Create and Track a Payment Plan

A payment plan divides a booking total into one or more installments and gives you one place to track what is due.

Create a payment plan

1. Open the booking.
2. Open its payment section.
3. Turn on payments for the booking.
4. Add installments and amounts.
5. Choose due dates.
6. Confirm that the installment total matches the booking total.
7. Save the plan.

An active booking payment plan with price, retainer, paid and outstanding totals, installments, and recording actions.View full size

Use clear installment names such as “Retainer,” “Second payment,” and “Final balance.”

For a plan with several installments, you can customize a non-retainer amount while creating the plan. Vignette rebalances the remaining payments so the complete schedule still matches the booking total. Entering zero marks an installment as a gift or comp rather than a collected payment.

Choose a plan type

Choose Plan type after you turn on Enable payments on this booking.

The Plan type menu with Pay in full, Retainer + balance, and Installments.View full size

Pay in full

The client pays the whole price in one payment, due at contract signing.

A completed Pay in full plan for $450 with its single installment due at contract signing, paid by Venmo.View full size

Retainer + balance

The client pays a retainer first, then the remaining balance by a due date you choose.

A Retainer + balance plan with a $150 retainer due at booking confirmation, shown after a refund, and a $425 balance due on the session date.View full size

Installments

Choose the Number of installments. Vignette spreads the dates evenly before the session and prefers Mondays. You can change any amount or date. If you change one amount, the later payments rebalance so the total still matches. The retainer stays fixed.

Installments setup with three payments: a retainer due at contract signing and two $225 installments with editable dates and amounts.View full size

Set a relative due date

Select Set relative to tie a due date to the session, such as 14 days before the session date. Vignette shows the exact date it will use before you select Use date. Choose Balance schedule instead of This payment to apply the rule to the remaining payments.

The Set relative date panel set to 14 days before the session date, showing the resulting due date and a Use date button.View full size

Choose online or manual collection

Online card collection requires a ready Stripe payment account.

Manual records are useful for cash, check, bank transfer, or a payment received outside Vignette. Recording a manual payment does not move money; it updates the booking record.

Clients see the same schedule in the Pay step of their booking link.

The client's Pay step showing the total, paid, and remaining amounts and each installment's due date.View full size

Record a manual payment

1. Open the correct installment.
2. Choose the manual recording action.
3. Enter the amount received.
4. Choose the payment method.
5. Add an optional note when it will help you identify the payment later.
6. Select Record, then review the updated paid and outstanding totals.

The Record payment form with the amount, payment method, optional note, and Record button.View full size

The Method menu in the Record payment form listing Cash, Check, Venmo, Card, ACH, and Other.View full size

The available methods include cash, check, Venmo, card, ACH, and other. These choices describe money collected outside Vignette; choosing a method here does not charge the client or move money.

Enter only money you have actually received. If a payment is partial, record the received amount rather than marking the whole installment paid. Review carefully before selecting Record, because the entry changes the booking’s paid and outstanding totals.

After you record it, the installment shows a green check with the date, and the payment appears underneath with its method. The paid and outstanding totals update.

A retainer marked paid, showing $1,200 by check, with Paid $1,200 and Outstanding $3,600 in the plan totals.View full size

In the Bookings list, a booking with nothing overdue shows Payments up to date.

A booking in the list marked Payments up to date with $3,600.00 due.View full size

Send a reminder

Use Send reminder from the applicable installment. Confirm the client email, amount, and due date before sending.

Automatic reminder settings are available under account notifications. A manual reminder does not necessarily replace a future scheduled reminder.

The Automated messages settings, including the Automatic payment reminders switch.View full size

Waive an unpaid balance

Use Waive when you deliberately forgive an installment’s remaining balance. Vignette asks you to confirm before it waives anything.

The Waive This Installment? dialog explaining that waiving counts as paid and the client owes no further amount, with Cancel and Waive.View full size

A waiver satisfies that obligation without recording money as paid. There is no simple undo action, so use it for intentional credits or corrections rather than ordinary payment collection.

Refund a payment

Open the successful payment attached to the installment and choose the available refund action.

Select Refund on the payment. Enter the amount, choose how you returned the money, and add an optional reason.

The Refund payment dialog showing up to $1,200 refundable, a note to return the money outside Vignette first, and the Amount, Method, and Reason fields.View full size

• An eligible online card refund returns money to the original payment method.
• For cash or another off-platform method, reimburse the client first, then record the refund in Vignette.

The refund remains attached to the exact payment and its receipt. Review the refundable amount before confirming; recording a refund does not automatically cancel the booking.

After a full refund, the payment shows Refunded, a red refund line appears with your reason, and the installment is due again.

A retainer payment marked Refunded with a –$150.00 cash refund line, the reason, and the installment due again with Record and Waive.View full size

Find and share a receipt

Open the successful payment inside the booking or from Finance → Payments, then open its receipt.

A client payment receipt for $450.00 from Vignette Photography with the receipt number, who paid, the booking, the date paid, and Print receipt.View full size

The receipt shows the payment that happened, any later refund, and the booking or mini-session slot it belongs to. A partly paid plan can have more than one receipt because each payment has its own record.

Clients can return to a private receipt page after payment. The receipt link belongs only to that payment. It does not give access to another booking, client, or studio record.

If a payment is refunded, use the same payment history to review the updated receipt instead of creating a replacement manual payment.

Change a plan carefully

Unsettled due dates can be edited while a plan is active without replacing its payment history. Changing what is owed after the plan has been saved may require a replacement or reconciliation flow, especially after a payment, waiver, refund, or signed agreement.

An active payment plan with Edit buttons under the price and retainer, and editable due dates with Set relative.View full size

When a booking is canceled, review the payment plan and any refunds separately. Canceling the booking does not by itself explain how money already collected should be handled.

Learn how to handle a cancellation or refund from start to finish.

Good to know: Payment history should match your bank and Stripe records. Investigate a mismatch instead of entering a second manual payment to force the totals to agree.