Payments and deposits for bookings


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Payments and deposits for bookings

Setting up a deposit is beneficial for both the business and the customer. When customers book your services, there may be an option for them to pay a deposit. The customer will then pay the remaining balance once the service is completed. Paying a deposit assures both the business owner and the customer, it shows that the customer is serious about booking the service, reduces the chances of cancellation, and allows you to store the customer’s credit card details on their profile in order to charge them the remaining balance upon completion, helping you guarantee the payment and better manage your cash flow.

The deposit amount and other terms are agreed upon between the admin and the customer. For instance, if you run a beauty care business that provides specific services, the admin has the ability to request a deposit to guarantee the booking. In this case, customers should pay the deposit for this service.

OctopusPro allows you to set a standard default deposit on a company level, which can be set automatically for all bookings as a pre-set amount. You can also have the deposit calculated automatically as a percentage of the total invoice amount, meaning that the deposit amount required would be different for each booking depending on the total amount of the invoice. OctopusPro also allows you to set a different standard default deposit on a service level, which can also be calculated automatically as a percentage of the total booking invoice amount. You can always manually overwrite the default automated deposit amount set and change it manually on a booking or invoice level, giving you all the flexibility you need to deal with your customers and guarantee payment for your bookings.

Table of contents:

Setting default deposit amount for bookings on a company level

Admin users can set up deposits for bookings from the web or the app logged in as an admin role.

Note that: If your service settings are set to different payment terms. All the bookings for other services will be paid with your payment terms except the service you changed. That means that the service settings overwrite your company settings.

From the sidebar menu, navigate to Settings > Financial Settings > Payment Terms.

  1. Click on Deposit (Percent/dollar value of total booking cost).
  2. Enter the amount you would like to add.
  3. Select Dollar Amounts or Percentages for the type you want to use as the source of your funds.
  4. Message to display to customers at checkout: you can add more information about the payment method to be displayed to your customers at their checkout for the booking process. Your message will be displayed under “Select Payment Method” before the check out on the customer portal.

After setting up deposits for your bookings, it will reflect in the customer portal, booking view page, and invoices as mentioned in the following points.

Setting default deposit amount for bookings on a service level

You can set deposits for a certain service from the service settings. Go to Settings > Services Settings > Services, and edit the service you want or create a new one. Visit the create a new service page to learn more.

Note that: If your company settings are set to another payment term  for example, full payment. All the bookings for other services will be paid in full except the service you changed. That means that the service settings overwrite your company settings.

Go to the Cost & payrate tab and click on Set up different payment requirements for this service, then select Deposit.

You can then:

  1. Enter the amount or the percentage you want to be withdrawn before each booking for this service.
  2. Add a message to be displayed at checkout.

How the required deposit amount is automatically calculated and set for bookings

Deposits are calculated automatically when creating a booking or quote based on the settings you changed. Visit the create a new booking and quote page to learn more.

After setting a deposit amount from your settings, for example, if the deposit set is 10 percent, it will reflect in the calculation of your services, it will take from the total price of the service 10 percent to be the required deposit amount. 

The deposit percentage set will automatically reflect while creating a booking from the admin portal and will be displayed under the total amount. 

The same happens on the customer portal when a customer is scheduling an appointment. After the customers select the service, and before checkout, the calculated deposit required will appear below the total.

How the deposit is calculated when a booking has multiple services that have different deposit settings

The deposit settings will be applied to all services in the booking according to their settings, whether payment terms are set for the company or custom settings are set for a specific service. Normally, service settings overwrite company settings. For example, if your deposit is set to 20% for your company, and there’s one service you made with custom settings 50% deposit, when this service is booked, the 50% deposit will be applied.

If one service has custom settings and one without

If there’s a booking that has multiple services, one of them is set to different deposit terms than the company settings, then each will be automatically calculated with its own terms.

For example, Your company settings are set to a deposit with a $50 amount of the total, and you have the “Bridal makeup” service that requires a $100 deposit. So if you create a booking and added two services “Hair cut” and “Bridal makeup” they will be calculated separately as $50 will be a deposit for the haircut and $100 will be deposited for the bridal makeup, so the total deposit will be $150.

