Set Up and Manage Registration Payments

To accept paid registrations for your conference, you need to connect a payout method through Stripe Connect. This allows registration payments to flow directly to your bank account.

Before You Start

What you'll need:

• A bank account or debit card in your country
• Government-issued photo ID (driver's license, passport, or state ID)
• Your phone for SMS verification codes
• About 5-10 minutes to complete setup

Important notes:

• You must be in a Stripe-supported country (46+ countries including US, Canada, UK, EU, Australia)
• PO boxes are not accepted for business addresses
• You can use a personal bank account — no business account required

Step-by-Step Setup Guide

Step 1: Navigate to Payments & Payouts

1. Go to Conferences in the sidebar, then click on your conference
2. Under Registration Management, click "Payments & Payouts"

You'll see the Stripe Account status showing "Not Connected".

Step 2: Start Stripe Connect

1. Click the "Connect Stripe" button
2. You'll be redirected to Stripe's secure onboarding page

Step 3: Enter Your Email and Phone

1. Enter your email address (this becomes your Stripe login)
2. Enter your phone number
3. Click "Continue"
4. Stripe will text you a 6-digit verification code
5. Enter the code to verify your identity

Step 4: Select Your Account Type

Choose the option that best describes you:

Tip: If you're unsure, select Individual. You can still use your personal bank account and receive payments directly.

Step 5: Provide Your Information

Based on your account type, you'll need to provide:

For Individuals:

• Legal name (as it appears on your ID)
• Date of birth
• Last 4 digits of SSN (US) or equivalent national ID
• Home address

For Nonprofits/Companies:

• Legal business name (as it appears on government documents)
• EIN (US) or equivalent tax ID number
• Business address
• Your personal information as the account representative

See Stripe's verification requirements for country-specific details.

Step 6: Verify Your Identity

Stripe requires identity verification to comply with financial regulations:

1. Upload a photo of your government-issued ID
2. Take a selfie for verification (some cases)
3. Wait for automatic verification (usually instant)

Accepted IDs: Driver's license, passport, or state-issued ID card.

Step 7: Connect Your Bank Account

Choose how you want to receive payments:

Option A: Bank Account (Recommended)

1. Select your bank from the list, or
2. Enter your routing and account number manually

Option B: Debit Card

1. Enter your debit card details
2. Note: Limited to $9,999 per withdrawal

Step 8: Review and Submit

1. Review all your information
2. Accept the Stripe Connected Account Agreement
3. Click "Submit"
4. You'll be redirected back to PaperFox

Your account status should now show Active. You're ready to accept paid registrations!

Account Status Explained

Understanding Fees

For each paid registration, fees are automatically deducted:

Example: For a $150 registration:

• Stripe fee: $4.65 (2.9% + $0.30)
• Platform fee: $1.00
• You receive: $144.35

How Payments Work

When an attendee registers for your conference, here's what happens:

Attendee pays $100
       ↓
   Stripe processes payment
       ↓
┌────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Your Conference's Stripe Balance   │
│ $94.35 available                   │
│ ($100 - $4.65 Stripe - $1 fee)     │
└────────────────────────────────────┘
       ↓
   You click "Withdraw" when ready
       ↓
   Money arrives in your bank (1-2 days)

Key points:

• Money goes to your Stripe balance first, not directly to your bank
• You control when to withdraw funds
• PaperFox charges a $1 platform fee per registration
• Stripe charges ~2.9% + $0.30 processing fee

Withdrawing Your Funds

Once you have funds available:

1. Go to Registration Management → Payments & Payouts
2. View your Available Balance
3. Click "Withdraw to Bank"
4. Enter the amount (or click "Max" to withdraw everything)
5. Confirm the payout

Timeline: Funds typically arrive in your bank account within 2-3 business days.

Managing Your Stripe Account

To update your bank account, identity information, or view detailed transaction history:

1. Go to Registration Management → Payments & Payouts
2. Click "Stripe Dashboard" in the Receive Registration Payments card
3. You'll be redirected to the Stripe Express Dashboard

In the Stripe Dashboard you can:

• Change your bank account or debit card
• Update your business or personal information
• View detailed transaction and payout history
• Download tax documents (1099 forms for US accounts)

You may need to verify your identity again when making changes.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need a business bank account? No. You can use your personal bank account to receive payments.

Can I use my university's bank account? Yes, if you have authorization. Select "Nonprofit Organization" during setup and provide the university's EIN (or equivalent tax ID).

How long until I can accept payments? Most accounts are verified instantly. In some cases, additional review may take 1-2 business days.

What if I don't have an EIN? Select "Individual" as your account type. You'll use your SSN (or equivalent national ID) instead.

Can I change my bank account later? Yes, through the Stripe Dashboard accessible from the Stripe Dashboard button on the Payments & Payouts page.

Is my information secure? Yes. All financial data is handled by Stripe, which is PCI-DSS compliant. PaperFox never sees your full bank account number or SSN.

What countries are supported? Stripe Connect is available in 46+ countries including the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Australia, and most of Europe. See Stripe's global availability for the complete list.

