Rentals — Setting Up Partial Payments in Captivation Hub

Partial Payments lets rental businesses collect a smaller payment at booking and automatically charge the remaining balance closer to the rental date. This is especially useful for high-value rentals like vehicles, vacation homes, and equipment where a full upfront payment might deter customers from completing the booking.

With Partial Payments, customers split their rental cost into two scheduled payments: a deposit collected at the time of booking, and the remaining balance due before the rental begins. Optional auto-collection handles the balance charge automatically.

When enabled, a Captivation Hub invoice is created with a two-installment payment schedule for each booking. The deposit is charged immediately. When auto-collection is on, Captivation Hub charges the balance on the configured due date using the card saved at booking.

Note: Partial Payments requires Require Payment at Booking to be turned on. When Require Payment is off, installment schedules cannot be created — the booking is confirmed without charge and payment is collected manually.

Key Benefits

• Lower upfront cost: Customers secure a rental by paying a configured deposit rather than the full rental price.
• Clear checkout amounts: Customers see what is due today and when the remaining payment is due.
• Optional automatic collection: Businesses can enable balance charging on the scheduled due date.
• Payment visibility: Booking details show each scheduled payment's amount, due date, and status.
• Flexible security deposit timing: Eligible security deposits can be collected with the booking deposit or with the final balance.

How It Works

When a customer books with Partial Payments enabled, a Captivation Hub invoice is created with two payment schedules:

• Schedule 1 — Deposit: Payable immediately at checkout. Amount = the deposit percentage × rental total.
• Schedule 2 — Balance: Payable on the configured due date. Amount = remaining rental total.

The security deposit can be due along with the deposit or with the balance, depending on your configuration.

Collapse Rule — Late Bookings

If a booking is made within the configured threshold (for example, within 7 days of the rental start), both installments are collapsed into a single full payment due immediately at checkout. The same collapse applies if the balance due date has already passed at the time of booking.

Payment Methods

Auto-charge on the balance due date requires a card saved at booking. Cash and offline payments cannot be auto-charged.

Prerequisites

Before enabling Partial Payments, confirm the following:

• Require Payment at Booking is on. Partial Payments is not available when this is off — the toggle won't appear.
• Card payment methods are available. Auto-charge on the balance due date only works when the customer saves a card at checkout. When partial payments is enabled, other payment methods are not allowed at checkout.

Step 1 — How to Configure Partial Payments

All Partial Payments settings live in Calendars → Calendar Settings → Rentals → Global Settings → Payment settings. These settings apply to new bookings across all your listings.

1. Go to Global Settings → Payment settings.
2. Confirm Require payment at booking is turned on.
3. Toggle Partial payments ON.
4. Set the Deposit amount (1–99% of booking total).
5. Choose when the Balance is due.
6. Optionally enable Auto-collect balance on due date to automatically charge the saved card.
7. Click Save Changes.

Note: Auto-charge runs at 11:00 AM ET / 10:00 AM CT / 9:00 AM MT / 8:00 AM PT on the configured due date.

Security Deposit Timing (if applicable)

When Require Payment at Booking, Security deposit, and Partial Payments are all on, you'll see a timing option:

• With the booking deposit — The security deposit is collected at booking. Best for maximum early protection on high-value assets.
• With the balance payment — The security deposit is collected with the balance. This minimizes the amount due at booking.

The security deposit is always collected as a single full amount — it is never split proportionally across installments.

Applies to new bookings only: Saving or changing the global payment plan does not recalculate existing bookings.

Security Deposit and Partial Payments

When Security Deposits is set to Card on File, the deposit is not collected upfront. Partial Payments works normally on the rental total only. The card saved at booking is used for both the balance auto-charge and as the card on file for the security deposit.

What Customers See at Checkout

The booking page payment summary updates automatically based on your configuration. Customers always see:

• Due today — the deposit amount payable while booking
• Upcoming payment — the balance amount and due date

If the booking falls within the collapse window, the installment schedule is replaced with a single full payment. If Require Payment at Booking is off, no charge is collected.

Viewing and Managing Payments

The booking payment summary separates installments so you can see which amounts are already paid and which still need attention.

1. Open Calendars → Appointment List View, select Rentals, and open the booking.
2. Review the payment summary for each installment's amount, due date, and status (for example, Payment 1 of 2 · Paid and Payment 2 of 2 · Pending).
3. To collect an outstanding installment early or when no card is available, use Actions → Collect Payment from the booking sidebar.
4. Select one scheduled payment or multiple outstanding payments to collect together.
5. Return to the payment summary to verify the updated status.

Payment Failure

A failed scheduled payment can leave a balance outstanding even after a rental was booked successfully.

• Captivation Hub attempts to charge the saved card on the due date.
• The charge is retried automatically — up to 3 attempts, 24 hours apart.
• After all retries fail, the payment must be collected manually.

Configure reminder and failure email templates in Payments → Invoices & Estimates → Settings → Notifications. These templates control the reminder sent before each installment and the failure notification after a failed charge.

Note: Bookings are not auto-cancelled after a payment failure. Cancellation is always an operator action.

Booking Changes and Additional Charges

Editing dates or prices can change what remains payable. Review the updated payment schedule after every modification.

• Rental date changes: The outstanding balance due date moves with the new start date. If auto-collect was on, it is turned off for the booking when it is updated.
• Before the deposit is paid: The invoice is updated with the new total and a fresh payment schedule is calculated.
• After the deposit is paid, before the balance is due: If the total increases, the balance due in the 2nd installment increases. If the total decreases, the balance due decreases (but can never fall below what's already been paid).
• After all installments are paid: A separate Additional charges row is added to the booking for any increase. The original payment schedule is not modified.

Note: Changes to a booking total after the invoice is fully paid do not trigger automatic refunds. The operator must initiate any refund manually from the booking detail.

Non-Card Payments

Auto-charge on the balance due date requires a card saved for the contact. Cash and other offline payment methods cannot be stored for future auto-charge. When partial payments are enabled, all other payment methods are disabled at checkout.

Note: When Require Payment at Booking is off, all payment is collected manually regardless of payment method. Partial Payments is not available in this mode.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Can I set different payment plans for different listings?
No. Global Settings defines the default for all listings.

Q: What happens if a customer cancels after paying the deposit but before the balance is due?
The unpaid balance row is voided immediately — it is never charged. The deposit refund follows your cancellation policy. The security deposit (if collected upfront) is always refunded in full on pre-rental cancellations, regardless of the cancellation policy.

Q: Can a customer pay the balance early?
Yes. The customer can click Pay Now on the invoice at any time. Admins can also collect the payment early via the booking view.

Q: What if I change the deposit percentage after bookings have already been made?
Changes to Global Settings apply to new bookings only. Existing bookings retain the schedule that was created at the time of booking.

Q: What if I add an extra charge after the customer has fully paid?
An additional row is created on the booking and the invoice for the extra amount. The original payment schedule is not modified. Send a payment request from the booking detail to collect the additional charge.

Q: Can I charge custom amounts when partial payments are enabled?
No. When partial payments are enabled, you can only collect the configured schedule amounts in full (for example, 25% and 75%, or both schedules together).

Q: Does changing the rental start date change the balance due date?
Yes. The balance due date adjusts with the new rental start date using the configured lead time.