The moment it happens

Know when a PayPal invoice is paid

You get a message with the invoice number and amount as soon as it is paid.

Runs: The moment it happens
Apps: PayPal
AI: Not needed
Access: REST app

Send this to your assistant

Create a ClickRuntime automation: when one of my PayPal invoices is paid, Slack me the invoice number, customer and amount in #billing.

Paste it into your assistant. It tells you what it will send or change before it runs live.

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First time? Adding ClickRuntime to your assistant takes about two minutes.

Why use it

Why teams use this automation

Freelancers and agencies often send PayPal invoices and then keep checking whether they have been paid. The status changes in PayPal, but nobody tells the person who is waiting on that money to start a project, release files or pay a subcontractor. So work gets delayed by a day or two, simply because the payment went unnoticed in a busy week.

When PayPal reports that an invoice has been paid, a Slack post tells you at once. The channel gets a note the moment the money lands, so you can begin the work, send the deliverable or mark the job as settled in your own records without logging in to check.

It is especially handy when billing and delivery are handled by different people, since the person delivering learns immediately that the client has paid.

What you get out of it

Start paid work without delay
If a project begins on payment, knowing within seconds means the client is not left waiting. A prompt start also makes you look organized, which helps with repeat work and referrals.
Stop chasing invoices that are already paid
Reminder emails to a client who paid yesterday are embarrassing. A paid notice tells you to stop chasing, which protects the relationship and saves you the awkward apology. One short ping avoids that whole uncomfortable exchange.
Delivery and billing stay in sync
Whoever hands over files or access sees the paid message and can act. There is no need for a separate message from finance saying the money arrived, so handoffs happen faster.
Cash flow you can see
Seeing paid invoices appear in a channel through the month gives a lively picture of income. You can decide on a purchase or a payroll run knowing that those payments have cleared.
Fewer overdue lists to maintain
With a clear signal for each payment, you do not need to cross-check PayPal against a spreadsheet of outstanding invoices. The channel history becomes the paid record you refer back to.

How it works

What happens, step by step

When a customer pays one of your PayPal invoices, PayPal tells ClickRuntime straight away.
ClickRuntime reads the invoice number, who paid it and the amount.
A message goes to your #billing Slack channel with the invoice number, who paid and the amount.

Before it runs live

Connect PayPal
Paste your automation's link into the other app's webhook settings

What you get

RunsThe moment it happens

Know when a PayPal invoice is paidjust nowSucceeded

Slack · #billing✅ Invoice INV-0049 paid by Northwind Traders: USD 2,400.00

Build your own

Need it to work differently?

This template is a starting point. Copy the prompt and change it, or describe a different automation from scratch, with your own conditions, more apps or an AI step. Your assistant writes it, tests it and runs it on ClickRuntime.

Your own rules
Conditions, thresholds, filters and exceptions, written the way you'd explain them to a colleague.
Any number of apps
One automation can read from one app and update several others. Over 248 apps are ready, and anything with an API works too.
AI where it helps
Summaries, classification, extraction and drafts use ClickRuntime's built-in AI, with no extra key.
On a schedule or on each event
Runs as often as every 5 minutes, or the moment an app sends an event, and keeps track of what it already handled.

Changes you can ask for

Act only on the items that match your own rules, and skip the rest
Add an AI step, for example to summarize, sort or draft a reply
Add another app, for example also send it to Slack
Combine it with other PayPal steps into one automation

Under the hood

The code that runs this automation

This is the Python script that runs each time the automation starts. Your AI assistant writes it for you when you send the prompt, and you allow each step in your assistant. To change how the automation works, describe the change to your assistant and it updates the script for you. For every function it can use, see the script reference.

new_invoice_paid_alert.pyexample

from clickruntime import on_event, credentials, http, notify

API = "https://api-m.paypal.com"

def paypal_headers():
    resp = http.post(f"{API}/v1/oauth2/token", data={"grant_type": "client_credentials"},
                     auth=(credentials.secret("PAYPAL_CLIENT_ID"), credentials.secret("PAYPAL_CLIENT_SECRET")))
    resp.raise_for_status()
    return {"Authorization": f"Bearer {resp.json()['access_token']}"}

@on_event
def handle(event):
    body = event.json
    if body.get("event_type") != "INVOICING.INVOICE.PAID":
        return {"posted": False}
    inv = http.get(f"{API}/v2/invoicing/invoices/{body['resource']['invoice']['id']}", headers=paypal_headers()).json()
    customer = inv["primary_recipients"][0]["billing_info"]
    name = customer.get("business_name") or customer.get("email_address")
    amount = inv["amount"]
    notify.slack(f"✅ Invoice {inv['detail']['invoice_number']} paid by {name}: "
                 f"{amount['currency_code']} {amount['value']}", channel="#billing")
    return {"invoice": inv["id"]}

FAQ

Common questions

Does a partially paid invoice trigger the alert?

The alert is based on PayPal's invoice paid event, which fires when the invoice is fully paid. A partial payment is a different state, so you will not be told about it unless that event is added to the setup.

Will the message show the amount and the client?

The event includes invoice details such as the invoice number and amount, and those can be placed in the message. Instruct your AI assistant to include the customer's name if you want it, and approve the update.

Does it work for invoices not created in PayPal?

No. It reacts to PayPal's own invoicing events, so it covers invoices created and sent through PayPal. Invoices from other software that customers pay another way are outside what PayPal can report. Those would need their own connection.

What permissions does it need?

REST app. Nothing else in your accounts is used.

Does it need AI?

No. It runs without AI, so it doesn't use your plan's AI allowance.

How many runs does it use?

One run for each event the app sends.

Can I change how it works?

Yes. Describe the change to your AI assistant, for example a different schedule, channel or filter. It updates the automation, tests it and tells you what changed.

The moment it happens