Can attendees get an invoice for reimbursement? Attendees receive a Stripe receipt automatically. If an attendee's finance department needs a formal invoice (common for VAT jurisdictions), see Issuing Invoices for Attendees below.

Handling Refunds

When an attendee requests a refund, you'll receive a notification and can approve or reject it from the Refund Approvals page.

Issuing a Refund

1. Go to Registration Management → Refund Approvals
2. Find the refund request and click "Approve"
3. Review the refund breakdown and (optionally) set an administrative fee to retain
4. Click "Approve Refund" to process

The dialog shows you the full economics of the refund:

The attendee receives the refund automatically and gets an email showing the breakdown plus a link to their Stripe receipt — the same charge receipt they received at purchase, now updated to reflect the refund.

Administrative Fee

Some conferences charge a cancellation fee to cover overhead and recover the non-recoverable Stripe and PaperFox fees. Set this in the Administrative fee field — leave it at $0 for a full refund.

The fee is only shown to the registrant on their refund statement as a single "Administrative fee retained" line. Internal Stripe and PaperFox fees stay private.

Example: $300 ticket with $50 admin fee

Original payment:                      $300.00
Stripe processing fee (kept by Stripe): −$9.00
PaperFox platform fee (kept):           −$1.00
Administrative fee (you keep):         −$50.00
Refunded to registrant:                $250.00

Net retained by conference:             $40.00

The registrant only sees $300 paid → $50 admin fee → $250 refunded on their statement.

What Happens During Refund Approval

When you approve, PaperFox checks your Stripe balance:

You'll see a warning before approving if your balance is insufficient.

Example: Refund with Insufficient Balance

Scenario: You have $50 in Stripe balance, need to refund $250

1. You approve the refund in PaperFox
2. Stripe uses your $50 balance
3. Stripe debits $200 from your bank account
4. Attendee receives the full $250 refund
5. Bank debit takes 5-7 business days

Fees on Refunded Registrations

When you refund an attendee, the original transaction fees are not returned. This is standard across the payments industry.

This matches published Stripe policy:

"The payment processing, Connect and currency conversion fees from the original transaction are not returned." — Stripe pricing (also Stripe refunds docs)

What the Attendee Sees

The refund-approved email itemizes the original payment, your admin fee, and the refunded amount. The View Receipt CTA opens their Stripe-hosted charge receipt — the same document they received at purchase, automatically updated to show the partial refund. Internal Stripe and PaperFox fees stay between you and your payment processor.

For expense reimbursement, attendees submit the original receipt (now showing the refund) plus the conference's email confirming the admin-fee deduction.

Issuing Invoices for Attendees

Most attendees use their registration confirmation email and the linked Stripe receipt as proof of payment — that's sufficient for expense reimbursement in most cases.

Some finance departments (especially in VAT jurisdictions like the EU and UK, and some corporate accounts-payable systems) require a formal invoice with your conference's legal business name and tax ID. PaperFox doesn't issue these automatically because the exact content depends on your conference's business setup and tax jurisdiction — your conference is the seller of record, not PaperFox.

When an attendee requests an invoice

Option 1: Create an invoice from your Stripe Dashboard (~2 minutes per invoice)

1. Go to Registration Management → Payments & Payouts and click "Stripe Dashboard"
2. Under Payments, find the attendee's charge
3. Click Create invoice and link it to the existing charge
4. Fill in the attendee's billing details (name, address, tax ID if needed) and submit
5. Stripe generates a PDF invoice with your business info and emails it to the attendee

This is the simplest path and produces a Stripe-hosted invoice + PDF that finance departments accept.

Option 2: Issue an invoice using your institution's template

If you prefer to use your university or conference's own invoice template, generate it manually using the data from the attendee's Stripe receipt:

• Invoice number (your own sequence)
• Issue date, conference name + dates, registration item, amount
• Your conference's legal entity name, address, and tax ID
• Reference to the Stripe receipt number as proof of payment

Keep your Stripe business profile complete

Whether or not you end up issuing manual invoices, keep your Stripe Connect business profile up to date. Update these via Registration Management → Payments & Payouts → Stripe Dashboard:

• Legal business name
• Billing address
• Tax ID (VAT, EIN, GST — whichever applies to your jurisdiction)

Two benefits:

1. Receipts show the correct business name — finance departments reconcile payments against a legal entity, so seeing your conference's real business name (not a personal name or placeholder) reduces back-and-forth.
2. Manual invoices are faster to create — when you use Option 1 above to issue an invoice from Stripe Dashboard, these fields auto-populate the Bill-From section, so each invoice takes about 2 minutes instead of filling in business info every time.

Need Help?

If you encounter issues during setup:

1. Verification failed: Ensure your ID photo is clear and matches the name you entered
2. Bank connection failed: Try entering account details manually instead of using instant verification
3. Account restricted: Check the Stripe Dashboard for specific requirements

For additional support, use the Help Desk (available with paid support packages) or visit our Community Forum.