Payment terms
Configure when customers pay — before booking, after the Service, or via subscription.
Payment terms define when payment is due relative to a booking. Payment methods define how the customer can pay. Create terms under Settings → Payment Settings → Payment terms, then attach them to Services in the wizard Offer → Payments section.
For how terms behave at checkout, see Pricing and payment terms.
Term types
| Arrangement | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Pay in full before booking | Customer pays the required amount before the booking is confirmed according to your booking settings |
| Pay after Service | Customer is charged or sent payment instructions after the Service is completed |
| Subscription | Booking is assigned to an active customer subscription and billed on its schedule |
A Service can offer more than one arrangement (for example prepaid and subscription), but at most one term of each type.
Which term a booking uses
What happens when a booking is made depends on how many payment terms the Service currently offers:
| The Service offers | What happens |
|---|---|
| No payment term | The standard pay-now behaviour applies, the same as Pay in full before booking: the customer is asked to pay when booking, and payment confirms the booking according to your booking settings. Nothing is chosen. |
| Exactly one term | That term is used automatically, whatever its type. Nobody is asked to choose. |
| Several terms | A choice is required. In the Admin booking form and in the Customer Portal a Payment option list appears (in the Admin form its options are grouped as Pay before booking, Pay after service and Subscription plans), and the booking cannot continue until one is selected. |
A term must belong to the Service being booked, and a term you have removed is no longer offered. A booking is never silently treated as pay-now just because no term was specified: with several terms, a choice is always required.
Subscription terms need an active subscription
Choosing a Subscription term — including when it is the only term the Service has and is therefore picked automatically — still requires the customer to hold an active subscription for that payment term. A paused or cancelled subscription, another customer's subscription, or a subscription for a different Service does not count.
- In the Admin booking form, a booking without a matching active subscription is refused with An active subscription for this payment term is required before a booking can be added to it. Nothing is saved.
- In the Customer Portal, the customer is taken through setting up their subscription payment details first. If that fails they see We could not set up your subscription payment details. Please try again.
Create a payment term
- Open Settings → Payment Settings, or open a Service and go to Offer → Payments.
- Click Add payment term.
- Choose when customers pay (one of the arrangements above).
- Complete type-specific settings when shown (for example subscription billing frequency, or when to request payment after the Service).
- Save.
If the Service already has that arrangement, the option is disabled with a clear message — edit the existing term instead of creating a duplicate.
Payment terms vs payment methods
- Payment terms — when payment becomes due.
- Payment methods — how the customer can pay (card, bank transfer, cash, and so on).
Enable the methods this Service should accept in the same Payments section.
Service scope
- All services — term is available wherever you enable it in Offer.
- Specific service — term only applies to that service’s payment configuration.
Linking to services
Payment terms do not charge customers by themselves. In Services → Offer → Payments:
- Add the payment arrangements this Service should offer.
- Enable which payment methods may be used for collection.
Online prepaid flows require a working payment gateway.
Edit and remove
Use Edit on a row to change configuration. Switching arrangement type resets type-specific settings after confirmation. Remove terms that are no longer offered; existing bookings that already use a term keep their arrangement.
Troubleshooting
| Symptom | Check |
|---|---|
| Term not visible at booking | Attached in service Offer? Term scope includes this service? |
| Asked to choose a Payment option | The Service offers more than one term — this is expected; pick one |
| Booking paid at booking although you meant Pay after Service | The Service has no payment term, so pay-now applies — attach the term you want in Offer → Payments |
| Cannot add another Subscription | Service already has a Subscription term — edit or remove it first |
| Subscription bookings fail | Active subscription for customer? Term frequency configured? |
| Prepaid never charges | Provider enabled on service? Default gateway set? |