Deposits, holds and card on file: which one do you want

The first thing everyone asks about deposits is which one they want. There are three answers, and a fourth switch sitting beside them that looks like a deposit and is not one.

Which of the three you want

1. Open Services, then Manage on the service and Manage Service.
2. On Pricing & Payments, switch on Deposit to override the business default for this service.
3. Choose Pre-pay in Full, Partial deposit or No deposit. For a partial deposit, set the Deposit type and the amount.
4. Select Publish Changes, tick the box in Before You Publish, then select Publish Changes.

The business default is Require a deposit at booking, on the Deposits card of Settings > Pricing & Payments. The row on top is the one people miss. Following business on the Deposit row means this service is following the business rule and there is nothing to set here; switch the row on and you are overriding the default for this service alone. No deposit only appears on a service, and only while the business default takes a deposit, because opting out of the default is the only thing it can mean.

The percentage list stops at 95%, because 100% is Pre-pay in Full.

When your team books a service that takes a deposit, the form shows Choose how to take, with the amount, and the method under it. One booking can go without:

1. On the booking form, find the deposit panel above the notify choice.
2. Tick Skip for this customer.
3. Answer Keep this booking Pending until the deposit is paid? Yes takes nothing now and leaves the booking Pending until you take the deposit. No waives it, and the panel reads No deposit will be taken for this booking.
4. Save the booking as usual.

The next booking for the same client asks again. A deposit left owing, such as on a booking made with no card, waits for the client in their own app: Pay your deposit opens when they next open the app, with a pay button carrying the amount, or Add a card first when none is saved, and Not now to leave it. Once it is paid, the booking reads Deposit paid.

Pet boarding: the same percentage against a fortnight is a far larger number than against a visit, so the deposit usually goes on the Stay service alone rather than on the business default. Dog daycare: a regular does not need a deposit every visit, because a pass or a plan has already taken the money. A hold is the setting that fits the casual days. Dog training: the money is committed at enrolment rather than per session, so the deposit belongs on the course and not on the weekly booking it creates. Dog walking: a card on file is what commits a weekly round. A deposit would be charged again every week, which is not what anybody meant by taking one.

A card on file is a separate decision

1. Open Settings, then Pricing & Payments.
2. Under Card on file, to let clients finish an online booking without a card, switch on Allow booking without card.
3. To hold the booking total on the card 72 hours before, switch on Pre-hold funds.
4. Select Publish Changes, tick the box in Before You Publish, then select Publish Changes.

Allow booking without card decides whether a card is optional or required to finish an online booking. A configured deposit overrides it either way, because a client cannot pay a deposit without saving a card. The one exception is Pre-pay in Full with Let clients pay online without saving a card switched on: a client booking one date online can then pay the whole booking by card without keeping it on file.

Pre-hold funds is the other switch, and it is not a deposit. 72 hours before the appointment the card is held for the booking total, the client gets an SMS and an email, and their bank shows a pending line that becomes a real charge after the appointment.

The same card on the client's Settings & Overrides tab takes a Deposit and Pay on Arrival for that client alone. Put the client who keeps cancelling late on Pre-pay in Full, or give a trusted regular No deposit, and everyone else keeps your business and service settings.

Release it, retry it, or let checkout take it

1. Open the booking from Appointments.
2. To hand a hold back, select Release on the green banner, then Release hold.
3. To place a hold again, select the Retry or Re-auth button on the amber banner, which carries the current total.

One banner on the appointment carries all of it, and the colour is the state: blue before, green while the money is held, amber for a decline or a hold that is gone. Release hands it back, and it clears on the client's card within 1-24 hours depending on their bank. Retry and Re-auth both place the hold again at the current total, so a booking whose price changed is held at the new number.

A hold also expires on its own. The chip says when, and that window belongs to the card network rather than to us: about five days on a Visa, about seven on the rest. Charge after it has gone and there is nothing to capture, so the card is charged fresh instead.