Payment Plan FAQs

Payment plans let families pay a registration fee in scheduled card payments: the first at checkout, and the rest charged automatically on their dates. These answers cover what families see, reminders, failed payments and retries, card changes, and when a plan changes or cancels itself.

Applies to: Admins · Enhanced, Elite and Enterprise plans · Card payment plans on registration programs

Where: Customers > Account Management > Search > (customer) > Account Overview > Payment Plans; Programs > Configurations > General (Payment Plan Copy To)

Setting up payment plans

Which plans include payment plans?

Payment plans are part of the Enhanced, Elite and Enterprise plans. Your card payment gateway must allow recurring payments, the program's Multiple Payments setting on 1 Setup must be Payment Plans, and your admin role needs the payment plan permissions. If the option is missing, see the article Why isn't the payment plan option showing? (plan and setup checks). On an older package, contact TeamSideline Support.

If I change a payment plan after families register, does it change their plans?

No. Changes in Payment Plan Setup apply only to new registrations. When you save, you'll see "Payment plan updated for this offering. Existing Customer payment plans will remain active using previous payment plan options." To change one family's plan, see the questions under Changing or canceling a plan.

If a family registers late, can their plan still end on a set date?

Only with the Custom frequency. Weekly, Every 2 Weeks, Every 3 Weeks and Monthly payments are scheduled from the day the family registers, so late registrants finish later. With Custom, each payment has a fixed Payment Date: a family who registers after one of those dates pays the missed payments together with the first payment at checkout, and the plan still ends on your last date. Once every date has passed, the plan isn't offered.

What families see

When they register: a Payment Options choice of "1st Payment of $(amount)" or "Full Cost of $(amount)" ("Payment Plan" or "Full Cost" for camps). The cart notes "***Payment Plan: 1st Payment of $(amount) required on checkout only."
At checkout and on the order confirmation: a Payment Plan list with each Scheduled Payment Date and Amount. The confirmation email shows each payment's Status too.
Any time: My Account > Payment Plans lists each plan's Total Amount and card, and each payment's Scheduled Payment Date, Payment Amount, Status and Order #.
About five days before each payment: an "Upcoming Payment Plan Payments Notification" email (see below).

Charges and reminders

When are payments charged?

On the scheduled date, by a payment job that runs once a day (currently about 9 AM Pacific time). Each charge is its own order on the account. If your organization passes processing fees to families, the fee is added to each charge. Payments from two plans that are due the same day for the same family on the same card are charged together as one order.

Are families reminded before a payment?

Yes. About five days before each scheduled payment, every adult on the account with an email address gets the "Upcoming Payment Plan Payments Notification" email. It shows their current account balance, every remaining payment's date and amount, and the last four digits of the card, and says that a credit on the account is included in the calculation of the final payment. If the payment is more than the balance, it adds that the payment will be lowered to the balance and later payments canceled. It isn't sent when the account balance is $0 or less. To see these emails, go to Communications > Communication Logs > System Log and look for Payment Plan Notice.

What if the account balance is less than the payment?

The payment is lowered to the balance and charged. A payment plan never charges more than the account balance. If the balance is $0 or less, nothing is charged and the plan is canceled.

What happens if I add a credit, or a coupon lowered the fee?

The scheduled payments don't shrink. They're charged at their amounts until the balance runs low; then the last payment is lowered to what's still owed, and any payments after it are canceled, so the plan ends early. For example, a $2,000 fee is paid in four $500 payments, and two weeks after registration you add a $400 Misc - Credit: the second and third payments are still $500 and the last is $100. A coupon used at registration works the same way: it comes off the last payments.

Failed payments

Does TeamSideline try a failed payment again?

Insufficient funds or a bank decline: yes. The payment is tried again about every three days, up to two more times (three attempts in all, within nine days of the scheduled date).
An invalid, expired or inactive card, or any other reason: no. The payment stays Failed until the card is changed (see below), or you collect the amount another way.

Are families emailed when a payment fails?

Yes, after each failed attempt. Every adult on the account with an email address gets "Payment Plan Payment was not processed". It gives the payment's date and amount, the enrollee and program, the last four digits of the card and the reason ("Non sufficient funds", "Bank declined for unknown reason" or "Invalid or Expired Card on file"), with links to sign in and change the payment information or to contact your organization. In the System Log, look for Payment Plan Failure.

How do I get a copy of failure emails?

Go to Programs > Configurations > General.
In Payment Plan Copy To ("For Payment Plan declines"), enter the email addresses to copy, separated by commas.
Click Save.

