Practice Better gives you flexible control over how and when clients pay for sessions – from requiring full payment at booking to simply storing billing information for future use. This article walks you through setting up payment requirements, managing manual payments, and handling common payment scenarios.
Whether you're collecting payment upfront, offering payment plans, or just keeping a card on file for later, you have the tools to create a payment experience that works for your practice. And when clients pay outside the system – like with cash or e-transfer – you can easily record those transactions to keep your records accurate.
In this article:
- Requiring Full Payment at Booking
- Requiring Billing Information Without Immediate Payment
- Manually Marking a Session as Paid
- What Clients See on Your Booking Page
- Frequently Asked Questions
Requiring Full Payment at Booking
When you need clients to pay before their appointment is confirmed, you can require full payment at the time of booking. This ensures you're paid upfront and reduces no-shows.
To require full payment:
- Go to My Practice > My Services.
- Click Edit next to the service you want to update.
- Under Payment Options, select Require to pay at booking from the dropdown menu.
- Choose your payment requirements separately for Public Bookings Page (for anyone booking outside the platform) and Client Portal (for logged-in clients).
- Click Save Changes.
📍 Note: The dropdown options give you control to set different requirements depending on where clients book from. For example, you might require payment on your public page but allow existing clients to book first and pay later through the portal.
Setting Up Payment Plans and Deposits
If you prefer to collect a deposit upfront and allow clients to pay the balance over time, Practice Better supports flexible payment plans.
Learn more about Setting up deposits and payment plan details →
To set up deposits and payment plans:
- Go to My Practice > My Services.
- Click Edit on the service or package.
- Under Payment Options, click Set up next to the payment fields, or click the Advanced Options tab near the top of the service editing page.
- Under the Payment Plans headliner, click Add plan and configure your deposit amount and installment schedule.
- Click Save Changes.
When clients book with a deposit, the remaining installment payments are only automatically charged if you've configured a payment plan.
If you set up a deposit without a payment plan, the remaining balance won't be auto-charged – you'll need to process the client’s invoice for the balance.
💡 Tip: Make sure your payment plan schedule is clearly communicated. Clients can view their payment plan details anytime in their Client Portal after booking.
Requiring Billing Information Without Immediate Payment
You can store your client's credit card information on file to process future payments – like cancellation fees, no-show charges, or session payments after the appointment – without requiring them to pay at the time of booking.
This feature works independently from payment collection, giving you three flexible scenarios:
-
Pay at time of booking: A payment is processed immediately, but no card is stored on file.
-
Pay at time of booking + Require billing information: A payment is processed right away, and the card is stored on file for future use.
- Display fee (no payment required) + Require billing information: The card is stored on file without processing any payment upfront.
How to Require Billing Information
- Go to My Practice > My Services.
- Click Edit on the service or package.
- Click the Advanced Options tab.
- Check the box beside Require billing information when clients book this service/package.
- Click Save Changes.
Once billing information is stored, it remains on file indefinitely until you or the client removes it. Clients can update their own billing information anytime through the Client Portal, or you can update it for them from your practitioner view.
Charging a Stored Card Later
If you've required billing information without charging at booking, you can process payment later by creating an invoice and processing it against the stored payment method.
Learn more about Creating and Managing Invoices in Practice Better →
⚠️ Important: If a stored credit card expires and you attempt to charge it (such as for a payment plan installment), you’ll see a notification about the failed payment. You can send the client an invoice that they can pay with updated billing information.
Manually Marking a Session as Paid
Sometimes clients pay outside of Practice Better – whether it's cash, check, e-transfer, or another method. When this happens, you can manually mark the session as paid to keep your records accurate and up to date.
Learn more about Manually Marking Sessions as Paid →
📍 Note: You can manually mark a session as paid at any time – before or after the appointment occurs. This gives you the flexibility to record payments as soon as you receive them.
