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Payouts & Timelines

A card payment doesn't arrive in your bank account the moment a customer taps. It goes to your Stripe balance first, and Stripe transfers it to your bank on a schedule. This page explains the timing so you can plan cash flow around it.

Payouts are handled entirely by Stripe. ForkLine never holds your money, never pays you, and cannot speed up, delay, or redirect a payout. Your Stripe dashboard — reachable from Settings → Payments — is the authoritative record.

Your first payout takes longer

This is the single most important thing to know, and it catches almost every new restaurant.

For a new US Stripe account, the first payout typically arrives about 7–14 days after your first successful charge. Payments before then aren't lost — they accumulate in your Stripe balance and are paid out together when the holding period ends.

Stripe does this on every new account, everywhere, as fraud protection: a brand-new merchant that takes a burst of card payments and immediately withdraws is a well-known fraud pattern. The delay isn't a judgment about your business, and there's no way to skip it.

Plan for it. If you're opening on ForkLine, assume your first two weeks of card revenue arrives in a lump toward the end of that period rather than day by day. Don't schedule your first payout against payroll.

After that: the normal rhythm

Once the initial hold has passed, payouts settle into a regular cycle. For US accounts this is typically daily automatic payouts on a rolling basis, where each day's payments arrive in your bank roughly 2 business days later.

Two consequences worth internalizing:

  • "Business days" excludes weekends and bank holidays. Friday and Saturday sales generally land Tuesday, not Monday. A long holiday weekend pushes it further.
  • Each payout covers a past day's sales, not today's. There's always a rolling couple of days in flight.

You can view and change your payout schedule in your Stripe dashboard — some businesses prefer weekly payouts for simpler bookkeeping. ForkLine doesn't set or override this.

Reading a payout

A payout is a single bank deposit covering many orders, net of fees — so it will rarely match any number in ForkLine exactly. Nothing is wrong when it doesn't.

A payout is roughly:

  All card payments in the period
− Stripe processing fees            (see /processing-fees)
− Refunds issued in the period
− Any disputes or dispute fees
= The deposit in your bank

To reconcile a specific deposit, open it in your Stripe dashboard — it itemizes every charge, fee, and refund it covers. ForkLine's order totals show what customers were charged before fees, so use Stripe for anything financial.

Note that cash orders never appear in a payout. They were never processed by Stripe. Your ForkLine order history includes them; your bank deposits won't.

What delays a payout

Stripe needs more information. By far the most common cause. Stripe periodically requires additional verification — an ID document, a business document, confirmation of your bank account. It emails you, and payouts pause until you respond. Check the inbox on your Stripe account, including spam.

Your bank details are wrong. A failed transfer returns the money to your Stripe balance and Stripe notifies you. Correct the account in your Stripe dashboard and it goes out on the next cycle.

Your account has an outstanding negative balance. Heavy refunds or disputes can exceed incoming payments; Stripe recovers the difference from subsequent sales before paying out again.

A dispute is open. The disputed amount is held while it's resolved. See Refunds & Cancellations.

Bank holidays. Not a problem, just a delay — transfers don't move on days the banking system is closed.

Checking on a payout

  1. Go to Settings → Payments in the ForkLine admin.
  2. Open your Stripe dashboard from there.
  3. Find Payouts. Each one shows its status, the expected arrival date, and everything it covers.

If a payout shows as paid but hasn't appeared in your bank, allow a full business day — banks post transfers on their own schedule — then contact your bank with the payout details before contacting Stripe.

Frequently asked

Can I get paid faster? The schedule is Stripe's. Some established accounts qualify for faster payouts; that's between you and Stripe.

Can I pay out on demand? Depending on your account, Stripe may offer manual payouts from your dashboard. This is a Stripe feature, not a ForkLine one.

Do tips come in the same payout? Yes — tips are part of the charge and arrive with everything else. Distributing them to staff is up to you. See Tipping.

Does ForkLine's $49.99 come out of my payouts? No. Your subscription is billed separately to the card on file. See Subscription & Billing.

Why doesn't my payout match my ForkLine sales? Fees, refunds, cash orders, and the rolling delay. See Reading a payout above.

Where to go next

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