Collect Payments Automatically From Booking to Receipt
Chasing payments after a session is awkward and slow. This playbook moves as much of the money as possible to the moment of booking and makes the rest easy to pay.
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Chasing payments after a session is awkward and slow. This playbook moves as much of the money as possible to the moment of booking and makes the rest easy to pay.
On Standard and above, SchedulingKit takes a deposit or full payment at booking through Stripe, PayPal or Square, creates an invoice for every paid online booking, and invoices the remaining balance after a deposit so the client pays from a link. It never charges a stored card later, doesn't send unpaid-invoice reminders, and doesn't sync to accounting software on its own; QuickBooks connects through Zapier on Pro and above.
Step-by-Step Workflow
5 steps · 60 minutes
Connect your payment processor
Connect Stripe (through Stripe Connect), PayPal or Square in SchedulingKit's payment settings. Make a small test booking to check the payment goes through before going live.
Stripe is the only option that refunds a cancelled paid booking automatically; with PayPal and Square, refunds are manual and clients can't self-cancel paid bookings.
Set payment rules per service
For each service, turn on Require Payment and choose Full Payment or Deposit Only (percentage or fixed). Keep free consultations free rather than asking for card details you can't charge later.
Put the price and deposit in the service description so there are no surprises at checkout.
Invoice the remaining balance
After a deposit, the remaining balance is invoiced and the client pays it from the invoice link. For services priced after the visit, create a manual invoice in Finance → Invoices with line items, tax %, discount and notes, and send the payment link.
Remind clients about the balance
SchedulingKit doesn't send unpaid-invoice reminders. Add a workflow that emails the client shortly after the appointment asking them to pay the balance from their invoice link, and check Finance → Invoices weekly for anything still unpaid.
If a client pays in cash or by bank transfer, mark the invoice paid offline so your records stay accurate.
Keep records tidy
Every online payment appears on an invoice (Paid or Partially Paid) and in Finance, where transactions can be exported to CSV. On Pro and above, a Zapier zap can send payments to QuickBooks. Invoices can't be downloaded as PDFs.
Expected Outcomes
Tools Needed
Who This Is For
- Service businesses tired of chasing payments
- Providers of high-value services who want deposits
- Businesses moving from cash and checks to online payment
- Any appointment-based business that wants payment tied to the booking
Prerequisites
- A Stripe, PayPal or Square account
- A SchedulingKit account on Standard or above
- Service prices and deposit amounts decided
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Frequently Asked Questions
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When this isn't for you
This is not for you if your processes are too custom for off-the-shelf automation, the playbook gives you the 80% case. Skip if your workflow needs custom integration code.