Introduction
Upfront Payment Plans are fixed contract term memberships, i.e. 6, 12, or 24 month-long. You can choose the length of the contract according to your business needs. This type of contracts are paid upfront in full for the whole commitment period.
In this article, you will find the practical instruction on how to configure the most commonly used example of the Upfront Payment Plan.
- This article will help you understand the logic of the Upfront Payment Plan configuration. Based on it, you will be able to set up your own Upfront Payment Plans according to your business preferences.
- This article will be helpful to PG Champion, Club Manager, Sales Manager, Administrator and Club Owner.
Before you start
Read the following article and familiarize with the Payment Plan definition.
Instruction
How to set up Upfront Payment Plan?
1. Go to the PGM -> Sale -> Membership -> Payment Plans.
2. Click on the Add new payment plan button.
3. Fill in all the information according to your needs:
New payment plan
- Name - enter the name of your Payment Plan
- Minimum / Max Age - enter the minimum / maximum age your members must be at to be able to use this Payment Plan. This is optional!
- Fiscal name - if the name visible on the receipt should be different to the name of the contract, add such name in this field.
- Start date / End date - enter the dates the Payment Plan should be available for purchase. This is optional, see the info box below!
- Active - tick this checkbox to activate the Payment Plan and make it available for purchase.
After ticking the Active checkbox, the Payment Plan will be immediately available for purchase. However, if you want to define Payment Plan Start date and End date, choose the time of its availability from the calendar. Mind that the Active checkbox also has to be ticked. The system will automatically deactivate the Payment Plan after the End date.
- Plan type - from the predefined list, select Contract.
Fees
Decide if the amounts should be counted nett or gross. The tax percentage will be respectively added or reduced to the amount entered in given fields.
- Membership fee - add the whole amount that the club member should pay for the Contract.
- Administration fee / Joining fee - decide if you want to charge additional one-time payment during member registration process.
- Penalty for unpaid installment - decide if you want to charge your members in case of delays in their Contract payments.
- Penalty charged after (days) - decide after how many days the you want to charge you members with the penalty.
- Freeze available - decide if you want to give the possibility of freezing Contracts to your members.
We recommend to make this option available. This can be convenient in case of any future change within your business Payment Plan policy.
- Deposit value - decide if you want your member to pay a fixed deposit amount during registration. This amount can be easily returned to the member.
- Allowable debit - decide if you want to allow your members to enter the club on debt. Enter the allowable amount.
Remember, that the amount must start with "-".
Payment methods
Decide which online payment method you want to make available for your club members. You can select more than one payment method.
During the Upfront Payment Plan configuration, we recommend only selecting Paid at the reception method. This way, you will be able to receive the payments immediately and without the prolonged payment period, as it would be in case of Direct debit method.
Make sure your club has a payment provider properly configured, so that your members are able to use chosen method.
Paid at the reception - mind, this payment method is not the same as making POSweb payments, which are available anytime!
Periods
- Payment interval / Commitment period - in case of Upfront Payment Plan, these fields should be the same, as you charge your members with one-time payment for the whole Contract.
If you want to create 6-month Membership, select 6 moths in Payment Interval and Commitment Period fields. In Membership fee, enter the total value you want to charge for this whole period.
- Leave other fields empty, as this Payment Plan will end automatically.
Settings
We recommend to use the following settings. Mind that your business needs may differ from the below recommendations.
- First payment on sign up date - tick this checkbox to charge your member with fees (Administration and Joining Fee and Prorata) on the sign up date.
- Automatically end contract after commitment period reached - tick this checkbox to end the Contract automatically after the commitment period has been reached.
- Payment interval occurs on contract start day (no prorata) - tick this checkbox to start the first Payment Interval on the Contract start date without charging the members additionally for the prorata period.
- Contract end prorata - this option will calculate the overpayment in case of changing the Contract end date. The amount will be calculated based on the number of remaining days.
- Agreement template - select the given agreement template.
- Template of rules - select the given Terms and Conditions template.
Visibility
Decide if you want to limit this Payment Plan visibility to given employee roles in your club. Otherwise, skip this step.
Early termination fee
Decide if you want to charge your members with a penalty fee for ending the contract before the commitment period. This is optional and depends on your business policy.
Initial payment for online registration requirement
- Initial payment is required during online registration - tick this checkbox to charge your members with the initial payment during online registration.
If you’re located in Australia or New Zealand, please tick the following checkboxes:
-
Payment in advance summary (Client Portal)
-
Payment in advance for contract
Assigned clubs
Decide in which club the Payment Plan will be available for purchase.
Access rules
Select the relevant Access rule for this Payment Plan.
Available for
Decide in which modules this Payment Plan will be available for purchase.
4. Click on the Insert button to add this Payment Plan.
Example
Here, you will find Upfront Payment Plan configuration example. Mind that Payment Plan configuration will differ depending on your own business preferences and policy.