All you need to know about customer balance payments and payment plans

How to collect the rest of a balance

After a sale, many customers still owe money. A payment plan is the list of dates and amounts for that leftover balance, and how each one will be collected. This also can apply for just one outstanding balance payment, for example if you pay 50% upfront and then 50% on collection.

The point of the feature is to choose, per instalment, whether you will collect it yourself manually, email the customer a reminder (with an optional stripe pay link), or automatically charge a card you have saved to receive payment. You can mix these on the same customer. When the balance hits £0 the plan is cleared.

This guide first explains the three ways you can collect a leftover balance, then how you pick one after you save a sale, then how to edit the plan later, what the customer can do in the portal, and which messages go with each option.

Jump Ahead

1. The three collection options

If the customer still owes money after today's payment, you choose how the rest will be collected. There are three options.

Manual Payment Collection

You collect the leftover balance yourself. The customer comes in, you call them, or you send a payment link when you are ready. Nothing is charged automatically and no reminder email is sent unless you send one yourself. This is how mybridal has always worked up to now.

Automatic Card Payment

You use integrated stripe payments to save the customers card details and mybridal charges it on each due date automatically(around midday store time). You need Stripe connected, an email address on the customer, and a payment card on the plan. You can also tick to send a reminder email to the customer before each charge is automatically taken.

Payment Reminders by Email

mybridal emails the customer a tempered email message when a payment is due, with the option to include a pay link. Nothing is charged automatically. You would need a schedule payment reminder email template and a Scheduled Payment Reminder autoflow set up for this to work. As with all message templates you can make the content of this your own. 

2. Choose an option after you save a sale

After you save a sale, Post Sale options open. If the customer still owes money you will see a Balance collection step. This is where you pick one of the three options for the leftover balance.

A normal Post Sale balance step looks like this

You only pick one option here for the whole leftover plan. If you later want some of the payments Manual and some automatic card, you can then edit the payment plan on the customer account (next section).

Complete stays off until Transaction is confirmed and, if they still owe money, Balance collection method is confirmed.

3. Open and edit the payment plan

Open the customer > Payments.

Under Scheduled Payments click Edit Scheduled Payments (or the edit icon).

From here you can:

You can also build or change a plan when you take a New Payment and there is still a balance left.

Once the plan is saved, staff can still take a payment early (New Payment), send a payment link, or use Pay now on a saved card. The plan then shrinks to match what is left.

Customers cannot change dates, amounts or modes. Only you can do that in the shop.

4. Manual collection

Use Manual when you will chase the balance yourself: the customer will come in, you will call them, or you will send a link on the day.

Nothing is charged automatically. No reminder email is sent unless you also set up a reminder on that row or send a message yourself.

On the due date, take a New Payment as usual, or send a payment link from the transaction screen.

Past dates are fine on Manual rows. If a Card date is in the past, switch that row to Manual or Reminder, or pick a future date. Card cannot be saved on yesterday or earlier.

5. Payment reminders by email

Use Reminder when you want mybridal to email the customer before or on the due date, usually with a link they can pay.

What you need

If that autoflow is not set up, Reminder mode will not send anything. Set the autoflow up first.

When the reminder goes, the customer can pay from the link if you included one in your email template. That payment type shows on the customer as Reminder message.

You can also send a reminder from the customer after you edit the plan, using the autoflow popup.

Reminders do not charge a card. If you want both a courtesy email and an automatic charge on the same instalment, use Card and also tick to send a reminder (only shown if the reminder autoflow exists).

6. Automatic card payments

Use Card when the customer has agreed you can charge a saved card on the due date without them doing anything on the day.

What you need

How the charge works

mybridal charges around midday in the store's timezone on that date.

If the card fails, it tries again up to 3 total attempts. These attempts will be roughly 24 hours apart so if a payment fails on Monday 12pm it will be re-tried Tuesday and Wednesday 12pm, then after the last fail, charging on that instalment stops. You will need to take payment another way or update the card and try again.

You can set up message templates and autoflows for both a retryable payment fail (could say something such as sorry your payment has failed, this will be retried in 24 hours please ensure you have funds available in the account) and for a final failure (could say something such as sorry we have been unable to successfully process your balance payment, please contact the boutique directly to make payment).

If someone has already paid that instalment (in store or via a link), the automatic charge is skipped.

