ASAP's payment plan feature lets your students divide the balance due on an invoice into multiple monthly payments that are then charged automatically to the original payment (credit card or echeck). This dramatically improves cash flow and reduces the need for administrators to chase payments.
Once you have configured the default terms of the plan (the number and schedule of payments, whether to charge a deposit or a fee, etc.) you can make payment plans an option to your students when they pay online, or you can reserve the ability to put an invoice on a payment plan for your staff only.
Applying a Payment Plan in Admin
Set Up
- Under Set Up >Terms.
- Select the Payment Plans tab.
-
Select the Edit pencil icon
- click the box to allow payment plans
- click the box to allow students to select a Payment Plan option online if necessary
- Click Save icon
Next, you need to create the payment plan schedule in the relevant time period.
- Under Set Up > select the Time Periods tab
- Select create new for a new Time Period to configure or select edit in the ellipses of an existing Time Period.
For this article we will be focusing solely on the Payment Plan portion of Time Period configuration.
-
Pay Plan Months: Allows you to configure the length of the payment plan. A deposit is included as month #1.
- Its a good idea to ensure the payment plan duration ends before the end of the time period.
- Pay Plan Start Date: The first date that the payment plan will be charged. If you have a deposit configured the deposit is counted as the first payment date.
- Pay Plan Deposit Fixed: If you want to require a fixed-rate deposit. ($100 for example)
- Pay Plan Deposit Percentage: If you want to require a percentage-based deposit enter is here (25% for example)
- Pay Plan Fee: If you want to charge a fee whenever anyone creates a payment plan enter it here. This can be configured as a Fixed Fee or a Percentage Based Fee.
-
Once configured, select Add Time Period to save.
Paying by Payment Plan online
Now when your students enroll online, they will see a Payment Plan option and can opt in to that when they check out.
If the student enrolls after the Default Start Date, the plan will schedule payments as follows:
- Deposit - due 'today', i.e. when they enroll
-
Subsequent payments - will be the same 'day' of the following month. So if the Default start date is the 1st of the month all subsequent payment dates will also be on the 1st.
For example, if the default start date is 9/1/23 and I enroll on 12/5/23, the Deposit date is today, 12/5/23, and the next payments are on the 1st of the following months, i.e. 1/1/24, 2/1/24, etc..
Students will receive an invoice with the payment schedule and their credit card will be automatically charged on the posted date each month.
Setting up a Payment Plan in Admin
As Administrators, you can add a payment plan directly on the invoice. You also have the option to change the payment plan to accomodate any needs your students may have, such as changing payment dates and amounts.
If the student enrolls after the Default Start Date, you will see an alert. You do not have to change the default start date. The plan will schedule payments as follows:
- Deposit - due 'today', i.e. when they enroll or when you create the payment plan
- Subsequent payments - will be the same 'day' of the following month. So if the Default start date is the 1st of the month all subsequent payment dates will also be on the 1st.
For example, if the default start date is 9/1/23 and I enroll on 12/5/23, the Deposit date is today, 12/5/23, and the next payments are on the 1st of the following months, i.e. 1/1/24, 2/1/24, etc..