Payments, Invoicing & Payouts

How IronFlock handles payment collection, Stripe invoicing, and revenue transfers to app distributors.

Overview

IronFlock partners with Stripe to handle all payment processing:

• Collecting payment methods from customers
• Generating and charging monthly invoices
• Splitting app revenue between the distributor and IronFlock
• Transferring earnings to the distributor’s bank account

Payment Methods

Adding a Payment Method

Customers configure their payment method in User Settings → Payment:

1. Click Add Payment Method.
2. Complete the secure Stripe Elements form. Payment details are sent directly to Stripe — they never touch IronFlock servers.
3. Stripe creates a Setup Intent to verify and store the payment method for future charges.
4. Once confirmed, the payment method is saved as the default for all future invoices.

Supported Payment Methods

IronFlock supports payment methods through Stripe including:

• Credit and debit cards (Visa, Mastercard, American Express)
• SEPA Direct Debit (Europe)
• Bank transfers
• Other region-specific methods offered by Stripe

Stripe automatically presents relevant payment options based on the customer’s location and currency.

Invoicing

How Invoices Are Generated

At the end of each billing cycle, the billing system creates a Stripe Invoice for each customer:

1. Any existing draft invoices and pending invoice items are removed.
2. All finalized bills for the period are collected — both infrastructure and app bills.
3. Each bill becomes a line item on the invoice with a clear description.
4. For third-party app bills, the invoice uses Stripe destination charges: the full amount is charged to the customer, with the service fee deducted as application_fee_amount, and the remainder routed to the distributor’s connected Stripe account.
5. The invoice is created with auto-advance enabled and charged automatically.

Invoice Contents

A typical monthly invoice includes:

• Infrastructure charges — Storage overages, network overages, virtual device usage, AI tokens
• App charges — One line item per third-party app per distributor, showing app-days consumed and total cost
• Tax information — VAT for EU customers; reverse-charge for B2B customers outside Germany; supported tax IDs for India (GST), Australia (ABN), and New Zealand (GST)

Failed Payments

If a payment fails:

• Stripe retries the charge according to its retry schedule
• The customer is notified to update their payment method
• Services are not immediately interrupted, but persistent non-payment may result in account restrictions
• Accounts without a valid payment method that exceed the free usage tier have their devices restricted

Stripe Connect for Distributors

IronFlock uses Stripe Connect (Express accounts) to manage revenue flow to app distributors. When a customer’s invoice includes charges for your app, IronFlock uses destination charges — the full amount is collected from the customer, and Stripe automatically routes your share to your connected account in the same transaction.

Setting Up Your Seller Account

1. Go to User Settings → Seller.
2. Enter your billing name and country.
3. Accept the IronFlock seller terms and conditions.
4. Click Complete Onboarding — this redirects to Stripe’s onboarding flow.
5. Provide business or individual information, identity verification, and bank account details.
6. Once Stripe verifies your account, your seller status is activated.

Service Fee

Example

A customer is billed €100 for your publicly listed app:

• Service fee (20%): €20 → retained by IronFlock
• Your revenue (80%): €80 → transferred to your Stripe account

For a privately shared app with the same €100 bill:

• Service fee (10%): €10 → retained by IronFlock
• Your revenue (90%): €90 → transferred to your Stripe account

Revenue Payouts

How Payouts Work

After a customer’s invoice is charged, your revenue share is transferred automatically as part of the same Stripe transaction via destination charges:

1. Customer’s payment is collected by IronFlock via Stripe
2. The service fee is deducted automatically as the application_fee_amount
3. The remaining amount is routed directly to your Stripe Connect account
4. Stripe pays out from your connected account to your bank account on your payout schedule

Payout Timing

Tracking Your Earnings

• IronFlock User Settings → Seller — Aggregated revenue, service fees, and payout history
• Stripe Dashboard — Detailed transfer history, upcoming payouts, and bank deposit records

End-to-End Payment Flow

Customer adds devices to your app
        ↓
IronFlock meters app-days (hourly)
        ↓
Monthly billing cycle aggregates usage into bills
        ↓
Stripe Invoice created with destination charges
        ↓
Customer's payment method charged automatically
        ↓
Service fee deducted, your share routed to your Stripe account
        ↓
Stripe pays out to your bank account