What you'll see: "Registration Configurations updated." Those addresses then get a copy of every payment plan failure email.

Can families change the card on their plan?

Yes. They sign in, go to My Account > Payment Plans, click (change) next to the card, enter the new card and click Update Payment. They'll see "Payment Plan payment method updated." The (change) link appears only while the plan is active and still has a Pending payment.

Can an admin change the card?

Yes, if your role has the Edit Payment Plan permission.

Go to Customers > Account Management > Search, find the customer and click the name to open Account Overview.
Under Payment Plans, click (change) next to the card. The page shows the Existing Card Number and Existing Card Status.
Enter the new card and billing information and click Update Payment.

What you'll see: "Payment Plan payment method updated."

What happens to a failed payment after the card is changed?

At the next daily run, the plan's most recent failed payment is tried again on the new card, if it failed within the last 14 days. Older failed payments aren't retried: when a later payment fails, earlier failed payments on the plan change to Canceled. Their amounts stay on the account as a balance, which the family can pay with Pay Balance (when Enable Pay Balance is on) or you can take with Place Order > Add Balance Payment.

How do I find failed payments?

Go to Reports > Report Exports and click Payment Plan Detail.
Choose the Program and Date Range. Under Include, Failed is checked; also check Complete, Pending or Canceled if you want them.
Choose the Columns and Export Type, and click Export.

For one family, expand the plan under Payment Plans on their Account Overview to see each payment's Status.

Can I cancel a failed payment?

Yes. On Account Overview, expand the plan, click the Edit Payment Plan icon (pencil) on the failed payment, click Cancel Payment and confirm "Are you sure you want to cancel this Payment?". You'll see "Subscription Payment has been canceled." Do this when the family has already paid that amount another way, so a retry doesn't charge their card again early. Canceling a payment doesn't change what they owe.

Is our organization charged when a card is declined?

No. A declined payment doesn't create an order, so no fee is added to your account or the family's.

Changing or canceling a plan

How do I change a payment's date or skip one payment?

Expand the plan on Account Overview and click the Edit Payment Plan icon (pencil) on the payment. Change the Scheduled Payment Date and click Save ("Subscription Payment has been updated."), or click Cancel Payment to skip it. The Payment Amount can't be changed here. The pencil is available on Failed payments and on Pending payments scheduled after today.

Can I cancel a plan without refunding the payments already collected?

Yes. Click the red X (Cancel Payment Plan) on the plan under Payment Plans and confirm. Future payments are canceled, payments already made aren't refunded, and the unpaid amount stays on the account. See How to cancel a payment plan (with or without canceling the enrollment).

Will a plan be canceled if I cancel or transfer the enrollment?

Yes. On the enrollment's Cancel tab, leave Cancel Payment Plan at Yes to cancel the plan right away. Otherwise, before each payment is charged, the plan cancels itself when the enrollment has been canceled (a transfer to another program cancels the original enrollment), the enrollment is fully paid, or the account balance is $0 or less.

Do payment plans work when we use more than one payment gateway?

Yes. Payment plans, Partial Pay and pay in full all work when a program's fees and its add-ons go to different gateways, and when a family registers in programs on different gateways in one checkout. Each payment is charged through the gateway its registration was paid to.

If it doesn't work

There's no (change) link next to the card. The plan is canceled or has no Pending payment left. If the link is grayed out, your role doesn't have the Edit Payment Plan permission.
"Invalid Payment configuration. Please contact TeamSideline Support." The card can't be saved through your payment gateway. Contact TeamSideline Support.
"A zip code is required." Enter the card's billing Zip Code.
"Invalid "Payment Plan Copy To" entry. Use commas to separate email addresses if more than one." Check each address and separate them with commas.
There's no Payment Plans section on Account Overview, or no Payment Plan Copy To field. Your plan doesn't include payment plans, or your role doesn't have the payment plan permission.
A payment wasn't charged on its date. Expand the plan and check the payment's Status: Failed (see the failed-payment answers) or Canceled (the plan or payment was canceled, or the plan canceled itself as described above).

Good to know

Families can't cancel a plan themselves; an admin cancels it.
Place Order doesn't offer payment plans. To spread a balance a family already owes, use Add Payment Plan on their Account Overview; see the related article.
Addresses in Payment Plan Copy To also receive membership auto-renewal failure emails.
Canceling a plan, or a payment, stops its reminder emails and retries.

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