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Payment matching for subscription providers

How do I automatically match subscription payments to open invoices?

weclapp automatically matches incoming payments to open items when customer and amount clearly fit; the invoice number in the payment reference is also checked as a reference. With “Auto Sync” enabled, it retrieves bank statements every hour; the help names the automation for bank import (MT940, camt.053), Tink, PayPal, Qwist and finAPI. According to the help (as of 31.05.2024), Stripe and Klarna are only connected on request and are not described for the automation; you handle partial payments and discrepancies manually; weclapp does not natively split bulk payouts, for which there is Zahlungsabgleich 4 weclapp (see below).

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What does weclapp do by default?

You store your credentials under “Global settings > Finance > Payment providers” and link the provider to a house bank. According to the weclapp help, finAPI, Tink, Qwist, Stripe, Klarna and PayPal are supported. All six can retrieve transactions. According to the help (as of 31.05.2024), only Tink and finAPI can execute payments. Whether the connection delivers individual payments or payouts from the provider, and with which date, is not described in the help. Ask weclapp support before you build on the automation; according to the help, inquiries about payment providers go exclusively there.

Two switches in the house bank control it: “Auto Sync” retrieves new bank statements every hour, “Process new transactions” recognizes incoming payments and matches them to invoices. The help (as of 31.05.2024) describes the connection of Stripe and Klarna as experimental and lists it as available only on request from support; the store listing for Stripe (07.10.2026) does not mention this restriction.

How does weclapp know which payment belongs to which invoice?

weclapp works in three steps. It identifies the customer via IBAN and BIC, otherwise via the name, which must match completely. Then it looks for an open item with a matching amount; a permitted cash discount is taken into account. In addition, it reads the payment reference and looks there for a sales order, invoice or credit note number as a reference.

According to the help, there is no match if several open items have the same amount, if the amount is lower because of an unjustified cash discount deduction, or if the payment arrives outside the discount period. Via the reference in the payment reference, weclapp only recognizes invoice numbers of six or more characters; give them to your customers as the payment reference.

Posting and clearing are two steps. If weclapp finds a personal or collective account, it posts the payment to the journal automatically according to the help, even without a matching open item. Check in the open items list whether the invoice appears as paid before a dunning run takes place (more on the page Automating dunning for subscription customers). The help names direct debit returns as automatically recognized cases; it does not describe chargebacks of card payments.

Six cases: what runs automatically and what you trigger yourself

FallAutomatisch?Was weclapp tutWas offen bleibtWer hilft
Vollzahlung mit ReferenzJa, wenn eindeutigErkennt Kund:in und Nummer, ordnet zu, buchtStripe, Klarna: Automatik nicht beschriebenDu, weclapp-Support
Zahlung ohne ReferenzNur bei eindeutigem BetragOrdnet zu, wenn genau ein Posten passtGleiche Beträge: laut Hilfe keine ZuordnungDu, OP-Vorschläge
TeilzahlungNeinBetrag passt nicht, keine ZuordnungFreie Teilzahlung: Darstellung nicht beschriebenDu
Ăśberzahlung, kleine AbweichungNein, manuellZahlungstoleranz beim Ausziffern, SteuerkorrekturEchte Ăśberzahlung ist keine ToleranzDu, Steuerberatung
ErstattungNein, von dir angestoĂźenGutschrift, Verrechnung, ZahllaufRĂĽckzahlung aus dem Anbieterkonto zuordnenDu, Steuerberatung
SammelauszahlungKein nativer StandardAuszahlung erscheint als Bankumsatz, Zuordnung nur bei passendem BetragEinzelzahlungen, Gebühren trennenwals.pro, Seite „Auszahlungen“

Das ersetzt keine Steuerberatung.

Key figures at a glance

6
supported payment providers, Stripe and Klarna only on request according to the help
1 hour
interval of automatic retrieval with Auto Sync enabled
6 characters
minimum length of an invoice number as a reference in the payment reference
4
providers with documented automatic processing (Tink, PayPal, Qwist, finAPI)

Example: annual subscription with partial payment and refund

A fictional example for Germany (domestic case with 19% VAT; in Austria 20% and other rules apply); other rules also apply to small businesses, reverse charge or private customers in other EU countries. An app provider issues invoice RE-2026-0412 for an annual subscription: €1,000.00 net plus €190.00 VAT, together €1,190.00.

