Field services
Get jobs paid by card or bank inside your field service software
Payment processing for field service software has to follow the job. From the deposit to the final invoice, let homeowners pay by credit card or ACH bank payment without leaving your software. BrainMerchant processes card and ACH payments for software platforms.
Acme Heating & AirInvoice #5521
Amount due$640.00
- Pay by bankACH from a checking or savings account
- Pay by cardCredit card
Pay $640.00
Card and ACH payments processed by BrainMerchant
The job lifecycle
Where money changes hands on a job
Whether you build HVAC software or tools for plumbing, landscaping or cleaning businesses, money moves at each of these points, not only on the final bill.
Estimates and deposits
A signed estimate often comes with a deposit to hold a date or order equipment. Contractor deposit payments by card can be taken while the homeowner still has the estimate open, so the job gets booked on the spot.
Progress payments on big installs
A furnace replacement, a new irrigation system or a remodel is often billed in stages: on approval, when the equipment arrives and at completion. The larger stages are where a bank payment is worth offering.
Final invoice
When the technician closes the job, your software sends the invoice with the work, parts and photos attached. The homeowner chooses card or bank on that invoice.
Maintenance agreements
Seasonal tune-ups and service plans bill on a schedule. For bank payments, your software schedules ACH debits under an authorization that meets the rules for recurring payments. For cards, ask us how repeat card payments would work on your platform.
Bank payments authorized by phone
Some homeowners would rather call the office than open a link. The ACH rules have a code for that: TEL, for consumer debits authorized orally over the telephone. For a single payment, the authorization must be backed by a recording or a written notice.
Emergency service call fees
A burst pipe on a Sunday or a no-heat call in January often carries a service call fee. Small, urgent charges like these suit a card paid online: the homeowner pays from the link your software sends, and the visit is confirmed once the payment is approved.
Card vs ACH
Card for quick jobs, bank for big ones
A card payment answers in seconds: the issuer approves or declines while the homeowner is still on the invoice. Card payments made online are card-not-present, and those carry more fraud risk and generally higher interchange than card-present payments.
An ACH payment moves money from the homeowner’s bank account in a batch and can be returned after it settles. AFP’s 2022 survey (via the Cleveland Fed, 2026) found median ACH costs of $0.25 to $0.50 per payment for each side, versus 2.0% to 2.5% of the payment for a business receiving a credit card. Provider pricing varies, and we don’t publish ours here.
- Card for speed, on deposits, service call fees and small tickets.
- Bank for size, on progress payments and big installs, where a card cost charged as a percentage grows with the ticket. Our page on ACH payment processing for platforms covers the bank side.
- One provider for both, since BrainMerchant processes card and ACH payments for software platforms. Your platform can offer each where it fits.
Card paymentCard networks
- AuthorizeThe issuer approves or declines
- CaptureThe sale is confirmed
- SettleFunds move between banks
- FundThe merchant is paid on its provider’s schedule
ACH paymentACH Network
- AuthorizeThe homeowner authorizes the debit
- OriginateThe entry is sent in a batch
- SettleFunds move between banks
- Return windowMost returns arrive within two banking days
Remote payments
Taking payments remotely, the right way
Here is what the rules ask for as of October 2026; confirm details with your provider or the rule source. Our guide to ACH authorization requirements has more.
TEL for phone payments
For a one-time bank payment authorized by phone, record the authorization or confirm it in writing before it settles.
Written authorization for plans
Under Regulation E, maintenance-plan debits need the homeowner’s signed or similarly authenticated authorization, and a copy for them.
Validate the account online
When a homeowner enters bank details online, validate the account on first use and whenever the number changes.
Keep card numbers off tickets
A card number written on a work order or typed into job notes is cardholder data and can bring the systems that hold it into PCI DSS scope.
Deposits, disputes and evidence
A homeowner can dispute a card payment with their bank after the job is done. As of October 2026, Visa’s rules generally give the card issuer 120 days from the transaction processing date to process a dispute, and for services not received the clock can start from the date the work was expected instead. That matters for deposits taken weeks before an install.
Signed estimates, photos and completion notes kept in your software help your customers respond to consumer disputes such as “not as described” or “not received”. Fraud disputes follow a different process, and ACH returns follow separate Nacha rules. Our guide to chargebacks vs ACH returns explains both, and credit card processing for platforms covers how a card payment moves from authorization to settlement.
FAQ
Questions about payment processing for field service software
Short answers on card and bank payments for home service software, as of October 2026: invoices paid from a bank account, account validation, phone authorizations, maintenance plans and remote card costs.
Can homeowners pay an invoice from their bank?
Under the ACH rules, yes, once the homeowner authorizes the debit. The authorization has to fit how the payment is made: online, by phone or as part of a maintenance plan. BrainMerchant processes card and ACH payments for software platforms, and our ACH side is for US bank accounts. Our page on ACH payment processing for software platforms has the details.
Does a bank account need to be validated for an online payment?
Under the Nacha rules, yes. A homeowner who types bank details into an online invoice authorizes a WEB debit, and since March 19, 2021, the account must be validated the first time an account number is used and whenever it changes. At minimum, that confirms the account is open and can accept ACH entries.
Can homeowners authorize a bank payment by phone?
Under Nacha rules, yes, using TEL, the code for consumer debits authorized orally over the telephone. For a single TEL debit, the business taking the payment must record the authorization or send the homeowner written notice confirming it before the payment settles, and keep that record for two years. Tell us which payment channels your software needs.
What do the ACH rules require for maintenance-plan debits?
A seasonal service plan that bills tune-ups to the homeowner’s bank account on a schedule is a series of recurring debits. Under federal Regulation E, those need an authorization signed or similarly authenticated by the homeowner, who gets a copy, and the ACH rules allow recurring debits on that basis. If an amount varies from the previous or authorized amount, the payee generally must send the homeowner written notice of the amount and date at least 10 days before the debit. Your software sets the schedule; talk to us about how scheduled payments would work with BrainMerchant.
Do remote card payments cost more?
Card-not-present interchange is generally higher than card-present; tell us how your customers take payments today.
Talk to BrainMerchant
Let your customers get paid for every job, by card or bank
Tell us about your field service software, the trades your customers work in and how they bill today. We’ll walk you through what adding card and ACH processing with BrainMerchant looks like.