The payment schedules feature gives you an easy way to break a deal or quote down into multiple payments, based on percentages and dates. This article explains what a payment schedule is, how to define one in your preferences, and how to apply it when ScaleXP Invoicing starts up, so you can split payments in just a couple of clicks.
What is a payment schedule?
A payment schedule is a way of splitting a deal into multiple payments on different dates, based on a percentage split. Each payment is represented by a separate invoice, all linked together within your HubSpot deal.
ScaleXP Invoicing lets you define different payment schedules, which are then shown inside the app ready for your users to choose from when setting up invoices. Each payment schedule has a set of rules around percentages and dates, so users can split payments quickly and consistently. Here are a few scenarios that payment schedules make possible:
- Collect a 50% payment upfront and the rest on completion.
- Set up a payment plan of four quarterly payments.
- Bill 30% now and the rest 30 days before an event date.
- Take 25% pre-payment on smaller deals and 50% pre-payment on larger deals.
When not to use payment schedules
Payment schedules only work on one-off invoices, not repeating ones. Because all invoices are created upfront, recurring invoices may be a better fit if you are looking to capture monthly or yearly payments.
Payment schedules include all line items on every payment, and are percentage-based. If you are looking to take a fixed amount upfront, take a look at split invoices instead.
Some people would rather not generate separate invoices for separate payments. However, neither Xero nor QuickBooks have robust ways of managing partial payments on a single invoice. Having separate invoices gives you better visibility within your accounting platform, more predictable cash flow forecasting, and more options when it comes to automation.
Set up a payment schedule
To get started, head to the preferences section of your ScaleXP Invoicing dashboard. Here you can define which payment schedules are listed when creating invoices. You can create as many as you like, for different scenarios.
- Enter a label. This is what shows to your users inside the app.
- Decide whether to enable Divide line item quantities between invoices. This splits not only the price but also the quantity across the invoices you are creating. For example, if you sell six products and split the payments 50:50, enabling this option will set the product quantity to three in each invoice. Use this option if you need to track quantity in your accounting system for reporting or inventory purposes.
- Choose the details for the first payment. Set a percentage value and the date you would like to start. By default this is the day you create the invoice, but you can customize it and use a HubSpot deal property, such as Close Date, instead.
- Add additional payments as needed. For each one, choose the percentage split and a date delay. This lets you date the second invoice 30 days later than the first, for example. Each date delay follows on from the previous invoice and can be set in days, months, or years. Users can edit all dates after they have applied the payment schedule.
- Press Save.
Tip: You can use negative date delays. For example, if you are billing for an event, you could set the main invoice date to the event date and have payments fall 30 and 90 days before it.
Once saved, open a deal and run ScaleXP Invoicing to see your new payment schedule.
Apply a payment schedule
When ScaleXP Invoicing starts up, it will auto-fill an invoice using the line items on either your deal or your quote. This invoice will have a Payment Schedule button (unless you are using recurring invoice functionality).
- Press the Payment Schedule button. A window opens showing a list of all the payment schedules you have set up.
- Select the schedule you want to use. Your single invoice will be transformed into multiple invoices.
Once your invoices have been generated, you can freely edit the dates, descriptions, and line items. If you have not yet saved or synced your invoices and need to restart, close the ScaleXP Invoicing window and open it again to begin the process from scratch.
Tips and default schedules
- Aim for clean division. Where possible, choose percentages that divide evenly across your line items and quantities so each invoice comes out to a tidy figure.
- Set a default schedule. If all your deals start with the same payment schedule, get in touch with us and ask to set a default. This applies the schedule automatically whenever ScaleXP Invoicing starts up, saving your team a step.