If the Card date was typed in as a past date, the overnight job will not charge it. Change it to Manual or Reminder, or pick a future date.

A successful automatic charge shows on the payments list as Auto card payment.

7. Auto-Card Terms

When a customer is going on automatic card payments you can open Auto-Card Terms. This is a PDF they can sign to say they agree to be charged.

You can edit the footer of this document by going to settings > account > Auto-Card Terms (two footer lines, separate from sale receipt footers). It will also automatically attach your sale T&Cs.

Changing an auto-card amount or date clears the signature so they can sign again. Swapping which saved card is used does not.

Once it is signed, the portal tells the customer to contact the store if they need a new copy.

8. Mixing options on one plan

You do not have to pick one mode for the whole balance.

Example:

Each row is independent. Recalculate Payments re-splits unpaid amounts. It does not invent extra rows. If the plan is short of the balance, add a row or recalculate.

9. Recalculate and what happens when they pay

Recalculate Payments

Use this after you change the number of instalments or the total still owed. It splits the leftover balance across the unpaid rows. Rows you have fixed stay as they are.

When money comes in

Unpaid instalments shrink from the furthest date first. The system does not add extra rows for you.

When the balance is £0

The whole scheduled plan is cleared. There is nothing left to charge or remind.

If a payment comes in that is more than the next instalment, the later ones reduce. You do not need to edit every row by hand unless you want a different split.

10. What customers can do in the portal

If you have access to the customer portal on your plan (growth or advanced) your customers now have several options directly through their own portals.

Go to settings > defaults > sales and payments > Payments > Portal Balance Payments to edit what they have access too.

What they can do

What they cannot do

If they need a different date or amount, they contact the store and you edit the plan.

The image below shows the portal scheduled payments list with Pay now and Change Payment Card.

11. Messages and autoflows

Set these up under Automations > templates and Automations > Autoflows. Use Default templates or copy them into My Templates to customise the messages and make them your own.

Scheduled Payment Reminder

Trigger: Scheduled Payment Reminder.

This is the email (or SMS) for is designed to be sent before a balance payment is due to remind the customer it is coming up. The template should be a Payment Reminder template so it can include the invoice link, amount and due date.

If this autoflow is missing, reminders will not send.

Scheduled Payment Failed Retryable

Trigger: Scheduled Payment Failed Retryable.

Use this for the first and second failed automatic charges (the ones that will be tried again). Tell the customer the card did not go through and you will retry, or ask them to update the card.

Scheduled Payment Failed Final

Trigger: Scheduled Payment Failed Final.

Use this after the last failed attempt, when automatic charging on that instalment has stopped. Ask the customer to pay another way or call the boutique.

Payment received

When the customer pays from a reminder link or you take a payment in store, use your normal payment received / sale messages from the autoflow popup. Automatic card charges can also send a receipt if you have that set up.

12. What you will see on the payments list

The Type column on payments tells you how that money came in:

Use this when you are checking who paid how, or when you are cashing up.

13. Common examples

The customer will pay the last £500 at the fitting

One Manual row on the fitting date. No card needed. Take New Payment when they are in.

You want to email a link a week before each instalment

Set each row to Reminder. Set up the Scheduled Payment Reminder autoflow with a Payment Reminder template that includes the pay link. Check the customer's email is correct.

The customer signed Auto-Card Terms for three monthly card payments

Save a card. Set three Card rows on future dates. Open Auto-Card Terms and get it signed. Charges run around midday on those dates. If a charge fails three times, the Failed Final message should ask the customer to call you.

The card failed and the customer wants to pay in store instead

Take New Payment in store. That instalment is then treated as paid and will not be charged again. You can switch remaining Card rows to Manual if the customer no longer wants auto-charge.

The customer paid extra and the last instalment looks too big

Open Edit Scheduled Payments and click Recalculate Payments, or edit the last row. If the balance is now £0, the plan should already have cleared.

Someone else wants to pay the next instalment from their own card in the portal

Turn Portal Balance Payments on (All Outstanding, or Automated only if that row is Card). They can Pay now. A different email on a staff-sent payment link does not change the customer record.

How can I see what payments have been made?

You can go to customers > payments to keep an eye on any payments and check if they are pending, successful and failed. You will also receive home screen notifications when payments have been made or have failed.