• Send New Deposit Email - When a required deposit is added to a reservation, an email can be automatically sent to the customer, informing them that they must pay a deposit. If this setting is enabled, the customer will receive this email when their reservation is created.
  With this setting ON, customers will be able to pay deposits online regardless if the reservation has been accepted.
  
  
• Send Deposit Accepted Email - If you would prefer that the New Deposit email be sent when a customer's reservation request is accepted, enable this email. 
  With this setting on, customers will only be able to pay deposits after their reservation has been accepted.

• Daily Deposit Email - If a deposit is unpaid, an optional daily email can be sent to remind the customer to pay the deposit. If this setting is enabled, the customer will receive an email reminder to pay their deposit every day that it goes unpaid. This is a great way to keep unpaid deposits at the top of your customers' inbox.
  Note: one of the two previous templates must be toggled on to allow deposit payment. If only this toggle is on then customers cannot pay deposits on the portal.
  
• Custom Deposit Reminder - Reminders to pay deposits can be sent manually from Left-hand Navigation: Reservations » Deposits. Click on the drop-down to the left of a deposit entry and click Email Reminder. This sends the same deposit template as the previous emails.

You can configure user groups to receive a notification when deposit request emails are sent. Navigate to Left-hand Navigation: Reports & More » Groups and turn on the Notification: Deposit Request Email Sent permission.

• • This permission can be local to only locations where the reservation was for or can be global, meaning a notification will display at all locations when a deposit email is sent, regardless of the location. 
  • For more information see our articles on App Notifications and User Groups and Permissions. 
    
    

How to: Allow Deposits to be Paid from the Customer Portal

 

It may also be possible for customers to create their own deposits, regardless of if you have that reservation type configured to require them. This is controlled by the setting Allow Deposit on Any Reservation which is Left-hand Navigation: Admin » Deposits. If you wish for customers to not be able to create these, please turn off the toggle to allow deposits on any reservation. 

How to: Collect Deposits

Automatically Required Deposits:
If you have set up required deposits or a specific type of reservation for a specified date range, a prompt will appear to pay the deposit when the new reservation is created from the New Reservation Page. 

 

 

Manually Created Deposits:

Additionally, deposits can be manually created. This requires the toggle Allow Deposits on Any Reservation to be on from Left-hand Navigation: Admin » Deposits.

To create a deposit on a reservation by percentage follow these steps:

1. Create a new reservation and view the Estimate tab.
2. Click the Create Deposit button. 
   
   
   
3. Enter a percentage of the total charges that should then be required as a deposit.
   
   
   
4. This will create the deposit requirement for the reservation. Upon saving the reservation, you'll be given a prompt to collect the deposit now or handle it later.
   
   
   
5. To collect the deposit at that time, click Collect Deposit Now, and enter the customer's payment information.
   

 

To create a deposit on a reservation with a custom dollar amount follow these steps:

1. Create a reservation, and view the Deposits tab at the bottom
2. Enter a custom dollar amount, then save the reservation
   
   
3. Finally, click Collect Deposit Now or I will handle this later

Managing Deposits on Requested Reservations

When a customer requests a reservation or appointment from the customer portal with a required deposit, you will be able to manage the deposit from the Requested tab on the dashboard. 

Unpaid deposits will show $0/$ Deposit Amount in red, and Paid deposits will show as $ Collected/$ Deposit Amount in green.

You can collect an unpaid deposit, or change the deposit amount owed, right from the Requested tab on the Dashboard by clicking the Action menu to the left of the pet's name, and click Edit Reservation. Click on the orange Deposits tab on the edit screen to change the deposit amount, or Save the reservation to prompt the deposit collection popup screen.

Using the quick actions (like Accept & Confirm and Accept & Don’t Confirm), will not prompt the deposit collection popup to display. 

How to: Apply Deposits at Check Out

When you check out a reservation with a deposit that has been paid, the deposit payment will automatically appear in the shopping cart. If the deposit has been under or overpaid you will be able to collect or refund payments as needed. 

Paid amount equals charges:

If the charges equal the deposit payment amount, you will be able to check out without payment. 

Paid amount is less than the charges:

If the deposit only covers part of the cost of the reservation, you will need to collect the remainder from the customer. You can check out without further payment if you wish to pay at a later date. Alternatively, you can check out with payment and apply any payment method you wish. 

Paid amount is greater than the charges:

If the deposit was overpaid, you will have two options. You can credit the difference to the owner's account which will add a store credit line item to the invoice once it is checked out. This line item can then be refunded in part or whole as needed. 

Alternatively, you can refund the entire deposit. Please note that if you choose this option you will need to recollect the balance owed with another payment. 

When a reservation with an attached deposit is checked out, the paid deposit will be converted to a payment and "consumed" towards the invoice charges for that reservation. This is all done automatically in the checkout process.

Do Deposits work for Group Classes?

How do I handle an overpaid deposit?

Q: We took a 100% deposit on a reservation, but the customer checked out early and the amount paid was more than the final charges. How should we handle that?

A: Sometimes, the deposit amount paid will be greater than the subtotal of your shopping cart. When that happens, you will be presented with 2 options in the cart.

1. Credit difference to owner account: Choosing this option will add a line item to purchase store credit for the overpaid amount. At this point, the store credit can be left on the account to use towards a future reservation, or the overpaid amount can be refunded.
2. Refund entire deposit: Choosing this option will refund the entire deposit to the customer via the original payment method. The customer will then need to present a new method of payment to complete their invoice.
   
   

How do I convert a deposit to store credit or another payment method?

In order to convert a deposit to a different refund method than the original payment method, you must first forfeit the deposit. This will create a new invoice on the owner's account with a forfeited deposit line. From there, you can refund the forfeited deposit line directly from the new invoice to the new payment method. If you do this to store credit, this process will add the store credit to the owner's account.

Follow the below steps: 

1. To forfeit the deposit, go to the Owner profile » Deposits tab.
   
   
2. Select “Forfeit” deposit.  Important! Do NOT select “Refund”, as the money will go back to their original payment method and you will not be able to access it.
   
   
3. Once you have forfeited the deposit, this creates a new invoice on their account with the date of today. Go to that new invoice from the Owner profile » Invoices tab.
   
   
   
   
4. Next, you will refund the “Forfeited Deposit” to the new method. Navigate to the Invoice. Click the “Select” check box from the middle, line-item portion of the invoice, next to where it says "Forfeit Deposit ID". Click the orange Refund button that appears on the top right of the invoice.
   
   
   
   

5. In the refund popup, enter a refund reason (more refund reasons can be added from Left-hand Navigation: Admin » Refund Reasons). In the Refund Amount box, enter the total to refund for the forfeited deposit. This can be a partial amount if needed. 
   
   

6. Then, enter the total refund amount in the box below. Choose a refund method and then click Process Refund. Click here to learn more about how to refund.