Why Use Read-Only Stripe and Ad Connections? (Safety for Cash Flow Tools)

When a tool asks to connect to your Stripe account or ad accounts, the natural reaction is caution. Your Stripe account has your revenue, customer data, and payout settings. Your ad accounts control real budget. Handing access to a third-party tool deserves scrutiny.

The key question isn't "should I connect?"—it's "what can the tool actually do once connected?" Read-only access means it can see your data but can't change anything. That's a meaningful security boundary, and understanding it helps you evaluate any tool that asks for access—not just NetDay.

What read-only access means (technically)

When a tool connects to Stripe or Meta via OAuth (the industry-standard authorization protocol), it requests specific scopes—permissions that define exactly what it can and can't do.

Stripe read-only scope

With read-only access, a tool can:

Can read	Can NOT do
Charges and payment intents	Create or modify charges
Refunds (amounts, dates, status)	Issue new refunds
Payouts (amounts, settlement dates)	Change payout schedule or bank account
Balance transactions	Transfer funds
Fees and fee breakdowns	Modify pricing or fee structure
Customer metadata (name, email)	Delete customers or modify records
Account information	Change account settings

The distinction matters because Stripe's API has over 100 different actions. Read-only access limits the tool to the "GET" operations—viewing data. All "POST", "PUT", and "DELETE" operations (creating, modifying, deleting) are blocked by the OAuth scope.

For reference, Stripe documents their Connect OAuth scopes in their OAuth reference.

Meta Ads read-only scope

Similarly, Meta Ads read-only access allows:

Can read	Can NOT do
Daily ad spend by account	Create or modify campaigns
Campaign performance data	Change ad budgets
Ad set and creative metrics	Pause or restart ads
Account-level spend	Modify targeting or bids

A cash-day reconciliation tool only needs one piece of data from Meta: daily spend by calendar day. Read-only access provides that without any ability to touch your campaigns.

Why read-only matters for cash flow tools

A cash flow or daily P&L tool needs to:

1. Read Stripe charges, refunds, payouts, and fees
2. Read ad spend by day
3. Calculate daily net (this happens in the tool, not in Stripe)

None of those steps require write access. A tool that asks for write access to your Stripe account is requesting permissions it shouldn't need for reconciliation purposes. That's a red flag worth questioning.

The principle of least privilege

In security, "least privilege" means a system should only have the minimum permissions needed for its function. For a daily P&L tool:

• Needed: Read charges, refunds, payouts, fees, daily ad spend
• Not needed: Create charges, issue refunds, change payouts, modify campaigns, access full payment credentials

Any permission beyond what's needed increases the risk surface without adding value. Read-only is the correct scope for reconciliation tools. Period.

How OAuth works (without the jargon)

When you click "Connect Stripe" in NetDay (or any OAuth-connected tool):

1. You're redirected to Stripe's website (not the tool's). Stripe asks "Do you want to give [Tool] access to [these specific permissions]?"
2. You review and approve. Stripe shows exactly what the tool can and can't do.
3. Stripe issues a token to the tool. This token is like a keycard that opens specific doors (read data) but not others (modify data).
4. The tool uses the token to read your data. It never sees your Stripe secret key or password.

The same flow applies for Meta Ads: Meta's own authorization screen shows what the tool is requesting, and you approve or deny.

You can revoke access at any time. In Stripe: Settings → Connected accounts → Revoke. In Meta: Business Settings → Integrations → Remove. The tool immediately loses access.

How to verify a tool's permissions

Before connecting any tool to your Stripe or ad accounts, check:

Before connecting

• What scopes does it request? The OAuth authorization screen shows this. Read-only scopes use terms like "read", "view", or "get". Write scopes use "create", "modify", "manage", or "admin".
• Does the tool explain why it needs each permission? Legitimate tools document their data access. If a tool asks for write access without explaining why, question it.
• Is it using OAuth or asking for your API key? OAuth (redirect to Stripe/Meta's site) is better. Pasting your secret API key directly into a third-party tool gives them full, unrestricted access.

After connecting

• Check Stripe: Dashboard → Settings → Connected accounts. See what's connected and what scope each connection has.
• Check Meta: Business Settings → Integrations. Review connected apps and their permissions.
• Test it: A read-only tool shouldn't be able to do anything to your account. Your charges, payouts, and campaigns should be completely unchanged after connecting.

What NetDay specifically accesses

For full transparency, here's exactly what NetDay reads and why:

Data	Why we need it	How it's used
Stripe charges	To understand gross revenue per charge	Combined into cash-in calculations
Stripe refunds	To deduct refunds from daily cash	Subtracted from cash in on the day they affect payouts
Stripe payouts	To know when money actually reached your bank	Cash in = payout amount by settlement date
Stripe fees	To show true net after processing costs	Included in daily cost calculations
Meta daily spend	To know ad cost per calendar day	Cash out = daily ad spend

We don't access:

• Your Stripe secret key (we use OAuth tokens)
• Customer payment methods (card numbers, bank details)
• The ability to create/modify anything in Stripe or Meta
• Your ad creative, targeting, or campaign structure (we only read spend amounts)

If you want to see your daily P&L with read-only connections that can't touch your money or ads, you can start a free 7-day trial. No credit card required.

Common questions

What does read-only mean for Stripe and ad connections?

Read-only means the tool can view your data (charges, refunds, payouts, fees, daily ad spend) but cannot modify anything. It can't create charges, issue refunds, change payout schedules, adjust ad budgets, or pause campaigns. The tool receives an OAuth token with limited scope—not your Stripe secret key or ad account password.

Why does NetDay use read-only connections?

Because we only need to read data to calculate your daily P&L. We need to see charges, refunds, payouts, and ad spend—that's it. Requesting write access would give us permissions we don't need, which violates the security principle of least privilege and creates unnecessary risk for your accounts.

How can I verify a tool's Stripe permissions?

In your Stripe dashboard, go to Settings → Connected accounts (or check your Connect settings). You'll see which apps are connected and what scope they have. For OAuth-connected apps, Stripe shows whether the connection is read-only or has write access. You can revoke access at any time.

Does NetDay store my Stripe API key?

No. NetDay uses Stripe Connect OAuth, which gives us a limited-scope token—not your API key. We don't see or store your Stripe secret key. The OAuth token we receive is restricted to the read-only permissions we requested. You can revoke it from your Stripe dashboard at any time.

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Read-only access means a tool can see what it needs and can't touch what it shouldn't. That's how cash flow tools should work. Try NetDay free for 7 days with read-only connections only—no credit card, no write access, no risk.