Proposal Checkout Configuration

Summary

This master onboarding guide provides structural steps on how to initialize and configure OpenSolar CashFlow for your organization. This article walks through steps to activate interactive payment options on your proposals immediately and serves as your gateway to automated invoicing, milestone configurations, and accounting integrations.
 

OpenSolar CashFlow is a comprehensive, built-in financial automation ecosystem designed to turn your standard sales proposals into high-converting digital checkout experiences. Activating CashFlow provides your solar business with another immediate route to a "yes" by allowing your customers to review, authorize, and submit project payments directly from their interactive online proposal screen.

You can launch a fully functional proposal checkout portal in minutes using your existing bank transfer or direct payment details.

Once this checkout baseline is live, your OpenSolar workspace automatically unlocks access to our advanced CashFlow Hub. The Hub serves as your operational gateway to activate premium add-on financial features at your own pace—including instant credit card payments, automated milestone invoicing triggers, custom layout templates, and real-time accounting sync integrations.

Step 1: Configure Your Core Proposal Checkout Instructions

Your first action establishes the baseline checkout mechanism that homeowners see when they click to pay their project deposits.

1. Navigate to the top menu and click CashFlow

2. Choose how you want to present your baseline payment instruction details on the proposal checkout:

• Pre-Formatted Form: Select this templated path to input standard banking credentials (such as Account Name, Routing/BSB Numbers, and Bank Name) into clean, structured data rows. Best for bank transfers. 

• Customize Tab: Select this path to build a completely custom layout. This free-form field allows you to type out localized wire instructions, embed custom text instructions, or even upload images.
   

Step 2: Preview the Homeowner Checkout Layout
 

Before deploying your payment instructions live to active customers, verify the visual layout to prevent data mistakes and ensure clear customer communication:

1. Click the Preview button at the bottom of the registration window.
   

2. Review the pop-up simulation layout detailing exactly how your payment instructions, account numbers, and milestone messages will display to a homeowner inside their live checkout view.

3. If the layout matches your standards, exit the preview and click Activate CashFlow.

Click here to learn more about the customer checkout experience and managing payment instructions on an ongoing basis. 
 

Step 3: Navigating the CashFlow Hub

Clicking activate forwards your browser to the central CashFlow Hub. This dashboard is built around a sticky floating navigation menu in the top right corner that provides immediate, one-click access to three master operational views:

• The Hub (Home Icon): Houses your primary Onboarding Progress Widget. Each setup step displays a dedicated card featuring estimated execution badges and live status icons (a green checkmark indicates a completed step, while a right arrow highlights your next immediate action).

• The Dashboard (Graph Icon): Aggregates detailed payment data into listviews, including payment details and payouts dashboard.

• The Settings Panel (Gear Icon): Centralizes your administrative backend grouping individual configuration controls.

Step 4: Activating Premium Card Processing and Financial Add-Ons

With your proposal checkout baseline successfully established, you can use the interactive setup cards across the CashFlow Hub to expand your capabilities and opt into tools whenever your business is ready:

• Card Payment Activation: Click this setup card to activate credit card, wallet, and premium payment service provider options (such as Stripe Connect or BlueSnap). All merchant identity verification inputs, corporate tax identifiers, and bank routing values are condensed onto a single, unified page with real-time error checking to ensure quick processing submissions.

• Enable Default Payment Milestones: Flip the direct toggle switch on this setup card to instantly apply automated milestone payment percentages across your projects.

• Enable Automated Invoicing: Click this card to open our dynamic document composer. Select your primary layout style (such as Milestone Invoices or Single Project Invoices) and customize your corporate colors, address footers, and note blocks while monitoring a live document layout rendered with mock auditing numbers.

Once all steps are complete, this bar will disappear but the settings for these features will still be accessible via the settings panel. 

📊 Managing Live CashFlow Operations

Once your projects actively process checkouts, your CashFlow Hub shifts from a configuration screen into an automated administrative cockpit. Owners and managers can log in to track three business critical data sections:

1. The Income Lookback Panel: Tracks historical cash inflows across month-to-month increments. Clicking any past month automatically opens a filtered payouts report showing the exact project addresses and specific customer files included in that specific bank deposit batch.

2. The Activity Feed: A central log that monitors background background automation running on your behalf. This view tracks exactly when milestone invoice emails are generated, when customer payment reminders are transmitted, and when digital checkouts clear the network.

3. The Needs Attention Alert: A high-priority operational dashboard that surfaces billing items requiring manual intervention. This view flags urgent financial status developments—such as active credit card chargeback disputes—giving your admins early visibility to step in and protect your profit margins.