What it does
Direct Debit is how most UK cleaning rounds get paid. Your customer signs a Direct Debit instruction once, and from then on Quickie can collect what they owe automatically:
- Send a set-up request — the customer gets a link (by email or text) to set up their Direct Debit in about a minute.
- They sign it with their bank — on GoCardless's own secure page. Quickie never sees their bank details.
- Collect on completion — when you mark a clean done, Quickie collects the price automatically (optional).
- Collect an invoice by hand — or press a button on any unpaid invoice.
- Receipts and reconciliation happen for you — when the money clears, the payment is recorded, the invoice is marked paid, and the customer gets a receipt.
Direct Debit is a Pro feature, and your Quickie needs to be connected to GoCardless (see Troubleshooting).
Where to find it
- Turn on automatic collection: Avatar menu → Settings → Communications (
/dashboard/settings?tab=communications). Owner-only. - Send a set-up request: any contact's page.
- Collect an invoice: the invoice's page.
- What the customer sees:
/dd/…— a private link, unique to them.
Step by step
Ask a customer to set up a Direct Debit
- Open the customer's page.
- Choose Set up Direct Debit.
- They get a message with their private link — by email, text, or both, following their Preferred messages setting (see the Customer comms guide).
They open the link, press Set up Direct Debit, and enter their bank details on GoCardless's page.
What the status means. Straight after they sign, the mandate shows Pending — their bank takes a few working days to confirm it. Once it's Active, you can collect. Quickie updates this for you; there's nothing to check.
Turn on collect-on-completion
- Go to Settings → Communications.
- Tick Collect by Direct Debit on completion.
- Click Save settings.
Now, whenever you mark a clean done for a customer with an Active Direct Debit, Quickie raises the invoice (if there isn't one) and collects it. You do nothing.
Collect an invoice by hand
Open the invoice and choose Collect by Direct Debit. This works on any unpaid invoice where the customer's mandate is Active.
What happens after you collect
Direct Debit isn't instant — Bacs takes a few working days. So:
- You collect (or Quickie does, on completion).
- The invoice stays outstanding — the money hasn't arrived yet, and Quickie won't pretend it has.
- When it clears, the payment appears on the invoice as Direct Debit, the invoice flips to Paid, and your customer gets a receipt automatically.
- If it fails (usually not enough money in the account, or a cancelled mandate), you get an email so you can have a quiet word before the next clean.
What each screen shows
- Contact page — the customer's Direct Debit status (None / Pending / Active / Failed / Cancelled) and a Set up Direct Debit action.
- Settings → Communications — the Collect by Direct Debit on completion toggle.
- Invoice — a Collect by Direct Debit action when the mandate is Active, and any Direct Debit payments listed against it.
- The customer's set-up page — a simple page with your business name, the Direct Debit Guarantee, and one button.
Tips & good to know
- Only "Active" mandates can be charged. A Pending one is still with the customer's bank — normal for a few working days after they sign.
- You never see bank details. They're entered on GoCardless's own page. Quickie only stores a reference to the mandate.
- Your customer is protected by the Direct Debit Guarantee and can cancel any time through their bank — worth saying when you ask.
- Nothing is double-charged. Collections are keyed so a retry can't take the money twice.
- Cash and card still work. Direct Debit sits alongside manual payments and online card payments — use whatever suits each customer.
Troubleshooting
| Problem | What to try | | --- | --- | | "Direct Debit isn't set up on this Quickie yet" | GoCardless isn't connected to this installation. Your Quickie needs GoCardless credentials adding — check with support. Upgrading your plan won't fix this one. | | "Upgrade to Pro to collect by Direct Debit" | Direct Debit is a Pro feature. See Settings → Plan & billing. | | "This customer has no active Direct Debit mandate" | They haven't finished setting it up, or their bank hasn't confirmed it yet (Pending). Check their contact page. | | The set-up link says "not found" | Direct Debit isn't available for your business yet (plan or connection), or the link is wrong. Send a fresh request from their contact page. | | Nothing sent when I ask them to set it up | The customer needs an email address or mobile number on their record. | | The invoice is still unpaid after I collected | Normal — Bacs takes a few working days. It'll flip to Paid by itself when the money lands. | | "This customer already has an active Direct Debit" | Nothing to do — they're already set up. | | A collection failed | Usually insufficient funds or a cancelled mandate. The invoice stays outstanding, so chase it as normal or ask them to set the mandate up again. |