In this article you will find information on:
General information on prepayments for bookings
As a booksalon PRO customer, you can receive prepayments for bookings as online payments with the same merchant agreement you use to receive card payments on your Booksalon payment terminal. Clients can choose to pay for their bookings via the booking summary page or via the link on the booking confirmation. The prepayment of bookings also works as a partial payment of the provided service at the point of sale if for example the product sales or additional services are added to the booking afterward. You also have an option to force prepayments.
Setup and settings
Online payment can be enabled or disabled from "Settings" -> "Online payment settings". We recommend activating online payments for these benefits:
The no-shows for prepaid bookings are very close to zero percent
The client's commitment to the booking is significantly higher when the booking is paid.
With prepayments, parents can conveniently pay for their child's service in advance.
Prepayment is a more hygienic way to pay rather than cash.
It is easier to make additional sales on top of the prepaid booking when the price at the point of sale is not too expensive.
Studies show that customers are more likely to return when they have the ability to pay in advance.
In the online payment settings, the salon entrepreneur may set up a discount % for prepayments for their clients.
This can be used to encourage clients to pay in advance and thus increase their commitment to the booking. However, the final decision to use prepayments is always made by the client, so offering prepayment can be considered good customer service.
Forced prepayments
You do have the option to force prepayments, which means that the customers have to pay online in advance when they are making the booking. This can be a good option for you if you are experiencing a lot of no-shows, however, please note that this setting also can reduce your bookings if your customers are not willing to always pay in advance.
To activate forced prepayments, follow the steps below:
Go to "Settings" -> "Online payment settings".
Under the heading 'Salon booking widget', disable 'Allow pay on-site'.
Save the changes.
After that, the only active payment method for bookings made with the online booking widget is to pay online, hence forcing the customer to pay in advance to confirm the booking.
Paying for the booking
Clients can choose to pay for their online booking via the booking summary page or the payment link in the booking confirmation. Payments can be made using the cards specified in the merchant agreement, i.e. the most common Visa- and Mastercards, or by using Klarna. Card payments are secure and always verified by strong client authentication, usually provided by the client's own bank.
Prepayments in the calendar and sales reports
Prepaid bookings are noted in the booking calendar.
Payments for prepaid bookings that have not yet been transferred to the point of sale and recorded as sales will appear in the Sales-menu when you select "Prepayments" as the payment status.
In the sales reports, in the section on payment methods, you can see the payments made via online payment, as well as, for example, cash and card payments made with a payment terminal.
After the service
Once the prepaid service has been completed, the booking should be transferred from the calendar to the point of sale as usual. At the point of sale, you can either accept the transaction as it is or you can make edits, like adding additional products or services to the receipt. The prepayment will remain as a partial payment at the point of sale and the client can pay the remaining amount using the payment method they prefer. Once the booking has been completed at the point of sale, the sales are normally recorded in the sales report and the prepayment is transferred from "Prepayments" to the next day's settlement.
Settlements
Online card payments are direct payments from clients to service providers in accordance with the terms of the merchant agreement, without any further intermediary. Payments for employees working on behalf of the salon are settled to the merchant account given in the merchant agreement for the salon. Payments for chair renter/entrepreneur are settled to the merchant accounts in accordance with their merchant agreement, in the same way as terminal payments. Prepayments are normally settled the following business day after the service was provided to merchants' accounts. Settlements will take place on any business day of the year.
Here you can read additional information about settlements.