FAQ

What does Lunch do?
Lunch is an instant payment platform for businesses working with all government agencies. We help you receive payments for your invoices in a matter of days or even hours instead of NET-30, NET-45, or longer! There are NO applications, credit checks, set up, or monthly fees. You have complete control over when you want to receive payments to make payroll, improve cash flow, and grow your business.
Are you a new payment processor for my customer?
Lunch is not the required payment processor for your government agency customer. We help businesses get paid much faster instead of the standard NET-30 or longer.
When can I request an Instant Payment?
You can request an instant payment as soon as you invoice the school or agency. You may still be eligible if you have received a Purchase Order but have yet to invoice. Please contact us to check for eligibility.
What are your fees?
The only fee involved is a 5% processing fee on an invoice-by-invoice basis, without any set-up fees, monthly fees, or hidden fees.
It doesn’t matter if your Purchase Orders (POs) are NET-30, NET-45, or even NET-60; the processing fee will stay the same.
Is the processing fee tax deductible for my business?
Typically, yes but each state and county has unique tax regulations.
*This is not financial or tax advice. Please consult with your financial advisor or CPA.*
Are there any credit checks or applications?
No, there are no credit checks or no loan applications! All you need is an invoice for the government agency and the corresponding Purchase Order (PO) to the invoice.
Are there transaction limits?
We should be able to cover most of your invoices, but if you have any specific questions, please reach out to your onboarding specialist.
What if there is a problem with the payment from the agency?
While this is rare, we reserve the right to debit the full invoice value. You are not being charged any additional fees or penalties in this situation. This is handled on a case-by-case basis.
Why do I connect my bank account?
We connect to your bank account primarily to send you Instant Payments via ACH and for risk assessment purposes to ensure you have a history of doing business since we do not require credit checks.
Why do I connect my accounting software?
We connect to your accounting software to automatically populate your dashboard with your invoices, so you don’t have to input them manually.
What if I don’t have accounting software or it’s not supported by Lunch?
Not a problem! We have an invoicing tool built into the platform that you can use to generate your invoices or upload existing ones to your dashboard.
Can I use Lunch for invoicing other customers?
Absolutely! You can use the Lunch platform to generate invoices for any of your customers.
Why do we need a cell phone number?
We use multi-factor authentication (MFA) to send a security code once you log in to ensure your account’s safety.
What do you mean by collecting on my behalf?
After Instant Payment is approved and sent, we will follow up with the school/agency on your behalf. This is to avoid any unnecessary delays caused by miscommunication or lack of information. Agencies will still send funds directly to you.
Why does Lunch collect on my behalf?
We find that many delays are caused by the school/agency missing a piece of information, but they don’t mention that until after businesses follow up on payment.

To be clear - we are not a debt collection agency. Most of our clients do repeat business with schools/agencies, and your relationship with them is our top priority. If we ruined any relationships, we would not stay in business.
How does Lunch reach out on my behalf?
  1. We use an email at your domain, such as “invoices@yourdomain.com.” This means you will need to create a new email address and share the login credentials for the new email.

  2. We use our domain “invoices@lunchpayments.com” and CC a member of your team on all correspondence.
  3. We find most businesses prefer option 1 as a cleaner approach with a better response rate.
An example of initial correspondence would be the following:

Hello,

I'm reaching out regarding our invoice. I wanted to see if there's any additional information I need to provide or see if I can help answer any questions.

Please let me know!

Thank you,
What if I don’t want Lunch to collect on my behalf?
Some of our clients strongly prefer that we don’t send reminders to schools/agencies for them. We understand this and have provided an auto-debit option.
What is the auto-debit option?
Lunch will either automatically debit the total invoice amount 3 days after the due date (i.e. net terms plus a 3-day buffer from the time of invoicing) or when the school/agency pays, whichever comes first.

The intention is to provide enough time for schools/agencies to pay the terms and allow a small buffer for the checks to land in your account.
What if we don’t receive purchase orders?
We use purchase orders (POs) to confirm the validity of your agreement with the school/agency. If you don’t receive POs for every invoice but have an annual contract instead, you can still request Instant Payments. Our risk team must confirm the annual contract prior to the approval of your instant payment.

If you work on a contract basis, please reach out to your onboarding specialist.
What is the flow of funds?
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