Fix GoCardless and Stripe Connection Errors

What this is for

Direct Debit (GoCardless) and card payments (Stripe) use keys that you paste into Accounting → Settings. If a key is wrong, the platform now tells you what is wrong and which setting to change, before it sends anything to the provider. Errors show two links: Open Accounting → Settings and How to fix this, which opens this page.

Only admins can change these settings.

Check your GoCardless connection

1. Go to Accounting → Settings → GoCardless.
2. Click Test connection.
3. If it works, you see the environment (Sandbox or Live) and the name of your GoCardless account. If it fails, you see what to fix.

Test before you set up a client's first mandate.

GoCardless errors

"The saved GoCardless access token is not a GoCardless token"

GoCardless tokens always start with sandbox_ or live_. Anything else is not a token. This usually happens when a browser or password manager fills in a saved password without you noticing.

Fix: In GoCardless, go to Developers → Create → Access token, choose Read-write access, copy the token and paste it into Accounting → Settings → GoCardless → Access Token. Then click Save and Test connection. The key fields no longer accept browser autofill.

"The GoCardless environment is set to Sandbox but the saved token is a Live token" (or the other way round)

Sandbox is GoCardless's test system and takes no real money. Live takes real payments. A token only works in the environment it was made in.

Fix: Change Environment to match the token, or paste a token from the right environment:

• Sandbox tokens come from manage-sandbox.gocardless.com
• Live tokens come from manage.gocardless.com

"GoCardless rejected the access token"

The token has the right format, but GoCardless doesn't accept it. It may have been revoked, or it was copied incompletely.

Fix: Create a new read-write token in GoCardless and paste it in.

"The GoCardless access token is read-only"

Setting up mandates and taking payments needs a read-write token.

Fix: Create a read-write token and replace the read-only one.

"GoCardless has not finished verifying your account yet"

GoCardless won't collect payments until your account is verified. Finish verification in your GoCardless dashboard. You don't need to change anything in Plenix.

"GoCardless is limiting requests" or "GoCardless is having problems"

These come from GoCardless. Wait a few minutes and try again.

Stripe errors

Stripe keys are checked when you save them:

• Secret key must start with sk_test_, sk_live_, rk_test_ or rk_live_. Don't paste the publishable key (pk_…) here.
• Webhook secret must start with whsec_. You find it in Stripe under Developers → Webhooks, on your endpoint.

Use test keys while you are trying things out, and live keys when you take real payments.

Keep your keys safe

• Saved keys are encrypted and shown masked. To keep a key, leave the masked value as it is.
• If a password or key was pasted into the wrong field, change that password or revoke that key at the provider.

Where to go next

• Accounting Settings