If two services have custom settings and one without

If a booking has three services, two with their own custom settings and one without, in this case, each service will be calculated on its own and then the total deposit will be added.

For example, your company settings are set to $50, “Bridal makeup” is set to $100 and “Bridal hair” is set to $20, and your customer booked “Haircut” (that has no custom settings), “Bridal hair” and “Bridal makeup” so the deposit will be calculated for each separately as each service has its own deposit terms and the total deposit will be $170(50+100+20).

If one service has a custom setting and two services without

If a customer booked three services only one of them has a custom setting, then the other two will be calculated normally as set in the company settings, then the custom service’s deposit will be added to the deposit total.

For example, if you have your company settings deposit set to $50 and the “Bridal makeup” service is set to $100. When a customer books “Haircut”, “Nailpolish” (that don’t have custom settings), and “Bridal makeup”, the deposit will be added $50 for both services and $100 for the “Bridal makeup” service. So the total deposit will be $150.

If two services have custom settings each

If you have a booking with two services and each one of them has a different deposit setting, then the deposit of each one of them will be calculated separately and then added together to the total deposit amount.

For example, if your company settings are set to $50 deposit and you have “Bridal hair” set to $20 deposit and “Bridal makeup” set to $100, then if a customer booked these two services together, the total deposit will be $120 regardless your company settings.

How to manually edit the required deposit amount for a booking

You can easily set the deposit amount manually after creating a booking, this allows you to edit the deposit amount even after completing the booking and it will be recalculated if there’s an existing deposit amount that has been already paid, or set a new deposit for the booking.

Editing the deposit amount from the booking details page

Go to the booking details page, from the top right of the page click on Payment > Set deposit amount. 

A pop-up window will appear to enter your desired deposit amount for the booking, then click on Save.

After setting the new deposit amount, it will be added to the total summary and show if it is paid or not. For example, if the deposit was set to $50 and paid by the customer, then when you edit it to $60, it will appear in the summary as not paid.

Editing the deposit amount from the invoice details page

You can also edit the deposit amount from the invoice page, you can access the invoice from the booking details page or the Invoices > All invoices from the sidebar menu.

From the top right of the page click on Payment > Set deposit amount.

A pop-up window will appear to edit the deposit amount then click on Save.

After setting the new deposit amount, it will be shown in the total summary and appear if it requires payment or not.

Viewing required and paid deposit amounts as an admin user

After creating a booking, you can view the deposit amount required for each booking, you can also check the payment status of the deposit.

Viewing required and paid deposit from booking details page

To view the deposit amount, go to the booking detail page, and scroll down to the total summary. You will be able to view the deposit required and if it’s paid or not.

Note that: When the deposit amount is written in red, it still requires payment, and when written in green it’s already paid.

Viewing required and paid deposit from the invoice details page

To view the deposit amount in the invoice, go to the booking and click on View invoice or go to Invoices > All invoices from the sidebar menu on the left. You will be able to view the deposit required in the total summary.

Note that: When the deposit amount is written in red, it still requires payment, and when written in green it’s already paid.

You can also view the deposit amount from the invoice preview, and click on Actions > Preview invoice.

The preview will appear where you can find the payment details including the deposit required as shown below. You can also Print PDF and save the invoice on your computer.

Viewing required and paid deposit amounts on the customer portal 

Customers can view the required or paid deposit amounts from the booking overview page after they schedule an appointment and it will be displayed as follows: 

Note that: if the deposit is not paid yet, it will be displayed in red color and the Paid amount will remain £ 0.00.

Customers can view the required or paid deposit amounts from the invoices page, go to the booking overview page, and click on “View invoice”.

The preview will appear where you can find the payment details including the deposit required as shown below.

Viewing required and paid deposit amounts on the fieldworker app 

A fieldworker can view the deposit amount by going to Booking > Billing, then scroll down to view the paid amount for the booking.

When the appointment is accepted successfully by the fieldworker, the deposit payment will be viewed by the fieldworker and displayed in the fieldworker app as “Paid amount”. 

