Deposits and paying up front

Open Settings in the menu (on a phone, open the menu with the ☰ button at the top of the screen) and find the Payment Settings card. With Accept Payments turned on, the Payment Timing menu offers two options (students cannot be charged until your Stripe account is connected, but you can set the timing first):

• Payment Before Class. Full payment is required at registration. A seat is only counted as taken once the payment goes through.
• Payment After Class. Registration is free by default: the student's seat is held as soon as they register, and they pay the full price at class (see pay at class). Turn on Require Deposit to collect part of the price at registration to hold the seat instead, either a fixed dollar amount or a percentage of the class price.

Whatever you set here is the default for every class. It saves as you go: switches and the timing menu right away, and the deposit amount when you leave the field. The deposit block on each class form shows that default so you always know what a class will do if you leave it alone.

Deposit rules only apply under Payment After Class, and only to classes with a price. Under Payment Before Class the deposit block is greyed out, because everyone pays in full anyway.

1. Open the class (or a template) and scroll to the Deposit block.
2. Pick a Deposit setting:
   • Use business default: whatever Payment Settings says today. If you change the default later, this class follows it.
   • No deposit — free registration, pay after: students register without paying and pay at class.
   • Fixed amount deposit: a dollar amount, which must be less than the class price.
   • Percentage of price: 1 to 99 percent. The form shows the dollar amount as you type.
   • Full payment due at registration: the whole price up front for this one class, even though your default is pay after.
3. Save the class. Templates carry their deposit rule into every class created from them.

The deposit is disclosed before the student ever enters a card. On the booking page and in the widget, a class with a deposit shows the full price plus a note with the amount due today and the remaining balance due after class.

After filling in their details, the student reaches a checkout summary listing the class price and the deposit being charged now. Cards, Apple Pay, and Google Pay are all accepted, and the money goes straight to your Stripe account.

Once the deposit clears, the student is confirmed and their record shows the deposit paid and the balance still due.

There are two ways the remaining balance gets paid.

• Automatic balance payment link. When a deposit is paid online, the student gets a Deposit Received email with a secure personal link to pay the rest. No login is needed. The page shows the class, what was paid, and what is due, and the payment records against their registration the moment it clears. This email goes out when your Payment Confirmation automation is on; see the automatic emails.
• Record it yourself. If the student pays in person, open Payments and tap or click Record Manual Payment. Choose the student, enter the amount, and pick Cash, Check, Bank Transfer, or Other. You can mark it as a balance payment or let CertClass work it out from the amount owed.

For students who pay in person, set Payment Timing to Payment After Class and leave Require Deposit off (or pick No deposit on a single class).

• Seats. A student who registers this way holds a seat right away, the same as a paid or deposit registration. When the class reaches its maximum, the next visitor is offered the waitlist instead.
• What the student sees. The booking page and widget show Pay $X at class under the price, with a note that nothing is charged online when they register. If you pass the booking fee to students, it reads Pay $X at class, or online (+ $1.00 booking fee), so the fee for paying online early is disclosed up front. Paying at class never carries a fee.
• Emails. The registration confirmation states the amount due at class, and both it and the class reminder include a secure link to pay online ahead of time. No login is needed. This payment block is added to your own templates too. To place the amount and link yourself, put {{balanceDue}} and {{payBalanceUrl}} in the template, and CertClass will leave it exactly as you wrote it.
• Paying online early. The payment records against the registration the moment it clears and the student shows as Paid. It counts as one online payment ($1.00 CertClass fee). If you pass the booking fee to students, the student pays a $1.00 booking fee on top of the class price instead, which covers that $1.00, and the payment page, emails and payment link all show it before they pay. The registration still counts toward your monthly usage either way. A declined card leaves the registration as it was.
• Card payments on class day. If a student would rather pay by card at class, open the class roster and tap or click the QR code icon next to their name (on a phone, tap Payment link on their card). It is also on the class session page, and on their student record. The window shows the amount due (plus the booking fee and the total, if you pass the booking fee to students) and a large QR code. The student scans it with their phone camera and pays on the same secure page, and shows as Paid once the payment clears. You can also Copy link or choose Email link to student. It works the same for a deposit student paying their balance, which never carries a booking fee. Instructors see this button when they have View Financial Information. It counts as one online payment ($1.00 CertClass fee, paid by the student as the booking fee when you pass it on).
• Recording cash on class day. Open the class roster and tap or click the card icon next to the student. Process Payment opens with Cash selected and the class price filled in. Adjust the amount if they paid part, then save. You can also use Record Manual Payment on the Payments page, which is the way to do it on a phone. Cash and check payments carry no CertClass fee and no booking fee. Once part of the price is recorded in cash, paying the rest online works like a deposit balance, with no booking fee.

Until they pay, these students show as Pending on the roster.

Some students want to pay by card when they book, and others would rather pay cash on the day. A class can offer both, whichever Payment Timing your business uses.

1. Open the class (or a template) and find the payment block above Deposit.
2. Tick Let students choose: pay now or pay at class. The deposit settings hide, because a class that lets students choose never takes a deposit.
3. Save the class. Templates carry the setting into every class created from them.

The option needs online payments turned on and your Stripe account connected, and it is only available for classes with a price that are not billed to an organization. If something is missing, the class form says what to fix.

• What the student sees. The booking page and widget show Pay now online or pay at class under the price. On the registration form the student picks one of two options, both with the amount spelled out: Pay now online (“Pay $X now by card, Apple Pay or Google Pay”, including the $1.33 booking fee if you pass it to students) or Pay at class (“Pay $X at class. Nothing is charged today”).
• Pay now online. The student goes straight to the secure checkout for the full price, and works exactly like a class paid at registration: the seat is taken once the payment goes through, and they show as Paid. If they leave checkout without paying, no seat is held.
• Pay at class. The student registers without paying, their seat is held right away, and the confirmation email states the amount due with a secure link to pay online ahead of time. Everything in pay at class applies: the QR code payment link, Process Payment with Cash on class day, and Record Manual Payment.
• Changing their mind. A student who started paying online but left checkout can come back and pick Pay at class with the same email. A student already registered to pay at class who wants to pay by card uses the link in their confirmation email.
• Seats and the waitlist. Both kinds of registration count toward the class maximum the same way, so the spots left on your booking page are always accurate, and a full class offers the waitlist.
• On your roster. Each student has a small tag next to their payment status showing what they picked: Pay now online or Pay at class. Students you add yourself or import as not paid yet are treated as Pay at class.
• Billing. Each registration counts once toward your monthly usage. Online payments carry the usual $1.00 CertClass fee, or the booking fee when you pass it to students, exactly as on any other class. Cash and check carry no fee.

Two kinds of classes skip payment entirely, no matter how Payment Settings is configured:

• A class priced at $0. Registration completes without a payment step, and the deposit block on the class form is greyed out because there is nothing to collect.
• An organization-billed class. Students see “Covered by your organization” instead of a price and are never asked to pay. You invoice the company yourself. See billing an organization.