Approved partnerDirect Debit for air conditioning installers
Vento is an approved GoCardless partner. Connect your own GoCardless account and collect deposits and final invoices by Direct Debit, straight from the proposal your customer already signed — with every payment recorded against the job.
Why installers collect by Direct Debit
~85%
of SMEs spend less time chasing payments
A Direct Debit is collected on the due date without anyone being asked twice. For an installer, that is the end of the week-three phone call about an invoice from week one.
Source: GoCardless, State of Late Payments
~56%
saved on every transaction
Card fees are charged as a percentage, so they bite hardest on exactly the jobs that matter. On a £4,000 install that difference is real money.
Source: IDC, Business Value of GoCardless
~47%
faster payments
Cash arrives when it is owed rather than whenever the customer gets round to it, which is what makes the next job's equipment order plannable.
Source: IDC, Business Value of GoCardless
~59%
less time spent on finance admin
Payments land back against the job in Vento, so the books are done as a by-product of getting paid rather than as a separate evening's work.
Source: IDC, Business Value of GoCardless
How it works
- 1
Connect your own GoCardless account
In Settings → Payments, connect the account in your company's name. Vento never holds your customers' bank details, and payouts go to your bank, not ours.
- 2
Send the proposal as you already do
Direct Debit appears alongside your other payment methods on the proposal and the payment page. Your customer approves once.
- 3
Collect deposits and invoices automatically
The deposit is collected on acceptance and the balance on completion. Each payment is recorded against the job, so the job, the invoice and the money stay in one place.
- Your own GoCardless account, in your company's name
- Payouts go to your bank, never through Vento
- Deposits on acceptance, balance on completion
- Payments reconcile against the job automatically
GoCardless is used by more than 85,000 organisations worldwide to collect bank payments. Vento’s integration is approved and live, so the account you connect is a full GoCardless account in your own name.
Common questions
Is Vento a GoCardless partner?
Yes. Vento is an approved GoCardless partner, and the integration is live. Installers connect their own GoCardless account to Vento through a secure connection rather than copying an API key, so payments are taken by the installer's own business and paid into their own bank account.
How do air conditioning installers take Direct Debit payments?
An installer connects their GoCardless account to Vento, then sends a proposal or invoice as normal. Direct Debit is offered as a payment method; the customer approves it once, and the deposit and final balance are then collected automatically on their due dates. The payment is recorded against the job in Vento, so there is no separate reconciliation step.
Is Direct Debit cheaper than card payments for installers?
Usually, yes, and the gap widens on larger jobs. Card fees are charged as a percentage of the transaction, so a £4,000 installation costs far more to collect by card than by Direct Debit. GoCardless reports around 56% saved per transaction (IDC, Business Value of GoCardless). Air conditioning and heat pump installations are high-value jobs, which is exactly where that difference is felt.
Who holds the money — Vento or the installer?
The installer. Each installer connects their own GoCardless account, and funds are paid out by GoCardless directly to that company's bank account. Vento never takes custody of customer funds.
Can I use Direct Debit for deposits as well as final invoices?
Yes. Deposits can be collected on proposal acceptance and the balance on completion, both from the same one-time approval by the customer. Maintenance and service plans can also be collected as recurring payments.
What happens if a payment fails?
GoCardless can automatically retry a failed payment on an optimised schedule, a feature called Success+. It is enabled on each installer's own GoCardless account rather than switched on by Vento. Vento distinguishes a payment that is going to be retried from one that has genuinely failed, so you are not sent chasing a customer who is about to be charged anyway.
Setting it up for the first time? The step-by-step connection guide walks through it. Taking deposits by card as well? Card payments run through Stripe.
More of what Vento does
One platform — these are the parts of it installers ask about most.
- Air conditioning softwareThe whole job: survey, design, quote, e-sign and get paid.Read more
- Installer softwareBuilt for engineers on site, not adapted from a generic trade CRM.Read more
- Quoting & estimatingPriced from the survey, with your own materials and margins.Read more
- Proposals & e-signBranded documents with drawings, signed on the customer's phone.Read more
- Heat loss calculationRoom-by-room sizing you can put in front of a customer.Read more
- F-Gas & logbookRegister, CO₂e totals and leak-check intervals, kept current.Read more
- Field service softwareDispatch, routes, van stock and subcontractors, after the job is won.Read more
- Schedule of RatesContract work measured against your client's rates, line by line.Read more
Get paid on time, without the chasing.
Survey, design, quote and collect payment on one platform. 14-day free trial.
Start free trial14-day free trial