What is AutoPay, and how does it work?
What is AutoPay?
If you accept online payments through PetPocketbook, you can choose to allow your clients to opt into AutoPay, or you can even require it for all your clients if you’d prefer to control when they pay. If your clients are on AutoPay, we automatically charge their card on file at the end of each billing period for whatever they owe you based on the appointments that you completed in that period. Instead of getting a bill, they’ll receive an itemized receipt, letting them know the amount charged, the payment method used, and the appointments included on the charge.
How do I turn on AutoPay?
To turn on AutoPay, navigate to the Settings tab of the main navigation menu.
Tap on Client billing in the menu options on the left of the Settings page and make sure you are accepting ePayments (either credit/debit cards, ACH bank transfers, or both). Without this, we won’t have a payment method to charge 🤪
From the AutoPay field under the Billing Options section of the Client Billing page, you can then select whether you’d like clients to have the choice to opt in or whether you require AutoPay for all clients.
If you allow clients to opt in, your clients can turn AutoPay on or off in the Billing Settings tab of their pet parent portal by toggling on or off Enable AutoPay.
Similarly, if you allow clients to opt in, you can see which of your clients have turned on AutoPay and even turn this setting on or off for your client directly from your business portal as well. To do so, select the client you’d like to confirm this setting for in your Clients tab, then:
- On desktop: Tap on the Billing tab at the top of the screen. Under Payment Options, you’ll see the Enable AutoPay toggle.
- On mobile: Tap on the billing button under More Actions, and then tap the gear icon at the top right corner of the client’s billing history page to go to their Billing Settings. You’ll see the Enable AutoPay toggle on this screen.
⚠️ If you are turning on AutoPay for a client, we’d recommend having explicit written permission from them to do so before turning on this setting. This way, they won’t be surprised with unexpected charges to their card!
⚠️ Turning on AutoPay does not automatically charge the card on file. They will be charged when the next invoice closes.
⚠️ If a payment fails the invoice will stay due, the client will get emailed, and they’ll have to manually make the payment unless they wait for the next invoice to close.
If you require all clients to be on AutoPay, then the Enable AutoPay toggle is turned on by default and cannot be turned off for any of your clients in PetPocketbook. This requirement is a company-wide policy and cannot be customized on a client by client basis. If you do require AutoPay, we’d recommend having this written into your service agreements to ensure that your clients have acknowledged this policy. 🤓