Payment at booking

When a patient books online you can ask for payment up front.

Reservation fee, full payment or patient choice

The clinic owner sets this for the whole clinic, under Settings, Clinic, Online booking policy, labelled Payment at online booking:

• Booking reservation fee only. The patient pays a reservation fee to secure the slot, with the balance taken in clinic.
• Full payment. The patient pays the whole amount at the time of booking.
• Patient chooses. The patient decides whether to pay the reservation fee or the full amount.

What you set on each treatment is the amount of its reservation fee (or 0 to make it free to book), under Settings, Treatments. Treatments without their own amount use your Default booking reservation fee. A treatment shown with a from price, or without a fixed price, takes the reservation fee online. For a visit with several treatments, a fixed fee is the highest applicable treatment fee, rather than the sum. If you would rather charge a percentage of the visit, see the next section. See Choosing a reservation fee, full payment or patient choice and Free consultations: booking without a fee.

A percentage of the visit

Under How the booking reservation fee is set, choose a percentage of the treatments booked, with a minimum fee, instead of a fixed amount. It suits clinics whose visits vary a lot in value, where a flat fee is too much on a small treatment and too little on a big one.

1. Go to Settings, Clinic, Online booking policy.
2. Under How the booking reservation fee is set, choose A percentage of the treatments booked.
3. Enter the Percentage of the treatments booked (%), a whole number from 1 to 100.
4. Enter the Minimum booking reservation fee, anything from £1 to £1,000.
5. Press Save booking policy.

How the fee is worked out:

• One fee is taken for the whole visit: the percentage of the prices of the treatments booked, or your minimum if that is higher.
• It is never more than the visit itself costs, so a small treatment is never charged more up front than its price.
• Treatments set to 0 under Settings, Treatments stay free to book and are left out of the sum. Other per-treatment amounts are not used in this mode.
• A treatment with a from price counts at its from amount.
• A visit with no price on it (price on application) takes the minimum.
• The fee is rounded to the nearest penny.

A worked example, at 30% with a £50 minimum:

• Three areas of anti-wrinkle at £280 plus masseter at £120, a £400 visit: the fee is £120.
• A single £60 treatment: 30% is £18, so the minimum applies and the fee is £50.
• A free consultation (set to 0) plus a £200 treatment: the consultation is left out, so the fee is £60.
• A single £30 treatment: the minimum would be more than the treatment, so the fee is £30.
• A filler priced from £150: 30% is £45, so the fee is the £50 minimum.

At checkout the patient is told how it was worked out, for example Your booking reservation fee is 30% of the treatments booked (minimum £50). On Settings, Treatments, each treatment's fee box reminds you that only 0 is used while this mode is on.

Everything else works exactly as it does for a fixed fee: it secures the slot, comes off the bill when the patient attends, moves with the appointment if it is rescheduled, and is returned under your cancellation rule below. To go back, choose A fixed amount: your Default booking reservation fee and each treatment's own amount are still there as you left them.

Why "booking reservation fee" and not "deposit"

The booking reservation fee reserves the appointment and is credited towards the treatment bill. Your cancellation rule decides when you agree to return it.

It is transferable: if a patient reschedules, the fee moves with the appointment automatically and there is nothing for you to do.

When it comes back

By default the fee is returned when a patient cancels with at least three days' notice. You can change the notice in Notice needed to earn it back (days), or untick Return the booking reservation fee when a patient cancels in good time, both under Settings, Clinic, Online booking policy.

If the patient does not attend, or cancels later than your notice allows, the fee is kept. Nothing further is ever charged to their card.

We do not move the money. Refunds are always issued by you, from your own Stripe dashboard. When a patient cancels online and a return is due, we try to notify your clinic contact email, or your active owners if that is blank, and list it on your Finance page, and it clears from that list by itself once you have refunded it.

The return-due amount uses recorded payments less refunds already made. For a fully prepaid visit, it can therefore show more than the reservation fee. Notice is measured from the appointment’s current time.

The platform booking fee

A separate platform booking fee may apply. If the patient pays it, it is shown at checkout and does not reduce the treatment balance. It can still be payable when the treatment has no reservation fee. If the clinic pays it, it is not an extra charge to the patient.

Requires Stripe

Taking payment at booking needs Stripe connected. If Stripe is not connected, patients pay for the treatment in clinic, although a separate platform booking fee can still be payable online. If payment is required but cannot be started, the appointment stays pending rather than being confirmed without payment. See Connecting Stripe to take payments.