Take payment for bookings
Charge online or by hand, with a real invoice in your books, and handle refunds.
Bookings bills with the same invoices as your books. Every Ellibo app of your business shows the same document.
Set the price
On the appointment type, under Money, set the Price before tax. Under Service for tax and invoices, choose a service to set the GST rate and invoice wording, or leave it on the business's usual rate.
Choose how they pay
| How they pay | What happens | Plan |
|---|---|---|
| Nothing is billed here | No payment step | All plans |
| When they visit | The page says they pay at the visit. You make the invoice | All plans |
| All of it, online, to book | They pay the full amount to book | Professional and up |
| A deposit, online, to book | They pay a percent or an amount to book | Professional and up |
Connect your gateway
Online payment goes through your own Razorpay account. Your Admin connects it from Settings > Integrations. See Set up online payments.
Until a gateway is connected, people can book without paying.
How paying online works
- The customer picks a time and is sent to pay.
- Their slot is held for 15 minutes. The booking shows Waiting for payment.
- When the money arrives, the booking is confirmed, or waits for approval if you asked for that.
- If they don't pay, the slot opens up again by itself and the unpaid invoice is voided.
If someone pays after the 15 minutes, the booking is confirmed if the time is still free. If it's gone, you are told and a refund waits for your approval.
Online payment applies to bookings made on your page. A booking your team adds isn't charged online.
Deposits
A deposit is before tax, and tax is added on top. The first invoice covers only the deposit. Once it's paid, the booking shows Part paid.
To bill what is left:
- Open the booking and click Bill the rest on the Money card. This makes a second invoice, shown as Balance invoice.
- Take the money with Take payment, or let the customer pay. With a gateway connected, their own booking page offers to pay the rest online while the booking is open.
Bookings doesn't make the second invoice by itself, so the customer can't pay the rest online until you click Bill the rest. Until then, Still to pay counts only the invoices made so far.
Bill by hand
On any plan, open a booking with a price and click Make the invoice. On the invoice you can download a PDF, send it by email and click Record payment. With a gateway connected, the email has a Pay now button. Check payment on the booking asks the gateway for the latest.
A payment recorded anywhere in your books reaches the booking within a few minutes.
Refunds
Refunds start when a paid booking is cancelled, by you or by the customer. An unpaid invoice is voided by itself. If money was paid, the booking appears under Refunds and on Home.
With a deposit and a balance invoice, the refund covers what was paid on both, and each gets its own credit note. The booking's History names them.
- Open the booking and click Approve refund.
- Check the Amount to refund, with tax. You can refund part of it.
- Under Paid back from, choose the cash or bank account, or I will send it later.
- Click Approve.
Approving makes a credit note in your books. If you choose an account, it also records the payment out. The money itself goes back by hand, through Razorpay's own dashboard or your bank.
Only people whose role covers money can approve a refund: Admins, Workspace admins and custom roles with that right.
If one invoice covers several visits of a repeat, the refund appears once the last open visit is cancelled. A completed booking or a no-show has no refund button. Handle those with a credit note in Accounting.
See who owes what in Reports.