When to use this feature:
- A client paid you in cash or by check
- A client sent payment via e-transfer or Venmo
- You need to record a payment made through insurance or third-party billing
- A booking was created but payment didn't process due to technical issues
How to Manually Mark a Session as Paid
- Go to My Schedule > My Bookings and locate the client's session.
- Click the More Options menu (3 dots).
- Select Update Payment Status.
- Confirm the action.
⚠️ Important: When you manually mark a session as paid, the client does not receive an automatic receipt or confirmation. If you need to provide a receipt, you can create an invoice and mark it as paid.
Recording External Payments in Your Revenue Tracking
Manually marking sessions as paid does not affect your financial reports or sync with invoices. If you want external payments (like cash or e-transfer) to appear in your revenue tracking and financial reports, you'll need to record them as external transactions.
Learn more about Recording External Payments →
What Clients See on Your Booking Page
Your payment settings directly impact what clients experience when they book with you. Practice Better makes sure clients understand what's required before they complete their booking.
When Full Payment is Required
Clients will see payment options displayed clearly during checkout, showing the total amount due and any available payment plans.
When Billing Information is Required
If you've enabled the "Require billing information" option, clients will see a message informing them that their billing information will be saved on file – even if no payment is being processed at that moment.
If a client's billing information has previously been saved and they're booking from the Client Portal, they won't need to enter it again. Practice Better will use the stored card automatically.
✅ All set: By storing client billing information, you can efficiently process future payments when needed, providing a seamless experience for both you and your clients.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: What happens if a client's payment fails during booking?
A: Network connection issues or technical glitches can sometimes cause payment or booking failures. In some cases, the booking gets scheduled but the payment isn't processed. In other cases, the payment is captured but the booking doesn't get scheduled.
If the booking succeeded but payment failed: Create an invoice associated with the session and manually mark the invoice as paid once you receive payment from the client.
If the payment succeeded but the booking didn't get scheduled: Contact the client to reschedule their requested booking. You may need to manually create the session in your calendar.
💡 Tip: If you notice recurring payment failures, check your payment processor connection or contact support to troubleshoot the issue.
Q: Can I process a refund if a client paid at booking but needs to cancel?
A: Yes, you can process refunds for payments made through Practice Better.
Learn how to process refunds
Q: What happens if a client has a payment plan set up but pays the full amount early via check?
A: If a client wants to pay off their balance early with a check or external payment:
- Cancel the payment plan and any pending scheduled payments.
- Create a new invoice for the remaining balance.
- Manually mark the invoice as paid to record the check payment.
This ensures your records reflect the early payoff and prevents any automatic charges from processing.
Q: If an installment payment fails, does it retry automatically?
A: No, failed installment payments do not retry automatically. When an installment payment fails, both you and the client receive email notifications. The client will receive an invoice they can pay with updated payment information, and you'll be notified so you can follow up if needed.
Q: Can I accept partial payment through Practice Better and partial payment outside the system (like insurance)?
A: Technically, yes – but this requires some manual bookkeeping on your end. You can process part of the payment through Practice Better and record the remainder as an external transaction. Just make sure you're tracking both portions accurately in your records.
Q: Can I set different payment requirements for new clients vs. existing clients?
A: Yes, but you'll need to use separate services with different payment requirements. For example, you could create one service called "Initial Consultation" that requires payment at booking, and another service called "Follow-up Session" that allows existing clients to book without immediate payment.
You can also use the separate dropdown options for Public Bookings Page and Client Portal to create different experiences depending on where someone is booking from.
Q: What permissions do team members need to manually mark sessions as paid?
A: Team members need appropriate permissions to mark sessions as paid. If you're working with a billing assistant, they'll need:
- Team member access to any practitioners they're managing resources for
- "Manage" permissions under the Clients: Bookings, Packages, Events settings
Learn more about managing team member permissions
Q: Does manually marking sessions as paid work the same way regardless of my payment processor?
A: Yes. Manually marking sessions as paid does not interact with invoices or payment processors at all – it's a record-keeping feature within Practice Better. Whether you use Practice Better Payments, Stripe, or another processor, the manual payment marking process works exactly the same way.