Require Deposits and Prepayment
Taking money up front: who pays, how much, when it stops being refundable, and how the kiosk mirrors it.
A deposit is the cheapest no-show insurance there is. Perceny lets you decide who leaves one, how much, and what happens to it.
The three levels of commitment
From lightest to heaviest:
- A card on file. Nothing is charged. You can charge a fee later if they do not show.
- A deposit. Part of the total is charged at booking and counts toward the ticket.
- Full prepayment. The whole thing is paid up front.
Most shops want (1) for regulars and (2) for new clients.
Setting it up
Features Configuration → Payment Settings.
Always Require Card on File — clients must save a card before they can book. This is level 1, and it is what makes fees collectable at all.
Require Prepayment at Booking — clients are charged the deposit when they book, rather than paying after the ticket is completed.
Require Prepayment for New Clients — first-timers pay even if returning clients do not. This is the setting most shops actually want.
Require Prepayment for Existing Clients — the reverse, for a regular who has burned you.
Prepayment Amount (Fixed) — a flat deposit, e.g. $20.
Prepayment Amount (Percentage) — a share of the appointment total. Better for a menu with a wide price range.
Include Tips in Deposit — base the deposit on services plus tips. Usually off; asking for a deposit on a tip that has not been decided yet reads badly.
When it stops being refundable
Non-Refundable Window (Minutes) is the whole policy in one field:
- A positive number — the deposit stops being refundable that many minutes before the appointment. "24 hours' notice" is
1440. 0— never refundable.-1— always refundable.
Pick this deliberately, then write it in Custom policy text on the Appointment Settings tab so clients see it while booking and again in their reminder.
Individual clients
A client can be flagged as prepay-required regardless of your general rules — the answer for someone with a history. Honor must-prepay clients at the kiosk (Kiosk Settings) makes that flag apply to their walk-ins too.
At the kiosk
The kiosk has its own, parallel set:
- Enable card capture for kiosk booking — clients booking at the kiosk can add a card, on the reader or on screen. Whether that saves a card or charges a deposit follows your regular appointment prepay settings.
- Require card for kiosk walk-ins — a card before joining the walk-in queue.
- Walk-in card capture — save a card, or charge a deposit.
- Always require a card on file — every walk-in at least saves a card.
- Require a deposit from new clients — a first walk-in leaves a deposit.
- Walk-in deposit amount / Walk-in deposit percentage — how much.
Closing the ticket afterwards
A prepaid appointment can close itself. Auto Finish Prepaid Appointments, with its own delay and start/end reference, closes prepaid tickets once the appointment has passed. The kiosk equivalent is Auto-Finish Deposit Walk-Ins, which also charges the remaining balance to the saved card.
Disclosure
If you are going to keep money, say so first:
- Custom policy text is shown on the booking policy screen and included in reminders.
- Show No-Show Policy For Pay-In-Person Walk-Ins discloses the policy at the kiosk even when no card step is shown.
- Require Pre-Charge Disclosure shows a fee disclosure before a processing fee is charged.
A policy the client saw is a policy you can defend on a chargeback. One they did not is not.
Test it
Book as a new client in a private window and watch what is charged. Then book as an existing client. The two paths differ, and the new-client path is the one that costs you money if it is wrong.