> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://help.taack.app/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
# Payment plans
> Let patrons reserve tickets with a deposit and pay the rest on a schedule you control.
Payment plans let patrons split the cost of a ticket: they pay a deposit at checkout and the remaining balance in scheduled payments before your event. You choose the deposit size, how many payments follow, and what happens if a payment is missed.
A few things to know up front:
* **A plan costs the patron exactly the same as paying in full** — no surcharge, no interest.
* **Your payout doesn't change.** You receive the same amount whether a patron pays in full or completes a plan.
* **Tickets and QR codes are issued only after the final payment.** Until then, the patron's spot is reserved but they can't check in.
## Enable a payment plan on a ticket
Payment plans are configured **per ticket type** — there's no event-wide switch. You can enable a plan on some ticket types and not others.
From your event's **Tickets** tab, create a new ticket or edit an existing one. The **Payment plan** section appears for paid tickets, below the general information.
Payment plans aren't available on free tickets.
Switch on **Payment plan**. The settings below appear once it's enabled.
Choose **Percent** or **Fixed amount**:
* **Percent** — 25%, 50%, or 75% of the ticket price, charged at checkout. 50% is the default.
* **Fixed amount** — a set amount per ticket, charged at checkout. It must be no more than 90% of the ticket's total price including fees.
**Fully paid by** sets when the last payment is due: **7 days before event**, **14 days before event**, or **30 days before event**.
Options that don't leave enough time for the full schedule are greyed out, and the section shows the exact final due date so you can sanity-check it against your event date.
**Payments after deposit** can be 1, 2, or 3. Remaining payments are spread evenly between the deposit and the payoff deadline.
A live preview — **If a buyer starts today:** — shows the deposit and each payment date and amount, so you can see exactly what a patron would agree to.
**Grace period (days)** — 1 to 5 days — is how long a patron has to catch up after missing a payment before the missed-payment policy kicks in.
**If a payment is missed** has four options — see [Missed payments](#missed-payments-and-the-grace-period) below for what each one does.
Save your ticket type. Patrons see the plan option on the event page once the ticket is available for sale.
Patrons who start a plan later see a compressed version of your schedule. Plans stop being offered once there's no longer room for every payment to land at least a day apart and the final payment at least 48 hours before your event.
## What patrons experience
On your event page, plan-enabled tickets show a **Split into … payments** banner with the deposit needed to reserve today. When a patron selects one, they choose between paying in full and the payment plan, with the full schedule shown before they commit.
At checkout they:
1. Review the schedule — deposit today, then each payment with its due date
2. Accept the payment plan terms
3. Pay the deposit
Their spot is reserved immediately (the quantity comes out of your ticket inventory), but tickets and QR codes only arrive after the final payment.
**Remaining payments are made by the patron, not charged automatically.** Taack emails them a reminder 7 days before each due date, again on the day, and once more if the payment goes past due. They pay from **My Tickets** or from the link in any reminder email, and they can pay the remaining balance early at any time.
A checkout order can include a payment plan for only one ticket type. If a patron's cart has several plan-eligible ticket types, Taack asks them to pick one plan or pay in full.
## Track plans in the Payment Plans tab
Once a plan-enabled ticket has activity, your event hub shows a **Payment Plans** tab with four stat cards — **Active plans**, **Past due**, **Collected**, and **Outstanding** — covering plans still in progress.
The table below lists each plan with the patron, ticket, quantity, **Paid / Total** progress, **Next due** payment, and status:
| Status | Meaning |
| ------------- | -------------------------------------------------- |
| **Active** | On track — no overdue payments |
| **Past due** | A payment was missed; the grace period is running |
| **Completed** | Fully paid — tickets have been issued |
| **Cancelled** | Ended by you (or the patron) before completion |
| **Defaulted** | Ended automatically after the grace period expired |
An amber **Schedule conflict** badge appears if you've moved your event date somewhere the plan's remaining payments can no longer finish in time — see [Changing your event date](#changing-your-event-date).
### Cancel a plan
Active and past-due plans have a **Cancel** button. Cancelling releases the reserved tickets back into inventory and processes any refund owed under the ticket's missed-payment policy. This can't be undone, so Taack asks you to confirm with **Cancel plan**.
## Missed payments and the grace period
When a patron misses a payment, their plan becomes **Past due** and the grace period starts. They're emailed with the amount owed and the date they must pay by. Paying within the grace period puts the plan back to **Active** with no penalty.
