What are payment schedules?

Payment schedules are used when multiple payment moments are required. Think of options such as installment payments, for example a deposit followed by a final payment. Offering multiple payment moments does not mean that the option to pay the full amount at once becomes unavailable.
A payment schedule is created with specific conditions. These conditions may include, for example, a minimum amount of time between the moment of booking and the reservation date. If that time is set to 5 weeks, and someone books a reservation 3 weeks in advance, they will be required to pay the full amount immediately.

In combination with automatic status transitions — for example, from Open to Paid — i-Reserve can fully automate the processing of payments and the related status transitions.

Payment schedules can be configured per object. This allows you to apply different payment schedules for each product. It is also possible to define a payment schedule for all products. To create such a schedule, go to Configuration. Under Objects, navigate to Payment Schedule.

Name: Enter the name of the payment schedule here.
Description: Enter a description for the payment schedule here.
Target text "description" after merging: Provide the description you want to use after this payment schedule is merged.
Target text "date" after merging: Enter the date or description that should be shown after applying the payment schedule — e.g., "immediately after booking", "24 hours before the reservation", or a specific date.
Default: Here you can specify whether this is a default payment schedule valid for all products.
Product: If the payment schedule only applies to a specific product, select it here. Otherwise, leave it blank.
Priority: Enter the priority level if you are using multiple schedules. The schedule that should be applied first gets priority 1, the second one gets priority 2, and so on.
When: Indicate how many days, weeks, or months the payment must occur after a certain event — for example, a certain number of days after booking, or days before the reservation date.
Amount: Specify the percentage or fixed amount that must be paid as a deposit. You can also determine the calculation base — for example, the total amount or the remaining amount, and whether it includes or excludes a deposit.
Time before: Minimum time before the payment in days, weeks, or months. Enter "0" if not applicable.
Time after: Minimum time after booking before the payment. Also in days, weeks, or months.
Merge: If the payment overlaps with the time-before or time-after window (e.g., when two payments fall on the same moment), this setting determines whether it should be merged with the previous or the next payment schedule.
Who: In most cases, the customer is responsible for making the payment. However, in case of refunds, you can set this to the object owner.
Direction: This is usually "incoming", but can be set to "outgoing" if the payment schedule is for refunds.

Once payment schedules are defined, you can apply them within the workflow. This is done via the Workflow section in an object's configuration, under Automatic Transitions.
You can configure a reservation to change status before or after a certain event.
Here you can select: Payment schedule: schedule that has been paid or Payment schedule: schedule that must be paid.
For example, you might want reservations with a certain status to change to "Paid" once the payment schedule has been fulfilled.