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Do you charge a fee upon enrollment that needs to be credited towards Tuition (or another fee) at a later date?
What is a Deposit?
While people use the word Deposit in different ways, we've noticed the majority of our clients use Deposits to collect a payment at enrollment as a payment against a future balance due.
Deposits - The Old Way
Create a Charge Item called "Deposit"
Add the Deposit and its cost to a Program or Class
Subtract the Deposit from the cost of the Tuition Charge Item (or Class Fee or whatever you call your primary cost)
The downside to this old system is that the Deposit wasn't actually applied to Tuition. Often, clients were required to reduce their final Tuition payment to account for the Deposit on each Payment Plan. This was problematic for accounting and a variety of other reasons.
Deposits - The New Way
Create a Charge Item called Deposit or Tuition Deposit or whatever you want
Make sure you select the option "Due at enrollment" in the Charge Item settings.
Decide which Charge Item the Deposit is going to be applied to
Decide how you want the Deposit to apply to Payment Plans (your options are first payment event, last payment event, or distribute evenly).
Example: You have a Deposit of $200 that is due at enrollment. This Deposit is set up so that a credit will be applied toward the Charge Item called "Tuition." This credit will be applied using the Discount Item called "Deposit."
How Deposits work inside Payment Plans
Scheduled Payment Plans - In a Scheduled Payment Plan, you can apply a Deposit to the first invoice, the last invoice, or evenly across all future invoices.
Installment Payment Plans - In an Installment Payment Plan, the Deposit will always be evenly applied across future invoices.
Subscription Payment Plan - In a Subscription Payment Plan, the Deposit will be a regular Charge Item and will not work as a deposit.
How to Create a Deposit Charge Item
Head to My Company page > Items page.
Beside "Charge Items," click the blue plus button to create a new Charge Item.
Enter the label and select the applicable options.
Be sure to choose "Due at Enrollment" for the Deposit option to appear:
Click "Yes" next to the option Deposit and do the following:
Choose the Charge Item the Deposit will apply a credit toward:
Choose the Discount Item the credit will be applied as
If the Deposit is for a Scheduled Payment Plan, choose where to apply the Deposit (first invoice, last invoice, or evenly across future invoices).
Only one Deposit Item is allowed per Company!
How to set up a Deposit on a Program
In the Pricing section of the Program, under "What is the total Program cost?" add the Deposit Charge Item and the corresponding Charge Item.
The Deposit amount (in this example, $200) will credit towards the Charge Item "Tuition" charged at enrollment or on a future date as part of a Payment Plan. The credit will apply as "Deposit" (the Discount Item name).
Add Payment Plans - Click "Add/Remove payment plan" to add or create a Payment Plan. Text will tell you where the Deposit will be credited like this:
NOTE: The ACTUAL Deposit amount will not show on the admin side in the Payment Plan section. You will have to do a test enrollment to see the Deposit being credited.
Click Save to save the Program
Do a Test Enrollment
Do a test enrollment to ensure that the Deposit is coming out the way you want it to. There are various test methods; see this support article for detailed instructions.
Under Plan Costs, you will see where the Deposit will be credited. In this example, the Deposit will be credited toward the FIRST Invoice.
