Simplify Your Laravel Billing Workflow with Polar Billing

Integrating Polar Billing with Laravel for Efficient Transactions

Why Choose Polar Billing for Laravel?

• Automated invoicing: Automatically generates invoices for recurring payments, reducing manual effort.
• Seamless payment gateway integration: Supports multiple payment methods, making transactions easier.
• Tax and discount management: Allows businesses to configure taxes and apply discounts as needed.
• Detailed reporting and analytics: Provides insights into financial transactions and billing history.
• Customizable invoice templates: Enable businesses to personalize invoices according to their branding.

Setting Up Polar Billing in Laravel

1. Install Laravel

Laravel is a PHP framework that simplifies web application development with its built-in features. If you haven’t set up Laravel yet, install it using Composer:

composer create-project –prefer-dist laravel/laravel polar-billing-app
Navigate to your project folder:
cd polar-billing-app

2. Install the Polar Billing Package

The Polar Billing package is a Laravel package that provides seamless billing and payment integration. To integrate Polar Billing, install its package via Composer:

composer require polar/billing

3. Configure the Environment

Environment configuration ensures secure and seamless integration of the billing system. After installation, update the .env file with the necessary credentials:

POLAR_API_KEY=your_api_key_here
POLAR_SECRET=your_secret_key_here

Run the configuration command to set up migrations and config files:

php artisan vendor: publish– tag=polar-config
php artisan migrate

4. Implement Billing Functions

Billing functions handle the creation, modification, and management of invoices. To create a new invoice, use the following code:

use Polar\Billing\Invoice;

$invoice = Invoice::create([
‘user_id’ => auth()->id(),
‘amount’ => 100.00,
‘currency’ => ‘USD’,
‘description’ => ‘Monthly Subscription’
]);
$invoice->send();

5. Handling Payments

Payment processing allows users to complete transactions securely and efficiently. Integrating a payment gateway allows customers to pay invoices easily:

use Polar\Billing\Payment;
 
$payment = Payment::process([
‘invoice_id’ => $invoice->id,
‘method’ => ‘credit_card’,
‘status’ => ‘completed’
]);

This example completes a credit card payment for a generated invoice.

Best Practices for Using Polar Billing in Laravel

To maximize efficiency and security, follow these best practices:

• Use scheduled jobs: Automate invoice generation and reminders to ensure timely payments.
• Leverage webhooks: Webhooks notify your application of real-time payment status changes.
• Ensure security: Encrypt sensitive billing data to protect customer information.
• Monitor transactions: Use built-in reporting tools to track revenue and financial activities.