  • Full payment: The customer transfers €1,190.00 and states the invoice number. Both are unambiguous, so weclapp matches and posts.
  • Partial payment: If she first pays €600.00, weclapp does not match automatically according to the help, because the amount does not fit the open item; arithmetically, €590.00 remains open. The help does not describe the dunning level for partial payments; check this in the test tenant.
  • Refund by bank transfer: If you refund pro rata on cancellation, you write a credit note for €238.00 (€200.00 net plus €38.00 VAT). If the invoice is paid, you can offset it against another invoice, create a payment for the credit note, or pay it in the payment run: online via a provider that can execute payments (according to the help as of 31.05.2024, Tink, finAPI), or as a SEPA or SWIFT file for your bank.
  • Refund by card: If you collected by card, you usually refund in the payment tool and match the refund yourself: for negative amounts, the recognition looks for suppliers, not customers, according to the help. For prepayment invoices, the help describes a different route (cancel the invoice); whether that applies to your subscription model, you clarify with weclapp support. The credit note (here the correction document of the invoice issuer, not the self-billing credit note under § 14 (2) UStG) reduces the consideration. You correct the VAT for the period in which the change occurs; a business customer corrects their input VAT deduction (§ 17 (1) and (2) UStG).

How the invoices are created via API is described on the page Creating subscription invoices in bulk via API. This does not replace tax advice.

Fees and tolerance for a payment

The weclapp help shows the direct route for an invoice with a fee: when clearing manually, you enter the payment amount and the fee, either via the dollar sign in the open items list or in the detail view of the bank statement. weclapp posts the difference to the fee account, by default “Incidental costs of monetary transactions”. Whether VAT applies to the fee is shown by your payment provider's statement; the classification is determined by your tax advisor (weclapp field “Tax rate fees”). According to the help, sales commissions (for example from marketplaces) cannot be mapped via the fee field.

When clearing manually, you record small discrepancies as payment tolerance. You set the limits yourself, and the tax must be corrected. A genuine overpayment is not a tolerance. If customers pay in a foreign currency, weclapp does not post currency differences by default according to the help (as of 12.12.2025); the function is mentioned there as planned.

If you bundle many payments through one provider, you can keep a clearing account per payment provider. Then time may pass between payment and payout, and the fee remains a separate expense. Whether you post this way and what it looks like in the chart of accounts is determined by your tax advisor. The scheme is on the page Reconciling payouts from payment providers.

This does not replace tax advice.

When does VAT arise for subscriptions?

That depends on whether you pay tax on agreed or on collected consideration (§ 13 UStG; taxation on collected consideration exists under § 20 UStG only on application and under conditions). With collected consideration, the time of payment counts. But even with agreed consideration, the tax on an advance payment, for example for an annual subscription paid in advance, arises at the end of the advance return period in which you receive the payment, as long as the service has not yet been performed (§ 13 (1) no. 1 lit. a sentence 4 UStG). So you report it in that advance return, not spread over the term. Whether the receipt at the payment provider or at your bank counts as the time of payment, you agree with your tax advisor. At your request, according to the pricing page, they get free access to your weclapp. The handover of the postings is described under DATEV handover with weclapp. The sections apply to Germany; in Austria, other rules apply.

This does not replace tax advice.

Bulk payouts: no native weclapp standard

There is no native weclapp standard for bulk payouts from a payment provider (weclapp documentation, checked on 11.10.2026). wals.pro uses Zahlungsabgleich 4 weclapp for this: it breaks bulk remittance advices, for example from Stripe, Mollie, PayPal or American Express, into individual payments and fees and can be extended with further advice sources.

This page matches individual payments to invoices; the sister page shows how to resolve a payment provider's bulk payout in your books using a clearing account.

Quick takeaways

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Invoice number as a reference

From six characters, weclapp recognizes the invoice number in the payment reference. Give it to your customers.

