Brindlechute offers outfitters a centralized way to manage guide compensation. Whether you pay entirely through Brindlechute, completely outside of it, or a mix of both, the system helps keep your records accurate and ready for tax season.
This article covers how to choose a payment method. For step-by-step instructions on a specific task, see Common tasks at the bottom.
Three Ways to Pay Guides
1. Pay All Guides Through Brindlechute
Brindlechute can send guide payments directly through the platform using Stripe.
If a guide is set up for Brindlechute payouts, the payment method will show as Automatic.
If a guide is not set up for Brindlechute payouts, the payment method will show as Manual.
To switch a guide from manual to automatic payments:
Go to the guide's profile.
Turn on Pay guides through Brindlechute.
Before this option can be turned on:
The guide must connect their bank account through Stripe.
If the guide has not connected a bank account, automatic payouts cannot be enabled.
Once the bank account is connected:
The payment method will switch to Automatic.
Future guide payments can be sent through Brindlechute.
Additional details:
Payments are sent through Stripe's scheduled payout cycle, which may be daily, weekly, bi-monthly, or monthly.
All guide payments scheduled within the same payout cycle are grouped into one payout batch.
Each payout batch includes a single $8 Stripe processing fee, no matter how many payments are included.
Payouts can be started from the booking or from the Guide Payments screen.
Guides can view their payment records in their Brindlechute dashboard.
This option keeps guide payouts and reporting in one place and reduces manual work.
2. Pay All Guides Outside of Brindlechute
If you prefer to issue payments manually (check, payroll system, etc.):
From Guide Payments, click Submit payments to log each payment.
These entries act as a ledger only—no money is transferred through Brindlechute.
Manual payment entries are for your internal records only — guides will not see these entries in their app.
This keeps records consistent even if payments are handled elsewhere.
3. Pay Most Guides Through Brindlechute, and a Few Offline
While we recommend choosing one of the first two options for consistency, Brindlechute also allows you to mix methods if needed.
To set this up:
Go to your Guides tab.
Open the guide's profile and click Edit.
Toggle Pay guides through Brindlechute off.
When this is off, you'll be responsible for paying that guide directly. Brindlechute will not move funds to them, but you can still log payouts to keep your ledger accurate.
This hybrid approach is best reserved for edge cases such as:
Bringing in a guest guide for a one-off big trip.
A small group of guides who don't want ACH or direct deposit.
This option keeps your financial records clean without forcing every guide to use Stripe, but should not be your primary payout method.
Tracking Payment Status
Guide Payments: See payout history for each guide, including trip details and amounts.
Audit trail: On the booking, click the Audit trail tab and select the Payments filter. A guide payout appears as a Transfer row showing the guide’s name, the amount, and the payment status — Scheduled for an automatic payout that hasn’t run yet, Logged for a payment you recorded manually.
Guides can view their automatic payment records in their dashboards.
End-of-Year Reconciliation
No matter which payout method you choose, Brindlechute keeps a full ledger of guide payments. This makes it simple to:
Generate reports for taxes.
Reconcile payroll and expenses.
Keep books accurate and audit-ready.
Common tasks
Pay a guide from a booking — Recording & paying a guide (from invoice summary in booking)
Pay several guides at once — Processing Guide Payments in Batches by Page
Send your first payout — Sending Your First Guide Payout
Cancel a guide payment — Canceling a Guide Payment
Change a payout amount — Changing a Guide Payment Amount
Pay a guide for a canceled trip — How to handle guide payments when trips are canceled
Understand when payments process, and the overnight cutoff — Payment Batches for Automatic Guide Payments
Add a fixed extra to every payment — Adding an Additional Guide Payment Field
Questions?
If you need help with Stripe setup, recording external payments, or reviewing payout history, feel free to reach out to our support team.