Different ways of paying for booking deposits

Deposits amounts can be paid in different ways, they can be paid by credit cards or other payment methods from the add payment page and customer portal, by requesting deposit email, Accepting booking action, Paying deposit upon booking creation 

Paying deposit through Add payment page

You can pay a deposit amount through the add payment page by navigating to Bookings > Booking Details > Payment > Add Payment.

You’ll be redirected to the “Add Payment” page, and you will be able to pay for the deposit amount in the “Payment Amount” field if the payment is by a credit card.

You can pay by other payment methods from the add payment page by selecting the “Add Other Payment methods” button. 

Adding payment to a booking invoice as an admin user

You can add payments to the booking from the booking’s invoice directly, go to the booking details page and click on View invoice, or go to Invoices > All invoices and view the invoice you want to add a payment to, 

Or from the payment section at the bottom of the page, you can view payments or add a new payment.

You will be redirected to the add payment page where you can select your payment method (cash, bank transfer, or credit card), add your payment amount and you can add a tip.

Then click on Save.

Payment using a credit card when placing a booking request through the customer portal

While customers are scheduling appointments, at the end of their booking process they will be asked to select whether to pay their deposits by card or bank transfer and enter their data below.

Adding payment using other payment methods when placing a booking request through the customer portal

While customers are scheduling appointments, at the end of their booking process they will be asked to select whether to pay their deposits by card or by other payment methods. They can pay by cash, bank transfer, or other payments according to your selected payment methods set for your services from your settings.

To enable your customers to pay by other payment methods, go to Settings > Financial Settings > Payment Integration. 

At the bottom of the page, you’ll find other payment methods to select from to set it to your bookings.

To know more about setting payment terms, Click here.

After setting payment methods from your settings, customers will be able to select the payment at the end of their booking process to pay their deposit by cash for example.

After confirming the booking, the selected payment method will appear to admins in the booking details page as follows:

Payment using other payment methods ( Cash/Bank transfer/Check )

The required deposit amount can be paid by other payment methods from the “Add payment” page. Go to Bookings > Booking Details > Payment > Add Payment.

You’ll be directed to the add payment page, click on the “Add Other Payment Methods” button to pay for the deposit amount by cash, bank transfer, or check.

You’ll be directed to the “Add Payment” page, select from the drop-down menu the payment type that the deposit amount will be paid by. 

Then click on the “Save” button. 

If you select to pay by cash, it will require approval from the admin to take effect and appear on the invoice. After you click on the save button, a pop-up window will appear to approve the payment. Click on “Approve”. 

If the deposit is paid by cash by a customer or the fieldworker it will need the admin’s approval as well. To approve the payment go to Invoices > payments Received, it will redirect you to the “New Payments” page.

Go to the booking that you’ve received by cash payment and click on the actions button, from the drop-down menu select “Approve”.

 A pop-up window will appear to approve the payment. Click on “Approve”. 

Paying deposit through Request deposit email

Your customer can pay for their deposits through emails, as admin users will send a request deposit email to pay for their scheduled appointments. 

How to request a deposit from customers

The customer will receive an email as the following, when you are ready to pay click on Request Deposit From Customer, and you will be directed to the check-out page.

To request a deposit, go to the invoice details page of the booking, and click on the Email button. From the dropdown menu, select Request Deposit.

A pop-up window will appear, confirming the action. Click on Send, so an automated email will be sent to the customer. 

The confirmation page will show the customer the total payment amount and the payment source they will use to pay if they continue. 

  1. First, you will need to provide your credit account information. Also, you can Save card details to your profile.
  2. Click on “Payment amount” in the right corner to add the required deposit, it’s optional to add a tip amount.
  3. It’s possible to add any comment or additional information regarding the payment.
  4. Tick on Send the payment receipt to a customer checkbox.
  5. Click on submit.
How to change/edit the Request deposit email template

You can edit the request deposit email template if there is any extra information needs to be added from your settings, go to Settings > Communications > Templates & Canned responses, you’ll be directed to the templates page, search for “Deposit Requests To confirm booking”.

