QuickBooks Partners with Affirm for Invoice Installment Payments
QuickBooks and Affirm are teaming up to let small businesses offer customers installment payment options on outstanding invoices, helping improve cash flow
When a customer can’t pay an invoice in full right away, small businesses are often left waiting. A partnership between Intuit QuickBooks and Affirm aims to change that by giving customers a way to pay over time while sellers still get paid upfront.
How the Affirm Integration Works
The integration allows small businesses using QuickBooks to offer Affirm’s “Buy Now, Pay Later” (BNPL) options directly on their invoices. When a business sends an invoice, the customer sees the option to split the total into manageable installment payments through Affirm. If the customer chooses to finance the invoice, Affirm pays the business, and the customer repays Affirm according to their chosen installment plan.
What This Means for Small Businesses
Unpaid invoices are a persistent challenge for small business cash flow. By integrating installment options directly into the invoicing workflow, businesses can potentially:
- Get paid faster: Affirm handles the upfront payment to the business, eliminating the wait for the customer’s full payment.
- Reduce collections friction: Instead of chasing down late payments or negotiating custom payment plans, businesses can rely on Affirm to manage the installment process.
- Offer flexibility: Giving customers a structured, transparent way to pay over time can make larger invoices feel more approachable, which may help close sales or retain clients.
What Customers See
From the customer’s perspective, the process is designed to be straightforward. When they open an invoice, they can select Affirm at checkout to view their payment options. Affirm typically displays the total cost, any applicable interest, and the number of payments required before the customer commits, so there are no surprises hidden in fine print.
Practical Next Steps
If you regularly deal with slow-paying clients or large invoices, log into your QuickBooks account and check your invoicing and payment settings to see if Affirm integration is available for your subscription tier. Running a test invoice to a colleague or your own secondary email is a good way to preview exactly what your customers will see before you roll the feature out to actual clients.