When to use this

Sometimes a customer wants to reserve items ahead of time and pay when they pick up, at your farm stand or market. You can set this up by creating the order in the Order Creator and sending the customer an unpaid, due invoice. When the customer arrives, you find that invoice on Register and take their payment there.

This works with any payment method Register accepts, including card, cash, EBT, and Farm Credit.

Before you start

The customer needs to be one of your customers on GrownBy. If they aren't yet, add or invite them to your farm first.

Step 1: Create the order in the Order Creator

  1. In your GrownBy dashboard, open the Order Creator. You can get there with the New Order button on the Orders page, or from the customer's Customer Detail page.
  2. Add the products the customer wants, choosing the pickup location and date for each one.

For more detail on building an order, see Creating Orders for your Customers.

Step 2: Choose Send invoice to customer

At the bottom of the Order Summary on the right side of the screen, choose Send invoice to customer, then click Place order.

GrownBy emails the invoice to the customer when you place the order. If you have order editing turned on, the invoice is sent when the order is finalized instead. The email includes a Pay Now button, so the customer can pay online if they choose. If they pay before they get to you, the invoice is no longer Due and there is nothing to collect on Register.

Here's what the invoice email sent to the customer looks like. Your offline payment message appears at the bottom, where this example says "OFFLINE PAYMENT MESSAGE FROM YOUR FARM."

Step 3: Find the invoice on Register

When the customer comes to pay:

  1. On Register, tap your farm logo in the top right corner of the starting screen and select Invoices from the menu.
  2. Use the Customer or invoice number search bar to find the customer's invoice. Its status shows as Due.
  3. Tap the invoice to open the Invoice Actions pop-up.

If the invoice shows as Paid instead of Due, the customer has already paid it online and there's nothing more to collect.

For more on this screen, see Invoices Screen on Register.

Step 4: Take the payment

In the Invoice Actions pop-up, tap Charge. This opens the checkout screen with the invoice's amount due. Collect payment the same way you would for any Register sale. See Completing a Transaction.

Once the payment is complete, the invoice status changes to Paid.

Customers can also preorder on their own

Customers don't need you to create the order for them. If your farm accepts offline payments, a customer can place an order in your shop and choose Offline as their payment method at checkout. This creates a Due invoice, just like the steps above. When they arrive, find the invoice on Register and charge it following Steps 3 and 4.

Offline payments are only available at checkout if your plan includes them and you've turned them on. See Configuring Payments.