Under the email template section, click on “Deposit request to confirm Booking” to edit the email template sent to your customer.

You’ll be redirected to the “Edit Email Template” page, so you can edit the email name, receiver, item type, subject and email body, then click on Save.

Visit the email templates page to learn more.

Paying deposit when a booking is accepted through Accept booking action

To set the process payment on booking acceptance by fieldworker or admin, go to Settings > Financial Settings > Payment terms. It will direct you to the payment terms page, after you set the deposit, select the process payment on “booking acceptance by fieldworker or admin”. 

After the acceptance of admins and fieldworkers for the bookings, the deposits will be automatically withdrawn from the credit cards saved by customers while scheduling their appointments. 

Processing payment when a Fieldworker accepts service through the app

The fieldworker accepts the booking from the fieldworker application. Go to the Bookings > New requests from the sidebar menu on the left. Or a notification will be sent automatically to the fieldworker once the booking is made. 

Processing payment when the Admin accepts service through the booking view page

The booking is accepted by the admin or fieldworker: From the booking view page, you can accept any booking on behalf of the fieldworker, go to the booking details page, scroll down to the service section and click on the question mark icon next to the fieldworker’s name.

A pop-up window will appear to select the appointments you want to accept then click on Save.

What happens when the payment through the stored payment method fails? 

When your customer’s deposit payment fails to process, they will receive an automatic email requesting the payment. 

It will be displayed in the booking over view page for admins in the emails section as a message that the payment process is failed and it will be automatically sent to the customer.

Email will automatically be sent to your customer as follows.

To pay the required deposit amount, your customer will click on “Pay Deposit” and this will redirect them to the payment page.

Paying deposit while onsite with the fieldworker

Customers can pay for their deposits onsite with the fieldworker by cash payment or other payments before starting his job. Once the fieldworker is paid by the customer, he can add the deposit paid through the fieldworker app.

After the fieldworker accept the booking, click on “Billing” from the top right of the page, the pending payment will appear as its not paid yet.

Click on the “Payment” button to pay for the customer’s deposit amount.

They will be redirected to “Take Payment” page to pay for their customer either by credit card or by other payment methods.

To pay for the deposit amount by other payment methods; click on “Other Payment Methods” button.

It will redirect the fieldworker to the following page, where they can select how was the payment received either by cash or bank transfer and edit the payment amount that they have received from the customer.

How to automatically request a deposit for all scheduled bookings? 

You can request deposits from your customers for all scheduled bookings automatically. Go to  Settings > Communications > Automations, you’ll be directed to the automations page, you’ll find an automated procedure under cronjobs which is “Send Deposit Requests To Customer”. 

It can be enabled and edited to include specific booking statuses, you can also set the date, time and frequency it automatically runs, and edit the number of days to start sending them before the booking start date for each booking. 

This will send an automatic deposit request email every time it runs for all bookings that fit the criteria (statuses selected and number of days) for any booking that doesn’t have a deposit paid in full.

In the case that a customer has not paid the full deposit amount required for their booking, a deposit request email can be automatically sent prior to the booking start date requesting them to pay their deposit. 

You can set how many days before the booking start date you want to start sending the deposit request email to your customers, you can also select the booking statuses you want to limit the request to, and edit the deposit request email template used to send. 

Please note that the email will be sent every time this automated procedure runs for all bookings that match the filters criteria set below. Visit the automated procedures page to learn more.

Paying deposit upon booking creation 

Payment when creating booking through the customer portal

When deposits are required for bookings, customers are required to pay a deposit for their booking which will be a percentage taken from the total price of the service they have booked.

While customers are scheduling appointments, at the end of their booking process they will be asked to select whether to pay their deposits by card or bank transfer and enter their data below.

After selecting the payment method and entering the needed data, it will take your customer to the last step which is the “Booking Overview” which will show you the deposit amount required to be paid according to the percentage that you have added in your settings, then they can confirm their booking.

The deposit required will be displayed on the booking view page for your customers as follows, and that means that the deposit is not paid yet if it is displayed in red color. 