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Ask about Stripe and Klarna first

According to the help (as of 31.05.2024), only on request. Ask weclapp support for the current status.

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Suggestion and approval

wals.pro AI 4 weclapp only writes after your approval.

What wals.pro adds

Zahlungsabgleich 4 weclapp. The wals.pro product recognizes open items and bank transactions, checks them and posts them in weclapp. A five-stage scoring match rates every hit (amount, date, reference text, merchant name); unambiguous payments are posted, uncertain ones go to review. It breaks bulk remittance advices, for example from Stripe, Mollie, PayPal or American Express, into individual payments and fees and can be extended with further advice sources.

Matching in chat with wals.pro AI 4 weclapp. The matching tools look for open items that fit a bank transaction, show the rating and only apply a payment after preview and approval. They work per item; they are not described for splitting a bulk payout.

You will find the overview for subscription providers on the page Accounting for SaaS, apps and subscription businesses with weclapp.

When is this not a fit?

A fit

  • Your payments come in via bank account, PayPal, Tink, Qwist or finAPI and carry the invoice number as a reference.
  • You are happy to review exceptions yourself and want to get the most out of the standard first.
  • Your invoices live in weclapp, via API (from ERP Services) or from contracts (Contract Management add-on).

Not a fit

  • You need Stripe or Mollie with automatic processing, without checking with weclapp.
  • You expect weclapp to break bulk payouts into individual payments on its own.
  • Your invoices are only created in the payment tool: then there is no open item in weclapp to match against.

Frequently asked questions

Which payment providers can I connect to weclapp?

According to the weclapp help: finAPI, Tink, Qwist, Stripe, Klarna and PayPal. All retrieve transactions; according to the help (as of 31.05.2024), only Tink and finAPI can execute payments. Two weclapp pages (pricing page, help on open items) name Mollie, the setup help does not. Ask weclapp before you base a decision on Mollie. The “bulk transfer” (Sammelüberweisung) in the capabilities table refers to outgoing payments in the payment run.

Does weclapp automatically match Stripe payments?

The weclapp documentation is not clear here. The help on bank statement recognition (as of 31.05.2024) names automatic processing for Tink, PayPal, Qwist and finAPI, not for Stripe. The help on open items (as of 12.12.2025) lists Stripe among the supported payment providers, and the store listing (07.10.2026) says automatic processing will be expanded step by step. Clarify the current status with weclapp support.

What happens if a customer does not state an invoice number?

weclapp tries to hit customer and amount. It only matches if the amount fits exactly one open item. With several invoices of the same amount or a differing name, the payment stays open, and you match it in the bank using the open item suggestions. Therefore state the invoice number as the payment reference; it should have at least six characters.

What happens with partial payments and refunds?

According to the help, weclapp does not automatically match a partial payment because the amount does not fit. You map agreed installments beforehand by splitting the open item. For refunds, you write a credit note, offset it or pay it in the payment run, online or via SEPA file. The VAT is corrected in the process. You agree accounts and tax cases with your tax advisor. This does not replace tax advice.

How do I post payment fees in weclapp?

When clearing, you enter the payment amount and the fee, either via the dollar sign in the open items list or in the detail view of the bank statement. weclapp posts the fee to the stored fee account, by default “Incidental costs of monetary transactions”. According to the help, the fee field does not map sales commissions. You agree accounts and tax rates with your tax advisor. This does not replace tax advice.

Can weclapp break a bulk payout into individual payments?

There is no native weclapp standard for this. weclapp reads the payout in as a bank transaction and only matches it if it fits an open item; a payout after fees fits no single invoice. wals.pro uses Zahlungsabgleich 4 weclapp for this: it breaks bulk remittance advices, for example from Stripe, Mollie, PayPal or American Express, into individual payments and fees and can be extended with further advice sources. The posting scheme is on the sister page on payouts.

Does matching in chat cost anything?

Getting started with wals.pro AI 4 weclapp is free permanently, without credits, including matching in chat. Until 31.12.2026 all features are free, after that there are paid tiers based on scope. Registration is free.

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