Can I set up payments in my portal?
Processing payments within the NextRequest platform gives your agency a simple and professional experience for your requesters. Our payment module allows your agency to easily collect fees for records requests, invoice requesters, and so much more. However, we wanted to provide you with a list of common questions (and answers!) about our payments module such as:
- What is Stripe?
- Are there fees associated with Stripe?
- Is Stripe PCI compliant?
- Does my agency need to fill out a self-assessment questionnaire?
- How can I get payments data from NextRequest to our Finance department so we stay up-to-date?
What is Stripe?
Stripe is an online payment processing software for internet businesses. They provide the banking, technical and fraud prevention infrastructure for individuals and businesses to move money seamlessly. When it comes to NextRequest, we've integrated Stripe's platform into our portals so that agencies can easily invoice requesters and accept payments for costs associated with responding to public records requests - whether that be copies or even staff time costs.
For information on how to set up your Stripe account click here.
Are there fees associated with Stripe?
A convenience fee of 2.9% + $0.30 is charged by Stripe for every payment received. This can be deducted from the payment amount or you can choose to pass the fee onto the requester (this is a configuration in portal settings).
To change the setting to pass fees on to requesters:
- Log into your NextRequest portal
- Click Admin
- Click Portal Settings
- Click Payments
- Check the box for "Charge credit card processing fees to customers"
Is Stripe PCI compliant?
NextRequest has not done a PCI audit because we do not store credit card information - all of that is done through Stripe and is incredibly secure. Stripe has been audited by a PCI-certified auditor and is certified to PCI Service Provider Level 1. This is the most stringent level of certification available in the payments industry.
Does my agency need to fill out a self-assessment questionnaire?
NextRequest has filled out an SAQ questionnaire, which Stripe requires of its users who have certain types of integrations. However, because the integration we have established with Stripe doesn't store any actual data (it's all encrypted) your agency shouldn't need to fill out the questionnaire.
How can I get our payments data from NextRequest to our Finance department?
With the NextRequest payments module, you get access to an additional report in the reports tab of your portal. This "Invoicing and Payments" report allows you to create a report with custom dates on paid and/or outstanding invoices in the form of a CSV or XLXS spreadsheet.
On the All Request page report (Run Report button), there is a checkbox for Staff Cost. With the payment module, you can also include the cost of staff time recorded on requests in your request report.
Please note that staff will need to add an hourly rate on their account settings and then make sure to log their time on all requests for this report to be accurate.
To add an hourly rate to your account:
- Click the SETTINGS tab at the top of the portal
- Enter your hourly rate in the field for "hourly rate (dollars per hour)"
- Click SAVE