Deposits will be automatically withdrawn from your customer’s credit card when they select “View invoice” from their booking view page.

A pop-up window will appear to view their invoice, they’ll select “Pay invoice” to enter the amount they are willing to pay. For example, if the deposit needed is 150.00, your customer will enter the amount in the “Payment amount” text box. Although they can also pay more than the required deposit amount, it will be withdrawn automatically from their balance as well as from the total price of the booked service.

They can add a tip in the below text box if they wish to, then select their payment method and select the submit button.

How the “Deposit paid” label is automatically added to the booking when deposit is paid in full 

Adding a “deposit paid” label to bookings will make it easier for you to differentiate between bookings that have their deposits paid without having to access each booking and check its payments.

There are several ways to show you that the booking deposit is paid by your customer. One of these ways is the “Label” that appears on the calendar, booking list page, and the booking details page.

Calendar:

Go to Calendar from the sidebar menu on the left, click on the booking, and if the deposit is paid the “deposit paid” label will appear.

Booking list page:

Go to Bookings > All bookings from the sidebar menu on the left, you will be redirected to the all bookings page and the bookings with their deposits paid will have the “deposit paid” label.

Booking details page:

When you view a booking, it’s easy to know if the deposit is paid or not from the label section on the right side of the page, bookings with the pad deposits will have the “deposit paid” label.

How the “Deposit paid” label is removed from the booking view page when the invoice is paid in full

The “deposit paid” label will be automatically removed from the booking once the payment is completed, so that the customer should pay the total amount of the booking in full and the admin approves the payment if needed. So the balance due should be zero.

How the booking status automatically changes from “Tentative” to “To do” when the required deposit is paid

When you receive a booking from the customer portal, the booking status will automatically be “ Tentative” until:

  1. The booking is accepted by the admin or fieldworker: From the booking view page, you can accept any booking on behalf of the fieldworker, go to the booking details page, scroll down to the service section and click on the question mark icon next to the fieldworker’s name.

A pop-up window will appear to select the appointments you want to accept then click on Save.

Or

The fieldworker accepts the booking from the fieldworker application. Go to the Bookings > New requests from the sidebar menu on the left. Or a notification will be sent automatically to the fieldworker once the booking is made.

2. The customer pays the deposit amount required.

  • If the deposit settings are set to process the payment on booking creation through the customer portal, so the deposit will be withdrawn automatically once the booking is created
  • If the deposit settings are set to process the payment on acceptance by the fieldworker or admin, so the deposit won’t be paid unless the admin or fieldworker accepts the booking, then it will be withdrawn automatically if the customer’s car details are saved.

After completing both steps the booking status will automatically be converted to “To do”.  

How to refund a paid deposit as an admin user? 

You can easily refund to your customer any paid amount from:

Booking details page

Go to the booking details page, click on Payment > Add refund from the top right of the page.

You will be redirected to the add refund page where you will enter the amount you want to refund, select the payment type and fieldworker and add refund reason then click on Save.

Visit the add a refund page to learn more.

After adding the refund the admin should approve the refund from the refund page.

You can view refunds from the refunds page when you click on Payment > View refunds, or from the refund tab at the bottom of the page. Visit the view refund page to learn more.

Invoice details page

You can add refund or view refunds from the invoice details page, click on Payments > Add refund / View refunds.

When you click on Add refund, you will be redirected to the add refund page where you will enter the amount you want to refund, select the payment type and fieldworker and add refund reason then click on Save.

After adding the refund the admin should approve the refund from the refund page.

You can view the refunds from the invoice page from Payment > View refunds, or from the refund tab at the bottom of the page.

Payments list page 

You can add a refund to any payment from the payment list page, go to Invoices > Payments received, filter to all or approved, and then click on the actions button next to the payment and select Refund payment.

A pop-up window will appear where you can enter the amount you want to refund and enter the refund reason.

How to refund a paid deposit from the fieldworker app?

Fieldworkers can refund deposit payments for customers on the fieldworker’s app.

