🎬  Missed Our Special-Event Thursday Webinar?

Don't worry! Watch it below🌟

🚀 Pro Tip: All of our webinars are available via the Help Center in the Webinar Library section.

🎧 Tip: Turn on subtitles using the gear icon (⚙️) in the video player.

Quick Takeaways

• In this webinar, Safari Portal officially introduced its Flowbrite integration, showing how you can manage the full workflow—from collecting client payments to paying suppliers—all within Safari Portal.
• Access payments on a file-by-file basis by opening a file → Open File Details → Financials, or view everything at once in the main Financials module (including a powerful "All Payments" view for cash flow).
• Create a client invoice in seconds by clicking Create New → Invoice (start from a template whenever possible). Best practice: build one invoice from scratch, add your terms, company info, and payment schedule, then save it as a template for future trips.
• Safari Portal supports multiple payment processor options (e.g., Stripe, Flywire, NMI via Path Payments, and a UK/EU-focused option in progress), and lets you toggle on/off credit card payments and alternate payment methods (ACH, bank transfer, SEPA, iDEAL, etc., depending on your processor).
• Avoid awkward “card fee” conversations by configuring a credit card surcharge directly in the invoice (set your % once in the template, and it’s automatically applied when clients choose card payment).
• Invoice payment schedules can be percentage-based (e.g., 30% deposit / 70% final) and due dates can be automated (e.g., deposit due X days after issue; final due X days before trip start—Safari Portal calculates this from the trip dates).
• Use the Send tab to email invoices or copy a shareable link, and turn on automated payment reminders (fully editable cadence). Reminders automatically stop once a payment is received.
• The client experience is streamlined: clients click Pay Now, choose their payment method, and payments automatically update in Safari Portal (with manual “mark as paid” available if needed).
• Track everything in one place: the ledger shows incoming and outgoing payments, due dates, statuses, and (at the file level) quick stats like collected vs. paid out vs. hold vs. projected profit.
• Supplier payments happen through expenses: create an Expense (including deposits/finals and currency selection), and if Flowbrite is connected, the Pay button initiates the supplier payment via Flowbrite directly from Safari Portal.
• Flowbrite’s key value: save on foreign exchange and bank transfer fees, get fixed/low transaction fees, and add travel-savvy, human support (phone/email/WhatsApp—real people, including out-of-hours help).
• Lock in certainty with forward contracts (hedging): secure today’s FX rate for future trips with only a ~5% deposit, protecting your profit and pricing against currency swings.
• Flowbrite also offers company-named multi-currency accounts/wallets (e.g., hold ZAR or collect commissions in EUR, then convert back at better rates than typical bank auto-rates—often with zero wire fees).
• Setup is simple: get onboarded with Flowbrite, add beneficiaries in Flowbrite, then in Safari Portal go to the supplier/partner contact → Flowbrite tab → connect that contact to the matching beneficiary (this activates supplier payments from Safari Portal).
• Notes + limitations: the API integration doesn’t support Africa-based travel companies (they can still use Flowbrite, but payments are initiated in Flowbrite and then marked as paid in Safari Portal). US-based companies don’t need to pre-fund (Flowbrite can auto-debit); non-US companies typically fund the Flowbrite account before/within a day of initiating payments.
• Exchange rates can sync cleanly: if you have a wallet or forward buy in the relevant currency, Flowbrite uses that first and the associated exchange rate reflects in Safari Portal; if funds are insufficient, it defaults to auto-debit.

📌 Check out Flowbrite. Plus, keep an eye on our Notice Board for new and upcoming releases!