A Connection is a relationship between two businesses on Cleo Pay. Before you can send a payment to a vendor or receive a payment from a customer, you need an active connection with that business.
Connections define who the payer is and who the payee is in a given relationship. One business initiates and pays; the other receives. This structure keeps payment flows, invoice history, and settings cleanly scoped to each business relationship.
Both businesses in a connection must be verified before payments can flow. A payer must complete full KYB verification (Standard business type). A payee must have at minimum a Basic business verification with valid tax information.
How connections are established
Connections are created through an invitation process. You can invite another business in two ways:
By email — Send a direct invitation to a specific email address. The recipient receives an email with a link to accept. If they don’t have a Cleo Pay account, they’re prompted to create one.
By shareable link — Generate a public invite link you can share anywhere (email, Slack, your website). Anyone with the link can use it to connect with your business. You can configure and regenerate this link from your business settings.
Once the invited business accepts the invitation, the connection becomes active and payments can be initiated.
Connection statuses
| Status | Description |
|---|
| Pending | An invitation has been sent and is waiting for the other business to accept. |
| Active | Both sides have accepted and payments can flow between the two businesses. |
| Archived | The connection has been archived and is no longer active. Existing payables are preserved but no new payments can be initiated. |
Payer vs. payee
Every connection has a direction:
- Payer — The business that initiates and sends payments. You are the payer when you owe money to a vendor.
- Payee — The business that receives payments. You are the payee when a customer owes you money.
A single business can be a payer in some connections and a payee in others. The role is set at the connection level and is typically determined by who sends the invitation and in which direction the payment flow is established.
Per-connection settings
You can configure each connection independently. Settings apply only to that specific relationship and do not affect other connections.
| Setting | Description |
|---|
| Alias | A custom name for the connection, visible only to your business. Useful when a vendor’s legal name differs from what your team calls them. |
| Tags | Labels you assign to the connection for filtering and organization. |
| Accounting mappings | Map the connection to a vendor or customer in your accounting system (e.g., QuickBooks Online). Payments and invoices sync to the mapped entity. |
| Net terms | Configure payment due date terms for invoices on this connection (e.g., Net 15, Net 30). |
| Payment settings | Additional payment configuration such as allowed payment directions and clearing speed preferences. |