Deposits at booking

Deposits at booking let you take a full payment or a deposit when a customer books an appointment. Customers see the total cost but only pay a deposit to book, which can reduce no-shows without asking for everything up front. Deposits (partial payments) work on event, round robin, collective, class, service calendar and service menu calendars.

For a local service business, this is a simple way to hold a slot for a consultation, cleaning or treatment.

Set it up

• Connect a payment gateway (Stripe or Authorize.net) in the Payments module under Integrations.
• In the calendar's settings, open Forms & Payments and turn on Accept Payments.
• Enter the total amount and choose the currency.
• Check Accept Partial Payment.
• Choose a flat amount or a percentage of the total, then enter the deposit.
• Add a description if you like, and save.

After the booking

The deposit is recorded as a transaction. The rest of the balance is saved as a draft invoice. Customers are not told about the remaining balance automatically. To collect it, send that draft invoice from Payments, then Invoices.

Recurring appointments

For calendars with recurring appointments turned on, you can charge for the first appointment only or for every appointment in the series at booking. For example, three appointments at $50 each would mean paying $50 or $150 at booking. If you charge for all appointments, the final amount depends on how many could actually be booked based on your availability. Recurring calendars do not support deposits. If you charge for the first appointment only, you collect payment for the later ones yourself.