“with stripe you get the endtoend experience right like you get the checkout where you add your credit card and whatever and then you can basically just write I mean really it's like fuck lines of code to say hey I want to get 20% of that and 80% of that get get go to the the mentor... legally speaking and in terms of like bookkeeping and accountants it becomes a thousand times more complex as soon as you touch that money because then you're the Merchant of record”

Use Stripe Connect so the money never touches your books

The default "collect money in our Stripe, pay out via payroll" pattern makes you the Merchant of Record on every transaction — exploding your bookkeeping, VAT exposure, and chargeback liability. Stripe Connect splits funds at the source: 20% to you, 80% to the mentor, you never "see" the supplier's money. Few lines of code, dramatically simpler accounting, lower risk. Use it from day one — retrofitting is painful.