Stripe Connect lets your site take a customer’s payment and send the money to the contractor’s own Stripe account. VisionScaper creates one Express account for each contractor and then sends them to Stripe to finish their details.

Note: Stripe says Express accounts are an older account type. Its page tells new platforms to look at the newer Accounts v2 setup. VisionScaper’s code creates Express accounts, so this article follows that. If Stripe stops allowing this for your account, ask your developer. (Not verified beyond Stripe’s docs.)

• Your Stripe secret key is saved in Settings → VisionScaper → Stripe secret key.
• Your Stripe business account is in the United States. The code creates accounts with country US.

1. Sign in to the Stripe Dashboard.
2. Complete your platform profile. Stripe links to it as dashboard.stripe.com/connect/registration.
3. Open the Connect settings page (dashboard.stripe.com/account/applications/settings). Add your brand name, color and icon. Stripe says Connect Onboarding requires them.
4. Because you are responsible for losses on Express accounts, read Stripe’s risk and fraud guidance before you approve contractors.
5. Make sure the Stripe webhook is set up (see “Get your Stripe webhook signing secret”).

1. Open the Contractor Hub, then Settings → Get paid online. The card is called “Get paid online (Stripe)”.
2. Press Connect with Stripe. The button changes to Finish Stripe setup if they stopped partway, or Update my Stripe details once they are ready.
3. Stripe’s own form opens. The contractor enters business and bank details there.
4. When they return, press Check status. A green message says “Ready to take payments.” Stripe may still need details if it says so.

The code requests card payments, US bank (ACH) payments, and transfers. It sets the business category code to 0780 (landscaping and horticultural services). A contractor counts as ready when Stripe reports charges enabled and details submitted.

• Account links work once and expire. If a contractor sees an expired page, press the button again to get a new one.
• Payments, fees and rates shown on the contractor’s card are placeholders, not approved. Set your own before launch.
• Never email a Stripe onboarding link. Stripe says to give it only to the signed-in account holder inside the app.

• “Online payments aren’t set up on this website yet.” The Stripe secret key is blank. Fix that first.
• “Connect Stripe first” when sending an invoice. The contractor has not finished onboarding.
• Stripe refuses to create the account. Your platform profile may be incomplete. Check Stripe’s message in the Dashboard.

• Stripe, Express connected accounts: https://docs.stripe.com/connect/express-accounts (read 2026-10-15)
• Stripe, Connect overview: https://docs.stripe.com/connect
• Plugin code: crm-pay.php; assets/js/crm.js (“Get paid online (Stripe)”).

• Get your Stripe secret key
• Get your Stripe webhook signing secret
• Stripe test mode and live mode