Deposits & balance payments
Most bookings are paid in two or more parts: a deposit that reserves the date, then the rest on a schedule written into the contract. BookNox works out every amount, collects each payment into your own Stripe account, and sends the reminders, so what a client pays always matches the document they signed.
Where the money goes
Every client payment goes to your connected Stripe account and on to your bank. Each one is a charge on your own account, so BookNox never holds the money, and BookNox takes no booking cut: the platform fee on client payments is zero. Stripe's processing fee is the only deduction.
Sources, read October 22, 2026: Stripe: a direct charge appears on the connected account, not the platform; Stripe pricing: processing fees.
How the deposit is set
Your deposit percentage comes from your pricing catalog. Most industries start at 30%, and you can set anything from 5% to 50%. Hair and makeup starts at 50%, which you can change. Two industries are fixed: weddings use four equal 25% milestones, and the first one is the deposit; web design takes a 50% first milestone.
Every amount is computed on BookNox's server from the saved proposal, never from anything typed in the browser. Take a $3,820 booking with a 30% deposit: the client pays $1,146 to reserve the date, and $2,674 remains for the balance schedule.
When is the balance due?
The due dates depend on the proposal, and each one is printed in the contract's payment schedule:
- Most industries: one balance payment due 7 days before the service date.
- Weddings: three more 25% milestones. The second falls halfway between signing and the wedding, or six months after signing if that comes first; the third is due 60 days before; the last is due 7 days before and absorbs any rounding.
- Installment plans: up to four payments you define, each due a set number of days before the service date.
- Monthly engagements for tutors, life coaches, and virtual assistants: one payment every 30 days after signing.
- Web design: milestones with no calendar date, collected when you mark each one reached.
A due date that has already passed when the deposit is paid, as with a booking made a few days out, moves to the day of payment, so collection starts at once. A proposal with no service date has no dated balance schedule, apart from monthly engagements and web design milestones; collect any balance on it with your client directly.
When the deposit is paid
The moment a deposit payment succeeds, BookNox emails the client a receipt (with a calendar invite attached when the proposal has a service date), emails you that the deposit cleared, adds the booking to your Google Calendar, creates the balance schedule, and posts a sales receipt to QuickBooks if you connected it. A bank payment counts only when it actually succeeds, which takes longer than a card, so all of this waits until then.
Sources, read October 22, 2026: Stripe: an ACH Direct Debit can take up to 4 business days to confirm.
How BookNox collects the balance
BookNox collects each remaining payment for you. The client gets a secure payment link by email 14 days before the due date, a reminder 7 days before and another the day before, an email the first day after it falls due, and then one a week while it stays unpaid, never more than one email per payment per day. You get a single notice the first time a payment goes overdue.
Collection has an end point. For a payment due on or before the service date, emails stop the day after the event, and anything still open is yours to collect in person. A payment you moved to after the event keeps being collected until 30 days past its new due date.
Clients can pay by card, ACH, Apple Pay, or Google Pay. If your client opted in to autopay when paying the deposit, each remaining card payment charges on its due date instead, with payment links as the fallback; the Autopay article covers the details.
Can I give a client more time or forgive a payment?
Yes, from the Balance column on your Bookings page. You can move any remaining payment's due date later, up to two years ahead, or waive it entirely, and BookNox emails the client when a payment is waived. Amounts and order always mirror the signed contract, so a due date can never move earlier and a payment can never grow.
Bank payments still settling
While a bank payment on a balance is settling, the client's page shows Payment in progress, nothing to do in place of a Pay button, reminders pause, and BookNox will not start a second charge for the same payment. A payment in progress cannot be waived either; if it fails, waiving becomes possible again.
If a client pays twice
BookNox refunds only the overpayment, automatically. If a payment ends up holding more than its amount, for example because the client paid the same balance twice, the extra goes back to the client from the account it settled on, and you and the client each get a notice with the amount refunded.
If your subscription lapses
Collection pauses when your subscription ends. Payment emails and autopay charges stop, and a client who tries to pay sees that you are not ready to accept payments yet. Everything resumes, on the same schedule, when you subscribe again, so settle open balances or waive them before your access ends.
Who handles taxes and refunds?
You do, because you are the merchant for client payments. Refunds, chargebacks, and taxes on that revenue are yours to manage, the same as any business taking card payments. If you receive a Form 1099 K for card payments, the IRS says its gross amount is not reduced by processing fees or refunds, which you can deduct from it. BookNox gives you the record: every amount, its due date, and its receipt.
Sources, read October 22, 2026: IRS: what to do with Form 1099 K, gross amount and fees.