Deposits, prices and cancellation policies

Each service can have a price, prices that change by weekday or season, and a deposit customers pay when they book online. Deposits are paid by card through Stripe Checkout in your own Stripe account, so the money goes straight to you. A cancellation policy decides when a deposit is refunded. You need at least one service (see Set up bookings), and a Stripe account to take deposits.

1. Connect Stripe for deposits

Deposits use the same Stripe restricted key as payment links. Follow Stripe payment links to add it under Admin & developer → Integrations, and give the key write access to Checkout Sessions and Refunds as well. Until a key with those permissions is added, services book without a deposit.

2. Set a service's price

1. Click Services and edit a service.
2. Enter Price (optional) and choose the Currency. For a class, the price is per place. For a rental, it's per day or per night.
3. Under Pricing, you can also add:
   • Different price on…: pick weekdays that cost more or less, and enter a price for each.
   • Seasons: a name (for example "Summer"), From and To dates, and a Price for that period.
   • Long-stay discounts (rentals only): a percentage off from a number of days or nights.
4. Click Save service.

The list then shows prices that vary as "from" the lowest price.

3. Add a deposit

In the same Pricing section, choose Deposit:

• None
• Fixed amount, or Fixed, per place for a class
• Percentage of the total, from 1 to 100%

Deposits are paid by card on the booking page and your Aiva Chat website, before the time is booked. Bookings made by phone, in chat or by your team skip the deposit.

For a service that Needs your OK before it's booked, the customer's card is authorised when they ask, and only charged when you accept the request.

4. Turn on sales tax

1. On the Appointments page, click Settings.
2. Under Tax, turn on Charge tax, give it a name in Called (for example "Sales tax") and enter the Rate (%).
3. Tick My prices already include it if your prices are tax-inclusive. Otherwise tax is added on top.
4. Click Save.

You can have one tax. To leave a service out, turn off Taxable on that service.

5. Choose a cancellation policy

In Settings, under Cancellation policy:

1. Choose Free cancellation: No policy (you decide each time), or a cutoff from Any time before it starts to Up to 7 days before.
2. Tick Refund the deposit automatically when they cancel in time if you want Aiva Chat to refund through Stripe without you.
3. Click Save.

Customers see the policy before they pay and on their own manage link. Cancelling in time gets the deposit back. Cancelling later, or not turning up, keeps it.

6. Refunds and payments at the visit

Open an appointment on the calendar. Its Payment section shows the Total, the deposit, any refunds and the Balance due.

• Refund deposit…: refund all or part of the deposit. Click Refund through Stripe to send it back to the customer's card, or record a refund you gave back yourself.
• Mark as paid…: record what the customer paid at the visit, and how (Paid by: cash, card, bank transfer or other). Add a Note (optional) if you like. Click Undo if you made a mistake.

Reports on the Appointments page show money collected, still to collect, refunded and tax for any period.

Troubleshooting

The booking page doesn't ask for a deposit. Check the service has a deposit set, and that your Stripe key is added with the Checkout Sessions and Refunds permissions.

The AI didn't take a deposit on a call. That's expected. Deposits are only taken on the booking page and your website. For a payment during a call, use Stripe payment links.

Next steps

• Packages and memberships
• Booking pages and booking on your website
• Reminders and the customer's manage link