There are situations where you may need to create a new recurring charge manually. See steps below on how to create a new recurring charge and how to manage each of the available settings.
- Create the new charge.
In the charges tab of the reservation select “New Recurring Charge”, as shown below.
- Select what the recurring charge is for.
In this example, we are creating a recurring charge for the $3.50 reservation fee, so that is what we will select.
- Write in a description of the charge.
The charge description determines what the title of the charge will be when posted, this is also what the guest will see on invoices, guest portal, etc.
-
Set the recurring charge price, quantity, and taxes.
Enter in the price or amount you will be charging to the guest.
The quantity can be a useful setting if a guest has multiple sites booked and you need to charge them at the base price of $3.50 but at a quantity of 2 to cover two sites. In this example, we only need to bill $3.50 once so we will leave the quantity at 1.
Apply taxes. If taxes are needed, you can select the tax dropdown and check all applicable taxes for the charge.
- Set the Charge Frequency.
The charge frequency determines how often the charge will post. When creating a new recurring charge, you will see it is set to monthly by default, as this is most used. However, if you need the recurring charge to post Annually, Weekly, or Daily instead you can change the frequency by selecting one of the options in the dropdown.
- Set the “Create First Charge On” date.
When creating a new recurring charge, this date will determine when the first charge is posted, by default the system will select tomorrow’s date, adjust the date as needed.
IMPORTANT: If you need to backdate a recurring charge, you will set the date, then post the first recurring charge manually, as shown in STEP 12. Recurring charges will not auto post for dates that have already passed.
7. Set “End Recurring Charge On” date, If applicable.
When you enter in a departure date for an ongoing reservation, the departure date will automatically be placed on the recurring charge as well, you do not need to set an end date manually.
However, if you need to end a particular recurring charge ahead of the guests check out date, you can set the end date here.
8. What is the Current Cycle?
The current cycle represents the number of charges that have been posted. In this example, there have been zero charges created, as this charge is being newly created, so the cycle is currently 0.
The current cycle can also be used to manage posted charges. In the example below, the cycle shows I have had one recurring charge posted, which would have been for March 1st. If the recurring charge for March 1st was accidentally deleted, the current cycle can be reduced by one and then the March 1st recurring charge can be posted again.
Alternatively, If I need to skip the upcoming recurring charge for April 1st, you can increase the cycle and the next recurring charge will post May 1st instead.
9. Set “Create Days Early”, if applicable.
If you would like the charge to be available a few days before the due date, you can set the charge to create a few days in advance using this setting.
10. Additional recurring charge options.
When “Send email notification for every new charge created” is enabled, the guest will receive an email notification when each new charge is posted. This is especially useful if they do not have autopayments enabled, so the guest can be notified that they have a new charge and balance available.
11. Autopayment options.
The guest will need to have a payment method on file (credit card or ACH) for this option to be available.
Select the “Auto Process Payment” option if the guest would like to enable autopayment when a new charge is available.
Select the “Send email notification of upcoming payment…” if you would like to send the guest an email notification to advise them up their upcoming autopayment. In the example below, the email will be sent to the guest 2 days before the payment is set to process.
Select the “Process payment on a specific day” option if the guest would like their payment to always be posted on a specific day of the month. In the example below, the guest’s payment will process on the 1st of the month even though the charge will be posted on the 25th. Leave this box unchecked if the recurring charge is a daily or weekly frequency.
THIS COMPLETS THE NEW RECURRING CHARGE SETUP AND SETTINGS, YOU CAN NOW SAVE THE CHARGE.
12. “Create next charge” option.
As we mentioned earlier in this article, if you backdate the recurring charge, you will need to create the first charge manually. You can do so as shown below.
You can also use this option if the guest would like to pay a charge early, but it has not been posted yet.
