Taking a deposit when a client books an appointment cuts down on no-shows and last-minute cancellations, and makes it less likely a client forgets their booking.
This article covers deposits taken inside Simple Salon (via the Appointments page and POS). For deposits on Online Bookings, see Online Booking Deposits.
Jump to a section.
- How to enable deposits for POS.
- Force deposits for appointment bookings.
- How to take a deposit while creating an appointment.
- How to use a client's deposit in POS.
- Where to view a client's deposit balance.
- Cancelling an open appointment with a deposit paid.
- Refunding deposits.
- Reporting.
How to enable deposits for POS
- Click your profile icon at the bottom left of the main menu, then click Settings.
- Type deposit in the search box. The Cash Register (POS) deposit settings appear.
- Turn on Enable Deposits.
- Set your Deposit Percentage (this can also be overridden on the fly in POS).
- Decide whether to turn on Force Deposits for Appointment Bookings, then Save.
The Deposit Percentage is worked out from the price of the service. For example, a 40% Deposit Percentage on a $10.00 service asks for a $4.00 deposit.
How does the "Force Deposits for Appointment Bookings" setting work?
When this setting is on, every appointment you create on the Appointments page requires a deposit payment before it's confirmed. You'll always be taken to POS to take it.
If you use a Stripe Invoice link for the deposit, or leave POS without paying, the appointment starts a 30 minute expiry timer. It's automatically deleted if it's still unpaid when the timer runs out.
When Force Deposits is off, you can instead choose the Take Deposit button on a per-appointment basis. If a Stripe Invoice deposit is left unpaid while Force Deposits is off, the appointment's status simply stays as OPEN: Deposit Unpaid with no expiry timer.
How to take a deposit while creating an appointment
- Create a new appointment as normal.
- In the services screen, toggle Take Deposit on (if Force Deposits is on, this is already switched on and can't be turned off).
- Click Confirm & Pay. You're taken to POS to finish the payment.
- The deposit amount is worked out from your Deposit Percentage setting; click Take Deposit again and choose Custom if you want to charge a different amount.
- Click Receive Payment, choose Cash, EFTPOS or another normal payment method, and Finish Sale. Or use a Stripe Invoice link instead, which needs to be enabled in your Account settings first.
How to use a client's deposit in POS
Adding a client with a deposit to a sale shows the deposit as its own removable line in Receive Payment. It's taken off their deposit balance when you finish the sale. See How to Use a Client's Deposit in POS for the full walkthrough.
Where to view a client's deposit balance
POS
A client with a deposit shows their deposit balance as a badge next to their name in the POS cart header. Clicking it opens their deposit and account transactions, including outstanding deposits you can add straight to the current sale.
Client Card
You can also see a client's deposit balance from their Client Card. Click the Deposit Taken tile near the top to see outstanding and past deposit transactions, and add any linked services straight to a sale from there.
Cancelling an open appointment with a deposit paid
- Open the appointment and click Delete.
- Choose Delete this booking only (or Delete for the whole series on a repeating booking).
- A dialog asks what to do with the deposit: click Refund Deposit or Keep for Future Use.
Refund Deposit sends the money back to the client's original payment method. Confirm the delete, then click Refund at POS. You're taken to POS to click Refund Payment. The original payment method is already selected. Then click Finish Refund. A deposit paid via Stripe Invoice is refunded back to that same method.
Keep for Future Use deletes the booking but leaves the deposit sitting on the client's file. It works exactly like any other unused deposit. It still shows on their Client Card. It can be applied to a future sale or refunded later using the normal steps in How to Refund a Deposit.
Refunding deposits
See How to Refund a Deposit for the full steps. It covers refunding a sale that used a deposit and refunding a deposit that hasn't been used yet.
Reporting
Liability Report: shows all outstanding deposit balances (Reporting > Report List > Liability Report > Show Details next to Deposit Liability). Export as CSV or print from there.
Sales Report: shows Total Revenue from Deposits Retained, Total Deposits Received, and Total Deposits Used.
Transaction Report: filter by Payment Type and by Type (Deposit, Deposit Correction, Deposit Refund Correction, Deposit Refund) to find a specific deposit transaction.