Offline payments

Offline payments support purchases that are not completed through an immediate online authorization. They are often used for B2B orders, procurement processes, and customers who need to pay by check or against an invoice or purchase order.

An offline order can require document review, payment outside checkout, or both. Payment confirmation, delivery, and invoice issuance can therefore occur at different stages.

Do all offline payments use the same flow?

No. A check is a payment instrument, while a purchase order documents a buyer's authorization to purchase. The applicable invoice and delivery model determine how the customer ultimately pays.

Workflow	Typical customer action	Review	Delivery timing
Check	The customer follows the displayed instructions and sends a check for processing.	Payment processing and confirmation occur after checkout.	The order follows the configured delivery behavior after the payment result is recorded.
Invoice and purchase order	An eligible B2B customer submits or references a PO and pays against an invoice or proforma invoice.	Company or PO review can apply, depending on the submission route and configuration.	Delivery can occur when the PO is approved or only after prepayment is received.

Shared offline-order lifecycle

1. Cleverbridge presents an eligible offline option in the applicable checkout or assisted-order flow.
2. The customer submits the order and receives the required instructions or documents.
3. Cleverbridge or Customer Support performs any configured review.
4. The configured workflow determines whether delivery precedes or follows payment.
5. The customer completes the required payment action, and Cleverbridge records the payment and delivery outcomes.

For an instant-delivery PO, product delivery can precede payment. For a check or prepayment PO, delivery depends on the applicable payment confirmation. The method article is authoritative for the exact sequence.

Customer instructions

The articles in this section explain offline-payment behavior from the client's perspective. When a customer needs payment instructions, share the matching article from Guidelines for customers.

Refunds and overdue payments

Offline-payment refunds generally require assistance from Cleverbridge. See Handle refunds for the documented support path. For configured overdue-payment communication, see Collect overdue offline payments.

Paid order notifications

The PaidOrderNotification format does not change based on the offline payment method used. Continue to use the standard notification fields and your configured notification processing.

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Explore this section

Checks

Offer check payments and understand offline submission, processing, and confirmation.

Invoices and purchase orders

Explore the guides and reference information available for Invoices and purchase orders.

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