Note that: The fieldworker can do this only if the fieldworker has been granted access to refund customers through the user roles credentials settings. Go to Company settings > Users > Roles > Assign credentials for a fieldworker.

Visit the refunds page to learn more.

Booking details page

From the fieldworker application, go to the booking and click on Billing then click on Add refund. 

Then you can add the amount you want to refund and select the refund type, click on Submit.

Invoice details page

From the invoice page, click on Add refund.

Then you can add the refund amount and the refund type.

Payments list page

In the fieldworker’s app, go to Invoices > All payments from the sidebar menu on the left and select the payment you want to refund and click on Add refund. Enter the refund amount, select the refund type then click on submit.

How the required deposit amount is set by default for merged invoices

You can merge invoices if you perform regular bookings for certain clients and want to bill them periodically in one group invoice, like on a weekly or a monthly basis, you can merge different invoices from your customers’ bookings together into one invoice to send out at the end of their desired billing date, rather than sending separate invoices for each booking you have scheduled for them during that period.

To merge invoices go to Invoices > All invoices and select the invoices you want to merge and from the drop-down menu select Merge invoices. Visit the merge invoices page to learn more.

Note that:

  • The invoices can’t have any payments added to them in order to be merged.
  • All merged invoices must be for only one customer.

After merging the invoices, the total deposit will be combined from all the invoices, for example, if you have two bookings with a $100 deposit each, the merged invoice will have a deposit $200. 

How to change the required deposit amount for a merged invoice

You change the deposit amount for your bookings after merging the invoices in two ways:

From the booking details page

From the booking details page click on Payment > Set deposit amount from the top right of the page and enter the amount in the pop window then click on Save.

After changing the deposit amount it will be reflected in the total deposit in the merged invoice, this implies if you changed the deposit amount from any booking included in the merged invoice.

From the invoice page

You can change the deposit amount from the invoice page click on Payment > Set deposit amount and enter the deposit amount in the pop-up window.

You can also edit the deposit required from the total summary of the invoice. Click on the edit icon next to the deposit required.

How the deposit amount is set in the merged invoices for repeated bookings

When you repeat an existing booking, you can manage whether you want a merged invoice or not. To repeat a booking, go to the booking details page and click on Actions > Repeat booking.

A pop-up window will appear where you can select whether you want to repeat the booking once or multiple repeats, then activate the Create a merged invoice for all recurring bookings flag.

Activate the next flag if you want to include the current booking in the merged invoice, the current booking will only be included if it is not included in any other merged invoice. Then click on Create booking(s).

After creating the repeated booking(s), the merged invoice will include all the deposits of the bookings combined. For example, if you repeated the booking two more times without the current booking included and the deposit is $100 for each booking, so the merged invoice will have a total of $200 deposit amount.

Note that: If a customer scheduled a recurring booking from the customer portal, their invoices will be generated separately then you can merge them manually as explained above.

Visit the recurring bookings page to learn more.

How the deposit amount is set in the merged invoices for packages

Packages refer to repeated instances of the same service that are bundled together. For example, in a pet care business, a package would be 3 grooming visits instead of only one. This allows customers to book one of these bundled visits instead of 3 different items booked separately.

To create a package go to Settings > Services and edit the service you want to create a package for, visit the packages page to learn more.

Then select Generate one invoice that combines all bookings within the package from the drop-down menu.

So once the package is booked, all the invoices will be merged automatically either booked by the admin or the customer on the customer portal. 

After the merged invoice is created, you can view the deposit amount from the invoice summary for all the bookings. For example, if the package includes three bookings, and each booking has a $100 deposit, then the total deposit will appear $300 in the merged invoice.

How the deposit amount is set when you revert a merged invoice

You can easily revert a merged invoice if you want to separate your invoices once again, go to the merged invoice, click on Actions > Revert merging invoices.

After reverting the invoice, the deposit amount will be separated, each invoice will have its original deposit amount like before merging the invoice.

Note that: If you set a deposit amount from the merged invoice, it will be disregarded in the original invoices after reverting the merged invoice and the deposit amounts will be the same as first set in the settings, if you want to set the deposit amount again you can set it from each booking as explained above.

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