Offer payment plans so your customers pay for services over time.

If you sell a service, set up a payment plan so you can capture an initial deposit, and give your customers the option to pay for your services over time. 

Offering payment plans are available for service products on version 7.1 sites with a Basic plan or higher. You need a computer to set up and manage payment plans in the product editor.

Add a payment plan to a service product

When you create a payment plan, the settings apply to all variants of that service product. You can’t offer a payment plan and a subscription on the same product.

To add a payment plan:

1. Open the Pages panel and click a store page.
2. Double-click a product to open the product editor.
3. In the Inventory section, ensure the product price is $100 or more.
4. Under Payment options and click Payment plan.
5. Click Create New, or click Duplicate a recent plan to reuse an existing setup.
6. Enter the Initial deposit amount. Toggle % or $ to set the deposit as a percentage of the total or a flat currency amount.
7. Click Number of installments and select between one and six installments.
8. Select the Installment timing. Choose a regular interval (weekly, biweekly, monthly) or choose a custom schedule. For custom schedules, click to select specific due dates. Ensure the final installment date falls before the service begins so you collect the full balance before customers attend.
9. Select the Payment plan availability. You can choose None to keep the plan permanently active, Select specific deadline to choose an expiration date for regular intervals, or 7 days before first installment to automatically have custom schedules expire one week before billing begins.
10. Click Save, then click Save and Publish again in the product editor.

How checkout works for payment plans and deposits

Payment plans follow specific processing and transaction rules:

• Customer Accounts: Customers need to create a customer account to purchase a service product with a payment plan. Guest checkout is disabled for these products.
• Initial deposit: The payment plan starts immediately upon a successful checkout. If an alternative payment method (APM) transaction fails later during processing, the system cancels the plan and notifies both you and the customer via email.
• Payment methods: Customers can pay using credit cards or supported alternative payment methods. They can’t use digital wallets (Apple Pay, Google Pay, or Link) or Buy Now, Pay Later services (Klarna or Afterpay) for payment plan installments.
• Processing times: APMs like SEPA or ACH payments can take several days to process.

Update your store terms for payment plan agreements

Because payment plans involve multi-step financial agreements between you and your customers, we highly recommend updating your store terms and policies before adding payment plans to your service products.

Consider adding specific language about:

• Installment cancellations and refunds: State whether deposits are refundable and what happens to collected funds if a plan is canceled mid-schedule.
• Failed payments: Clarify how long a customer has to settle a past-due balance before they lose their registration spot.
• Payment deadlines: Outline cutoff dates ensuring balances are paid in full before the service, camp, or workshop begins.

Note: This guide is a resource, but it’s not legal advice. Squarespace doesn’t give advice on laws applicable to your site or business, as stated in our Terms of Service.

What customers see during a payment plan checkout

When a customer views a product with a payment plan:

• Product details page: They can choose Pay in full or Pay deposit. If they choose the deposit, they can click View payment plan to see a breakdown of future payment dates and amounts.
• Checkout: The Order Summary displays the Due today amount, the Remaining balance, and the Total. Customers can click View payment plan again to review the schedule before completing the purchase.
• Taxes: Taxes are calculated at checkout for the total amount of the purchase, and divided across the number of installment payments. Taxes are collected with each installment payment.

How do I track my customers' payment plans?

Use the Orders panel to fulfill, track and refund orders purchased with a payment plan.

You can filter your orders by these plan statuses:

• Active: The schedule is running normally, and future installments will complete according to the schedule you set.
• Canceled: The payment plan is canceled because repeated collection tries failed. We won’t charge any upcoming installments.
• Defaulted: All payment retries failed and the balance remains unpaid. You may want to cancel the order and contact the customer.
• Needs attention: The schedule is paused due to an account issue on your end (like a disconnected payment processor or an expired site subscription), or an unresolved failed customer payment. Check your billing information to fix the issue.
• Paid: The customer completed all installments and paid the plan in full.
• Partially Paid: We collected the final balance, but the overall schedule reflects past cancellations, refunds, or settled payment disputes.
• Past Due: An installment payment failed, usually due to an expired customer card or insufficient funds. We automatically email your customers to update their card on file.
• Refunded: You returned the funds for the initial deposit and all collected installments. To return funds for a specific installment, issue a partial refund.

View and download installment receipts

Unlike paid in full orders that have one single receipt, payment plans generate a new receipt every time an installment is successfully charged. Each receipt shows the specific amount of tax collected for that individual installment.

To view and download receipts for each successful installment payment:

1. In the Orders panel, click the order with the payment plan.
2. Under Order details, scroll to the Payment plan, and click a specific installment marked as Paid.
3. Click View receipt to open the receipt in a new tab, or click Download to save a PDF copy to your device.

What happens when an installment payment fails

If a customer’s installment fails, we’ll automatically try to charge the card on file again to keep the plan active. We won’t charge any future installments until we successfully capture a failed installment payment. After successfully capturing the failed payment, the plan resumes its original schedule automatically.

How do I issue a refund for an installment payment?

You can issue full or partial refunds for orders purchased with a payment plan from the Products & Services panel.

To refund a payment:

1. Open the Products & Services panel, then click Orders.
2. Click the order you want to refund.
3. Click Refund.
4. To issue a partial refund, edit the refund amount.
5. Click Issue Refund.

Payment plan refunds follow specific rules:

• Manual refunds Refunding an installment doesn’t automatically cancel the rest of the payment plan. To stop future charges, you need to also cancel the payment plan.
• Individual installments: You can refund a specific installment, the initial deposit, or multiple payments simultaneously.
• Processing times: Refunds can take several days to process and appear in your customer's account.

How do I cancel a payment plan?

If you need to stop upcoming customer charges, you can cancel a single scheduled installment or the entire future billing schedule.

To manage your payment plan billing schedules:

1. In the Orders panel, click the order with the payment plan you want to cancel.
2. Under Payment plans, click Manage.
3. Choose which payments to stop. To stop one payment, click Cancel installment, then Confirm. To stop all remaining payments, click Cancel payment plan, then Confirm. This ends the entire billing schedule immediately.

Will cancellations affect my inventory?

Plan cancellations impact billing and stock levels in the following ways:

• Future payments: Canceling an entire payment plan stops all upcoming installments immediately. The customer won’t be charged again.
• Past payments: Canceling a plan doesn't automatically refund the deposit or installments the customer has already paid. You need to issue those refunds separately.
• Inventory: Canceling a payment plan doesn't restock the item. To restock the item and end the payment schedule, you need to cancel the entire order.

What happens to my payment plans if I change my Squarespace billing plan?

If you downgrade your site subscription to a plan that doesn't support payment plans:

• Active payment plans: Existing payment plans aren't canceled. They'll continue to charge customers on their scheduled dates.
• New sales: You can’t sell new services with payment plans. The installment option is hidden from your product editor and your online store until you upgrade your site subscription.
• Canceled sites: If your site subscription expires or is canceled, active payment plans are automatically canceled after a 30-day grace period.