When you need one
Use a card authorization form when you will charge a card without the customer there to tap or type it: a balance due when the job is done, a recurring service charged after each visit, or a no-show fee your policy allows. The signed form is your proof the customer agreed if they later dispute the charge with their bank.
Keeping card numbers safe
- Never type a full card number into an email, a text, a shared spreadsheet or this page.
- Write it on the printed form, keep the form locked away, and shred it when the last charge is done.
- Do not keep the card's security code.
- Your card processor's own rules and the card networks' security standards apply to you; read your processor's agreement.
A better way to keep a card on fileA payment link saves the card with the processor instead of on paper. In Koira, the customer pays from a link or at the door, and you never see or store the number.
What to put on the form
- Your business name and contact details.
- The cardholder's name, billing address and phone.
- The card type and last four digits, so you can match it without the full number.
- The amount, or the most you may charge, and when.
- What the charge is for: the job, invoice or service plan.
- The cardholder's signature and date.
More free templates
- Lien Waiver: Conditional and unconditional, progress and final, with each state's rules.
- Conditional Lien Waiver: Gives up lien rights only once your payment clears.
- Unconditional Lien Waiver: For after you are paid: takes effect when signed.
- Punch List: What is left, where, who fixes it, by when, and the sign-off.
- Daily Log: Weather, crew hours, work done, deliveries, delays and safety.
- Certificate of Completion: The customer signs that the job is done; the warranty starts.
- Home Improvement Contract: Scope, price, schedule, permits, changes, warranty and cancellation.
- Time and Materials Contract: Labor rate, materials markup, a cap and how you bill.
- Every template, including estimates, invoices and proposals for 35 trades.