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How to let families pay a deposit at registration (Partial Pay)

  • Updated

Partial Pay lets families pay part of each registration fee at checkout (a percent or a dollar amount you set on the program's 1 Setup page) and owe the rest. The rest is never charged automatically: families pay it later with Pay Balance, or you take the payment for them. To have the rest charged on a schedule, use Payment Plans instead (Enhanced plan and up).

Applies to: Admins · All plans (Payment Plans: Enhanced plan and up) · Registration programs except Youth Camp

Where: Programs > Manage Programs > (program) > 1 Setup > General Settings > Multiple Payments

Turn on Partial Pay

  1. Go to Programs > Manage Programs and open the program.
  2. Click 1 Setup and scroll to General Settings.
  3. In Multiple Payments, choose Partial Pay.
  4. In Partial Pay, enter either a percent (for 50%, enter 50) or a dollar amount, not both.
  5. Click Save.

What you'll see: "Program has been saved." Partial Pay applies to orders placed from now on.

What families see at checkout

When the cart has a registration in the program, checkout shows a Partial Pay Option section with a check box: "Yes, I want to make a partial payment of $(amount) now and pay the balance of $(amount) later." If the family checks it, they pay that amount now. If not, they pay in full.

  • The partial amount is figured for each registration, on its fee after sibling discounts and coupons: your percent of that fee, or your dollar amount.
  • Add-ons and anything else in the cart are paid in full at checkout. Partial Pay applies to registration fees only.
  • If the family applies an account credit, it counts toward the partial payment.

How the rest gets paid

  • The rest stays on the family's account as a balance. TeamSideline doesn't charge it automatically or send a reminder.
  • When Enable Pay Balance is Yes on Programs > Configurations > General, families sign in and pay by card with the Pay Balance button on their Order History or Enrollments page. They can pay any amount from $5 (or the whole balance if it's less) up to what they owe.
  • You can take a card payment for a family with Place Order > Add Balance Payment, or record a check or cash payment with Add Transaction on their Account Overview.
  • To keep families who owe from placing new orders until they pay, set Balance Block ("Block new orders when an Account owes an existing balance") to Yes on the same page. Amounts still scheduled on a payment plan don't count.
  • To remind families, email the accounts that owe from Send Communication; see the balance article below.

Partial Pay or Payment Plans?

Multiple Payments takes one choice per program (None, Partial Pay or Payment Plans), so a program can't use both.

  • Partial Pay: one payment at checkout; the family pays the rest whenever they choose, or you collect it. All plans, and it works with Tiered Pricing.
  • Payment Plans: a first payment at checkout, then the card on file is charged on the dates you set. Enhanced, Elite and Enterprise plans, with a payment gateway that allows recurring payments; not available with Tiered Pricing. If your organization is on an older package, contact TeamSideline Support.

If it doesn't work

  • "Select either Partial Pay % or Amount. Both cannot be used together when Partial Pay is enabled." Clear one of the two boxes.
  • "Select either Partial Pay % or Amount. One must have a valid value when Partial Pay is enabled." Enter a percent or an amount greater than zero.
  • Multiple Payments is grayed out at None. Req Payment Type is Check. Choose Not Applicable or Credit Card.
  • Multiple Payments is grayed out at Payment Plans. Offerings already have payment plans. Delete them in Payment Plan Setup on 2 Configuration before you switch.
  • Partial Pay isn't in the list. Youth Camp programs, and Team Registration plus Roster programs with Variable Pricing, don't offer it.
  • Families don't see the Partial Pay Option. The registration fee is $0 after discounts, an account credit covers the whole order, or a program in the cart requires a payment type other than credit card.
  • Families can't find Pay Balance. Set Enable Pay Balance to Yes. If you see "Credit Card processing must be enabled for Balance Payments.", set Enable Credit Cards to Yes too.

Good to know

  • If you use a dollar amount, keep it lower than every offering's fee after discounts. A registration whose fee is the same as or less than the dollar amount isn't included in the partial payment, so its whole fee is left as a balance. A percent avoids this.
  • Changing the Partial Pay setting doesn't change balances families already owe.
  • When you place an order for a family, you can enter any amount up to the order total in Amount Paid; the rest stays on the account whether or not the program uses Partial Pay.
  • If your site passes a processing fee to families, it's figured on the amount paid now.

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