If the grace period expires, your **If a payment is missed** setting decides what happens:
| Option | What happens |
| ---------------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Cancel after grace, keep payments made** | The plan is cancelled, tickets are released, and the patron's payments are not refunded. This is the default. |
| **Cancel after grace, refund minus processing fees** | The plan is cancelled and everything the patron paid is refunded, minus non-refundable processing fees. |
| **Cancel after grace, refund all but the deposit** | The plan is cancelled; payments after the deposit are refunded (minus processing fees), but the deposit is kept. |
| **Do nothing — I'll cancel plans myself** | Nothing is cancelled automatically. The plan stays **Past due** until you cancel it from the Payment Plans tab or the patron catches up. |
The grace period never extends past your event's start — a payment missed close to the event gets a shortened window.
**Keep payments made** protects your revenue best, but a refund option can make patrons more comfortable committing to higher-priced tickets. Whatever you choose, patrons see the policy spelled out before they accept the plan.
## Payment plans on approval events
Plans work with [request approval](/organizers/manage-requests), with one difference: **only the deposit goes through approval**.
* At checkout, the patron's deposit is **authorized but not charged**. In your **Requests** queue, plan requests carry a **Payment plan** badge showing the **Deposit** and **Total plan** amounts, with payment status **Authorized**.
* **Approve** captures the deposit and starts the plan. Payment dates are finalized at that moment, so a slow approval never creates a plan that's already overdue — if needed, Taack reduces the number of remaining payments while keeping the total identical.
* **Deny** releases the reserved tickets. Nothing was charged, so there's nothing to refund.
* Later plan payments are charged when the patron pays — they never re-enter your approval queue.
## Changing your event date
If you move your event, the **When you save** panel in the event editor tells you how many payment plans are in progress. On save:
* **Unpaid due dates shift with the new date.** Amounts and payments already made never change.
* Affected patrons get an **Updated payment schedule** email showing the new dates.
* If the new date is too soon for a plan's remaining payments to finish in time, that plan gets the **Schedule conflict** badge in your Payment Plans tab. Taack never auto-cancels these — move the event later or cancel the plan to resolve it.
## Fees, payouts, and refunds
* The plan total always equals the pay-in-full total, including whatever [fee structure](/reference/fees) the ticket uses — the fee is spread across the payments.
* Your payout is the same as if the patron had paid in full. Taack absorbs the extra per-transaction costs of splitting a payment.
* When a policy refunds a patron, processing fees are non-refundable and refunds arrive on the patron's original card within 5–10 business days. Refunds are handled by Taack automatically — you don't need to do anything.
Track deposit and installment progress from the event's **Payment Plans** tab (**Collected** and **Outstanding**). Completed plan payments count toward your event's **Online Earnings** and eventual [payout](/organizers/payouts).
## Emails patrons receive
Taack keeps plan participants informed automatically:
| Email | When |
| ------------------------ | ----------------------------------------------------- |
| Plan set up | Deposit paid (or captured on approval) |
| Payment received | After each payment except the last |
| Upcoming payment | 7 days before a due date |
| Payment due today | On the due date |
| Payment past due | When a payment is missed, with the pay-by date |
| Plan cancelled | On cancellation or default, with any refund breakdown |
| Updated payment schedule | When your event date change moves their due dates |
The final payment's confirmation is the regular ticket email with QR codes and wallet passes.
## Tips and common questions
Higher-priced tickets — VIP packages, multi-day passes, carnival costumes — are the usual fit. For lower-priced tickets, pay-in-full is often simpler for patrons.
Yes. Patrons can pay the remaining balance at any time from **My Tickets** or a reminder email link.
Only after the plan is **Completed** and tickets have been issued. Until then, the spot is reserved but there's no QR code to scan. See [Check in guests](/organizers/check-in).
The grace period shortens so it never runs past your event start. After that, your missed-payment policy applies — or you cancel the plan yourself if you chose **Do nothing — I'll cancel plans myself**.
Yes. Enable **Payment plan** on the ticket types you want. Other types on the same event stay pay-in-full.
## Next steps
* [Tickets and pricing](/organizers/tickets-and-pricing) — the rest of the ticket editor
* [Manage requests](/organizers/manage-requests) — approval workflows with plan deposits
* [Check in guests](/organizers/check-in) — door day after plans are completed
* [Fees and payments](/reference/fees) — how money moves on Taack