These recommended settings help you reduce failed payments, avoid duplicate invoice emails, and keep subscriptions running smoothly in Stora. Use this guide as soon as your Stripe account is connected to Stora or whenever you review your billing setup.

Why update Stripe settings?

Stripe works straight out of the box, but its defaults are not designed for self storage or Stora’s workflows.

Without updating a few key settings, you risk:

Missed payments that never retry
Customers are cancelling subscriptions instead of updating their card.
Invoices going out twice (Stripe + Stora)
Extra admin work fixing issues later

By following the setup below, you will protect your revenue, give customers a smoother experience, and keep everything running through Stora.

⚠️ If Stripe cancels a subscription, billing stops immediately for that customer. Update your settings before you go live with real customers.

How to access the settings

To update the recommended settings, you will use Stripe’s Subscriptions and emails page.

Log in to Stripe.
Go to Settings
Under Billing, select Subscriptions and emails.

Stop overdue subscriptions from being automatically cancelled

Why:

By default, Stripe cancels overdue subscriptions. If this happens, the subscription stops billing, even if you could still have recovered the balance.

What to do:

In Subscriptions and emails, go to the Subscription status section.
Choose to leave the subscription as overdue / past due / unpaid instead of cancelling it.

This keeps overdue subscriptions active in Stripe so you can keep working to recover outstanding payments.

Update failed payment retry schedule

Why:

Customers’ cards often fail temporarily (for example, expired cards, insufficient funds, travel). Smart Retry helps recover more payments automatically so you spend less time chasing overdue invoices.

What to do:

In Stripe, go to Settings → Billing → Subscriptions and emails → Manage failed payments.
Select Smart Retry policy for subscriptions.
Set the retries to 8 attempts within 2 weeks.

💡 Smart Retry automatically attempts to collect failed subscription payments on an optimised schedule, which usually recovers more payments than manual retries.

Stripe’s invoice & card payment emails

Stripe's Invoice emails

Why:

If Stripe emails invoices as well as Stora, customers receive duplicates. Keeping invoicing centralised in Stora gives customers a single, consistent experience. Stora will continue to email invoices according to your Stora settings.

What to do:

In Subscriptions and emails, find the Customer emails section.
Turn off Send email finalised invoices to customers.

Stripe's card payment emails

Why: Stripe can help to notify customers when cards are expiring and when payments fail. This is turn helps to reduce failed payments.

What to do:

In Subscriptions and emails, find the Email notifications and customer management section.
Enable Send Emails about expiring cards & Send emails when payment cards fail.
Save your changes.

Update your invoice template

Why:

Different countries require different invoice details. Missing information can lead to disputes, delays in payment, or compliance issues. Updating your template now to suit your requirements can save ongoing admin headaches.

What to do:

Add tax numbers, company information, and memos where required in your Stripe invoice template. For full instructions, see how to update your invoice template.

Payment method configuration

Stripe offers a range of payment options, but not all of them work well for recurring self storage billing.

Features like OneLink payment links and some alternative payment methods (such as Klarna) only settle a single invoice. They do not store card details for future use in Stora, which means the next recurring payment is likely to fail again. Some methods also carry higher transaction fees.

For most operators, we recommend using card payments through Stora so card details are stored and recurring payments can run automatically.

What to do:

In Stripe, open your Payments > Payment method settings. Full Instruction to disable Onelink here.
Review all available payment methods.
Disable any methods that are not appropriate for your business or location, especially:
1. One‑off payment options that do not store card details for subscriptions.
2. Alternative payment methods such as Klarna if you do not want to absorb higher fees.
If needed, create a separate invoice template configuration in Stripe for rare exceptions. See how in our step‑by‑step guide.

💡 If you are moving existing customers into Stora and asking them to add card details, we advise disabling OneLink before creating subscriptions. Learn how to disable Link ↗.