# 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](/refunds).

**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](/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](/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

- [Processing Fees Explained](/processing-fees) — what's deducted before a payout
- [Setting Up Stripe Payments](/stripe-connect-setup)
- [Refunds & Cancellations](/refunds)
- [Frequently Asked Questions](/faq)