direct Debit
To collect subs with GoCardless: if it's the only account connected it's used without asking; if Stripe is connected too, choose GoCardless under Who takes Direct Debit on the same page. Parents then see Set up Direct Debit on the Group's Payments page in their portal. They enter their bank details on a GoCardless page, and the mandate is saved in Scout Suite as soon as GoCardless has it.
Mandates you already have in GoCardless (for example from another system) can be linked to a member under Link existing mandate to a member, so nobody has to set one up again.
GoCardless's pages are filled in with the parent's name and email, and their home address if they have made a Gift Aid declaration with the Group, so there's less to type.
Let families pay by bank
First check in your GoCardless dashboard that Instant Bank Pay (pay by bank) is switched on for your account; if it isn't, ask GoCardless to switch it on. Then, on the GoCardless card, tick My GoCardless account is set up for pay by bank and switch on Let families pay by bank. It's off until you do both. Unticking the box hides Pay by bank from families straight away.
If a family's pay by bank fails because GoCardless says your account isn't set up for it, the family sees a calm message (nothing is taken, and card and Direct Debit still work) and the card shows a notice that the box may be wrong. Nothing is switched off for you: check GoCardless, then untick and tick the box again to clear the notice.
Families pay by bank from the Membership Portal: Pay by bank is next to Pay by card on each outstanding invoice, and on the invoice's own page when they're signed in. They choose their bank on a GoCardless page and approve the payment in their banking app. No card details, and no Direct Debit to set up. The invoice shows Your payment is on its way until the bank confirms it, usually within a few minutes, and then it's marked paid on its own and the family gets the usual receipt.
When your Group collects Direct Debit with GoCardless, a parent who hasn't set one up yet also sees Pay by bank and set up Direct Debit for future payments: one approval in their banking app pays this invoice now and sets up their Direct Debit for later ones.
Only parents pay by bank, for their own invoices. Nobody in the Group can take a bank payment on a family's behalf, and someone opening the invoice link without signing in is offered card and a link to sign in.
In Income & Payments these payments show as Pay by bank. They reach your bank inside a GoCardless payout with your Direct Debit payments, so they're matched under Payouts, not one by one against bank lines.
A payment that fails or is returned after it was confirmed puts the invoice back to owing, and the family can pay again.
Pay by bank is for payments in pounds from UK bank accounts.
If Stripe is connected too
With both Stripe and GoCardless connected, the card asks Who takes bank payments: GoCardless (Pay by bank) or Stripe (the bank option on the Stripe checkout). Until you choose, families aren't offered a bank payment at all. Choosing GoCardless switches off the Stripe checkout's bank option, so families only ever see one. Card payments go through Stripe, or Square if that's who takes card payments. Your choice applies to new payments only, and it's in the audit log.
There's no Scout Suite GoCardless account to borrow: to use GoCardless, connect your Group's own. Groups without one use Stripe.
Refunds
Refund a GoCardless payment the usual way, from the payment: record the refund, then press Refund through GoCardless on it. When Scout Suite knows GoCardless can't refund that payment, the refund says Refund by hand instead, with the amount, who to pay back and why. Pay it back yourself, then press Mark processed.
Refund through GoCardless is only offered for a pay by bank payment that GoCardless has confirmed, for no more than is left to refund, when your GoCardless account has refunds turned on. Direct Debit collections are always refunded by hand.
Refunds have to be switched on in your own GoCardless account. The GoCardless card on Settings → Payments shows Refunds: on, or says they are not turned on. To switch them on, in your GoCardless dashboard go to Settings, then Account settings, then Refunds, and choose Enable refunds (you need to be an account admin). Then press Check again on the card.
GoCardless doesn't allow refunds within 7 days of a payment, unless you turn off its 7-day safety refund feature in the same Refunds settings. Scout Suite can't see that setting, so a payment less than 7 days old says Refund by hand with the date GoCardless refunds open. If you have turned the safety feature off, tick I have turned off the 7-day safety refund feature in GoCardless on the card.
If GoCardless still refuses a refund, for example because there isn't enough balance in your GoCardless account, the refund says Refund by hand with the reason. Nothing is sent twice.
When something changes at GoCardless
If a parent's Direct Debit is cancelled at their bank, fails to set up or expires, Scout Suite records it, emails the Treasurer, and emails the parent asking them to set up a new one from their portal. Nothing is cancelled for them.
If your Group takes Scout Suite's access away in GoCardless, or the account closes, the card shows Disconnected, reconnect. Families aren't offered Pay by bank or a new Direct Debit until you reconnect, and Direct Debits parents already have are left as they are. The Group Lead Volunteer and Treasurer get one email about it.
Money
More in this topic
Subs, Gift Aid, and reconciling the bank.