A sliding scale lets clients pay what they can afford for your services. Practice Better does not include a true sliding scale, but you can offer the same flexibility with three workarounds: changing your displayed fee, requiring a deposit at booking, or using coupons.
In this article:
- Before You Begin
- Changing Your Displayed Fee
- Requiring a Deposit at Booking
- Using Coupons
- Collecting Payment for the Adjusted Amount
Before You Begin
- Practice Better does not let clients enter their own amount at checkout. This applies to sliding scale, pay what you want, donation, tip, and pay it forward pricing. With each workaround below, you set the amounts, and clients choose from the options you offer.
- Each workaround handles payment differently. Review the notes in each section before choosing the one that fits your practice.
Changing Your Displayed Fee
This option lets you present your sliding scale on your booking page. Changing the Displayed fee field overrides the fee shown to clients on your booking page.
📍 Note: The Displayed fee changes only what clients see. It does not change the amount set for the service or package fee.
To change your Displayed fee:
- Go to My Practice > My Services.
- Click Edit next to the service.
- Click Advanced Options.
- Under the Fees & Taxes section, edit the Displayed fee field to show your sliding scale range or message.
- Click Save Changes near the top-right of the page.
Clients see your displayed fee on your booking page:
⚠️ Important: If your service is set to Display fee (no payment required), clients see no payment options at all, including deposits and payment plans. Choose Suggest to pay at booking or Require to pay at booking if you want to collect payment during booking.
Asking Clients What They Can Pay
You can add a short form to your booking page that asks clients what they can afford. The form is informational only and does not change the price. You see the client's answer when you review the booking, then create or edit an invoice for the amount you agree on.
Learn more about Requiring Forms During the Booking Process →
Requiring a Deposit at Booking
This option collects the minimum amount you are willing to accept when the client books. You can also adjust your displayed fee for transparency and set your service to Require payment at booking.
To set a deposit:
- Go to My Practice > My Services.
- Click Edit next to the service.
- Click Advanced Options.
- Scroll down to Payment Plans and click Add Plan.
- Check Require my clients to pay a deposit at booking.
- Enter the Deposit amount.
- Optionally customize the description.
- Click Save in the pop-up.
- Click Save Changes at the top of the service editing page.
📍 Note: Payment plan and deposit options appear only when your service is set to Suggest to pay at booking or Require to pay at booking.
What Happens After the Client Pays the Deposit
When a client pays a deposit at booking, Practice Better creates an invoice in the client's record in your practitioner portal. The invoice shows the full amount of the service, partially paid by the deposit.
From there, you choose what happens next:
-
Collect more: If the client can pay more than the deposit, process the remaining balance or send the invoice to your client for payment. Learn more about Processing Payments with Practice Better Payments →
- Write off the balance: If the deposit is all the client can pay and you do not plan to charge the balance, use the Write-offs tab on the invoice. This reconciles the amount paid and the amount owing. Learn more about Tracking Write-offs in Invoices →
📍 Note: A deposit is not the same as a payment plan with scheduled installments, or a partial payment on a single invoice. Learn more about Setting Up Payment Plans in Practice Better →
Using Coupons
This option lets you create different levels of discount, so clients choose the one that fits their budget. Create one or more coupons for the service, then list the coupon codes and descriptions in the service description.
Learn more about Working with Coupons →
📍 Note: Listing coupon codes in your service description is the best way for clients to find them. You cannot control which clients receive which coupon, so anyone who sees a code can use it.
⚠️ Important: Coupons work with the Fixed fee pricing model, and only when clients select Pay in full on your Bookings Page or Widget. Coupons do not apply to payment plans or to invoices sent directly to clients.
Clients enter the code at checkout:
Collecting Payment for the Adjusted Amount
Once you and your client agree on an amount, create an invoice for the service and adjust the fee to match. You can collect payment in either of these ways:
- Practice Better Payments: If you have your client's billing information stored, process the payment right away, or send the invoice to your client.
- Outside Practice Better: Use Record a payment on the invoice to log a payment you received another way, such as cash or check.
Learn more about Creating and Managing Invoices in Practice Better →