This FAQ guide explains step by step how to set up partial payments/deposits, allowing customers to pay a portion of the booking cost upfront. Later, you can request the remaining balance from customers by sending "payment requests." This functionality is available in the Booking Calendar Business Medium or higher versions.
1. Setup Partial Payments.
To configure partial payments for a specific booking resource, navigate to WP Booking Calendar > Prices > Daily Costs page. Click on the "Partial Payments" button next to the specific resource. Then, enable the "Deposit" payment option and configure the amount of the partial payment. It can be a fixed amount or a percentage of the total booking cost. Partial payments can also depend on the booking's check-in date for specific seasons or the difference between today and the check-in dates.
2. Publish page with booking form.
Now, follow this guide to publish the booking form for your booking resource.
3. Submitting booking and processing partial payment.
In our example from point #1, we have set the cost for the booking resource at $100 per day and defined the deposit cost as 30% of the total booking cost. Let's say we are making a booking for 5 days, with a total cost of $500. In this case, the "Deposit Payment" would be 30% of $500, which equals $150. Check out the example below to see how a visitor makes a booking and submits a deposit payment (partial payment) for it.
4. Booking Notes with Payment Breakdown.
When an administrator checks "Notes" of this booking in the Booking Listing page in the admin panel, they will see the payment breakdown as follows:
Total Cost: $500.00 Deposit Due: $150.00 Balance Remaining: $350.00
Additionally, they will find other details related to "Automatically calculated total cost and deposit", "Displaying Payment section", and the response from the "Payment system" in case the user has successfully made a payment.
Important to note! The booking cost field displays the last cost shown in the payment form. In our case, it was the deposit cost of 30%, which is $150.
Please note, the booking was auto-approved due to the enabled "Auto-approve booking" option at WP Booking Calendar > Settings > Payment Gateways > Stripe page. This occurs when a visitor successfully makes a payment. The same option is available for PayPal and some other payment systems.
5. Emails.
Which emails were sent to users during this time?
It depends on the activated "emails" at WP Booking Calendar > Settings > Emails page.
Visitors may receive the following emails:
- Email notification about the creation of a new booking ("New (visitor)" email template).
- If you activated the "Auto-approve booking" option at WP Booking Calendar > Settings > Payment Gateways > "Specific Payment Gateway" page, the system sends an email confirming the booking approval ("Approved" email template).
6. Sending Payment Requests to Pay the Specific Sum.
To send payment requests, ensure you've set up the [bookingedit] shortcode correctly. Refer to our detailed guide for step-by-step instructions on configuring the [bookingedit] shortcode.
To send payment requests for paying (in our case) the remaining balance, edit the booking's cost in the "cost field" and click on the "Save cost" button. In our example, we changed the cost from $150 to $350. This is a manual process.
At this point, the system can send a "Modified" email to the user. After changing the cost for a booking, the plugin can automatically send a notification email to the visitor if the following conditions are met:
- Ensure that the "Emails sending" option is enabled under the Filter toolbar.
- Activate the "Send email on cost changes" option at WP Booking Calendar > Settings > Payment Gateways page.
If both conditions are met, the plugin will send a "Modified" booking email to the visitor. You can customize the content of the "Modified" booking email template at WP Booking Calendar > Settings > Emails page.
Sending Payment Request.
When you click on the "Payment request" button, a popup window will appear where you can enter the payment reason.
The entered "Payment Reason" can be included in the payment request email by using the [paymentreason] shortcode at the WP Booking Calendar > Settings > Emails > Payment Request email template page. 
After Visitor Receives the Payment Request Email
When a visitor receives the payment request email and clicks on the payment link, they will be redirected to the payment request page. This page will display the cost corresponding directly to the amount specified in the cost field for the respective booking at the Booking Listing page. 
7. Summary about Payment Requests.
Upon completion of the payment by the visitor, administrators can review the booking details within the Notes section associated with the specific booking on the Booking Listing page. This section provides a detailed log of various events related to the booking, including payment system responses, payment section displays, payment request details, and updates to booking costs. Administrators can utilize this information to ensure accurate tracking and management of bookings.
[2024-04-21 17:09] Payment system response. -- STRIPE -- | approve | Total: EUR 350.00 | Status: paid | Payment: complete | [2024-04-21 17:08] Payment section displayed | Amount to pay: $350.00 [2024-04-21 16:46] Payment request for Booking ( ID = 297 ) has been sent. Cost for payment: 350.00. Send by: John Smith (s@wpbookingcalendar.com) [2024-04-21 16:45] Cost for Booking ( ID = 297 ) has been updated from 150.00 to 350. Changed by: John Smith (s@wpbookingcalendar.com) [2024-04-21 15:05] Payment system response. -- STRIPE -- | approve | Total: EUR 150.00 | Status: paid | Payment: complete | [2024-04-21 15:04] Payment section displayed ----------------------------------------- Total cost: $500.00 Deposit Due: $150.00 Balance Remaining: $350.00 ----------------------------------------- [2024-04-21 15:04] Automatically calculated deposit cost 150 [2024-04-21 15:04] Automatically calculated cost 500
It's important to note that the process of changing payment costs and sending payment requests is MANUAL.
Administrators are responsible for updating costs and initiating payment requests as needed.
