A payment in Cleo Pay is an ACH transfer that moves money from the payer’s bank account to the payee’s bank account. Payments are initiated against approved payables (invoices), but you can also send one-off payments without creating a formal payable using Quick Pay.
How payments work
Cleo Pay processes all payments as ACH transfers. To send a payment, you need:
- A verified Standard business on Cleo Pay
- An active connection with the payee
- A linked and verified bank account to fund the payment
- An approved payable, or a Quick Pay request
Bank accounts are linked via instant bank verification (using your online banking credentials) or added manually with routing and account numbers followed by micro-deposit verification.
ACH transfers are not instant. Standard ACH payments typically take 1–3 business days to settle. Same-day ACH is faster but still processes within the same business day, not immediately. Plan payment schedules accordingly to avoid missing due dates.
Clearing speeds
| Speed | Settlement time | Notes |
|---|
| Standard ACH | 1–3 business days | Default option. Lower cost. |
| Same-day ACH | Same business day | Must be initiated before the daily cutoff time. Subject to per-transaction limits. |
Payment statuses
| Status | Description |
|---|
| Pending | The payment has been initiated and is queued for processing. |
| Processing | The ACH transfer is in flight. Funds have left or are being pulled from the payer’s account. |
| Completed | The transfer settled successfully. Funds have reached the payee. |
| Failed | The transfer failed (e.g., insufficient funds, invalid bank account, or bank rejection). The associated payable returns to an actionable state. |
| Cancelled | The payment was cancelled before it completed processing. |
Scheduled payments
You can schedule a payment for a future date rather than initiating it immediately. When you schedule a payment:
- The payable moves to Scheduled status.
- The payment is automatically initiated on the scheduled date.
- You can cancel or reschedule the payment any time before the initiation date.
Scheduled payments are useful for matching payment timing to due dates or cash flow needs.
Bulk payments
You can initiate payments against multiple approved payables at once using bulk payment initiation. This is useful when you have a batch of vendor invoices ready to pay at the end of a pay cycle.
Bulk payments let you:
- Select multiple approved payables in a single operation
- Choose the bank account to fund all selected payments
- Set the clearing speed for the batch
Each payable in the batch results in a separate ACH transfer. You can track each payment’s status individually.
Quick Pay
Quick Pay lets you send a one-off payment to a connected business without creating a formal payable first. It’s designed for ad-hoc payments where you don’t need a full invoice lifecycle.
Use Quick Pay when:
- You need to pay a vendor for a service not tied to a submitted invoice
- You want to make an immediate payment without going through draft → submit → approve
To use Quick Pay, you still need an active connection with the payee and a verified bank account. Cleo Pay creates a minimal payment record for tracking, but no payable is created.
Quick Pay bypasses approval workflows. If your business requires approvals before payments go out, use the standard payable flow instead.