Deposits

Although deposit rules must be set up per individual item, there are two possible deposit setups. An item can be configured to require a specific deposit amount:

• Per booking, via item-level configuration
• Per participant, via customer type-level configuration

We suggest selecting the configuration approach that best suits your business needs, as using both may result in confusion and/or charging customers a higher deposit amount than expected.

Configuring per-booking deposits

1. Navigate to the Items tab, and select the desired item.
2. Using the sidebar, navigate to the item’s Bookability view.

3. Under the Online Payments section, check the Allow deposits option.

   

   Don’t see the Allow deposits option?

   1. Confirm the item is not private. (Note: Deposits cannot be configured for private items. Check to see if the Private option is checked on the item’s Bookability page.)
   2. If the item is not private, please reach out to FareHarbor Support for assistance enabling this feature.

4. Specify the required Deposit amount. A deposit amount can be configured as a flat amount, or as a percentage of the total booking amount. (Note: A deposit amount must be provided before a deposit configuration can be saved.)

5. Configure other deposit rules as desired. Potential customization options include:

   • Require a minimum balance due before giving deposit option: When checked, the option to pay a deposit will not appear unless the booking total meets or exceeds the specified amount.
   • Stop allowing deposits: When checked, customers can only pay a deposit up to a specified number of days before availability.
   • Require deposit for online bookings: When checked, customers will be required to pay a deposit when booking online. (Note: Customers will pay the booking total in full if the set deposit amount is greater than the booking total.)

6. Click the Save changes button to finalize your item-level deposit setup.

Once the setup is finalized, the booking flow will display an option to pay only the deposit.

When paying the deposit only, the booking invoice details will include the deposit amount being paid (listed as Due now) as well as the remaining amount due for the booking (listed as Pay later).

Configuring per-participant deposits

1. Navigate to the Items tab, and select the desired item.
2. Using the sidebar, navigate to the item’s Bookability view.

3. Under the Online Payments section, check the Allow deposits option.

   

   Don’t see the Allow deposits option?

   1. Confirm the item is not private. (Note: Deposits cannot be configured for private items. Check to see if the Private option is checked on the item’s Bookability page.)
   2. If the item is not private, please reach out to FareHarbor Support for assistance enabling this feature.

4. Set the Deposit amount to 0.00.

5. Configure other deposit rules as desired. Potential customization options include:

   • Require a minimum balance due before giving deposit option: When checked, the option to pay a deposit will not appear unless the booking total meets or exceeds the specified amount.
   • Stop allowing deposits: When checked, customers can only pay a deposit up to a specified number of days before availability.
   • Require deposit for online bookings: When checked, customers will be required to pay a deposit when booking online. (Note: Customers will pay the booking total in full if the set deposit amount is greater than the booking total.)

6. Click the Save changes button to finalize your item-level deposit setup.

7. Using the sidebar, navigate to the item’s Options & Prices view.
8. Locate the relevant customer type, and click the pencil icon to edit.

9. In the Deposit amount field, enter the deposit amount that should be charged per participant associated with this customer type.

   

10. Click the Save button to finalize the customer type adjustment.

11. If additional customer types should have a deposit amount associated, repeat Steps 8-10 as needed.

Once the setup is finalized, the booking flow will display an option to pay only the deposit. The deposit amount will be the sum of deposit amount set per customer type, per participant.

When paying the deposit only, the booking invoice details will include the deposit amount being paid (listed as Due now) as well as the remaining amount due for the booking (listed as Pay later).

In other words, gift cards can be applied to a booking when a deposit is not required or if:

• The deposit amount is greater than or equal to the booking total amount.
• The booking total is less than the minimum balance due (if the minimum balance due requirement has been enabled).

If online cart is enabled for the Dashboard, and the customer’s cart includes one or more items being reserved via deposit, the checkout page will display the following information:

• A Due now deposit subtotal, which shows the amount due for each item being reserved
• A Due now final deposit total, which shows the amount due in order to check out

As with other payments, deposits can be refunded fully or in part. Learn more about issuing a refund.

Can any Dashboard user take deposits when making a booking?

All Dashboard users that have permission to make a booking and take payment will be able to take advantage of this feature. Affiliates can also take deposits on bookings made for your Dashboard, as long as they have the correct permissions enabled.

Why are my online customers paying more than the specified deposit amount?

Online customers who pay the deposit will be charged the booking fee in the same transaction.

Why do I not see a deposit option even though I have enabled deposits for my item?

You may not see a deposit option for two reasons:

• The deposit amount is greater than the booking total amount.
• The booking total is less than the minimum balance due (if this rule has been enabled).

How can I determine which customers still have a remaining balance?

You can obtain this information by:

• Running a report that filters underpaid bookings, grouped by deposits.
• Opening or downloading the Manifest, and viewing the Due column.
• Searching a specific booking to confirm whether money is due.

Is the remaining amount due for bookings collected automatically?

Bookings created with a deposit do not have payment collected automatically, and require any additional payments to be paid in full.

Enabling the feature flag

1. Navigate to the Settings tab, then Advanced company settings (gear icon in the upper right).
2. Navigate to the Payments section or use the search bar to locate the Allow deposits feature flag.

3. Check the following feature flags:

   1. Allow deposits
   2. Allow setting deposit amounts per customer

   Check only the Allow deposits flag if the client doesn’t want to allow deposit amounts set for customer types.

4. Save changes.

Enabling for an affiliate company

For partner affiliates to accept deposits, channel specialists must enable the Pay deposit when creating bookings permission must be enabled in the following locations:

• The affiliate’s permission group
• The affiliate’s Dashboard, under the Partner permission group

• Remove any custom field deposit workarounds before deposits are enabled for the Dashboard.
• We suggest clients post their deposit process on their website. For example, posting this information to an FAQ page is a great way to increase customer trust and booking conversion rates.

• We can suggest the options below if a client wants to add deposit information to their Dashboard, as best suits their specific business needs.

  We encourage clients to include this information on their website, and resort to one of these options only as necessary.

  1. Add information at a Dashboard or item level via confirmation notes. These notes will be available for customers’ reference after booking.
  2. Add information to the item description for customers’ reference during the booking process. (Note: This solution may be a good fit if the customer shows item descriptions in integration.)
  3. Add information to a Label custom field. This custom field can be included in the book form for customers’ reference during the booking process. (Note: This solution may be a good fit if the client does not show item descriptions in integration.)