Deposits, Policies & Online Payments
Collect deposits during booking, set cancellation and reschedule policies, and process automatic refunds. Protect your revenue from no-shows.
What is payments & deposits?
Salon deposits and payment policies are tools for collecting partial or full payment upfront when clients book, protecting your revenue from no-shows and late cancellations. Bella Booking processes deposits securely through Stripe as a fixed amount or percentage of the service total. Configurable cancellation policies with notice periods and fees handle refunds automatically. Clients can save cards for faster future checkout using card on file.
Salon deposit collection is the process of taking partial or full payment upfront when clients book - protecting your revenue from no-shows and late cancellations. Online payments let you collect deposits when clients book online, reducing no-shows and protecting your time. Available on all plans (Solo, Starter, and Professional) with no restrictions. Clients can save cards for faster checkout, and your team can charge saved cards at the point of sale using card on file. Set deposit requirements as a fixed amount or percentage of the service total. Configure cancellation policies with notice periods and fees. When clients cancel outside the policy window, refunds are calculated and processed automatically. Payments are handled securely through Stripe, with funds going directly to your connected account.
What's included
Key capabilities of payments & deposits
Deposit collection
Require deposits when clients book online. Set as a fixed amount (e.g., $50) or percentage (e.g., 25% of total).
Pay to book
Choose what an online booking does while the deposit is unpaid. With Pay to book there is no appointment until the deposit is paid: the time is held for 30 minutes while the client pays, nobody else can take it, and if they walk away the hold lapses quietly and the lead lands under Incomplete bookings. Book now, pay within a window keeps the appointment on the calendar awaiting its deposit and releases the time when the window ends. A separate Deposit applies to setting keeps deposits for online bookings only, so appointments your team creates never ask for one.
A time limit for deposits on appointments your team books
Under Settings > Payments > Payment policy, the When a team member books row gives a client you book in a time limit to pay their deposit: 30 minutes to 7 days from when the appointment is made. Their Pending confirmation message can say until when the time is held, and resending the deposit request gives them the whole time again. If the deposit is still unpaid when the time ends, the appointment is cancelled, unless it starts first: the client gets your cancellation message and the time is free to book again. It is separate from the window for online bookings and off until you turn it on.
Cancellation policies
Set cancellation notice periods (0 to 72 hours) and one late cancellation or no-show fee: a percentage of the service price or a fixed amount, the same however you take payment. The deposit pays it first, or you keep the whole deposit, and your team can charge what the deposit does not cover to a card the client saved. Clients see the policy before booking.
Card on file booking protection
A client booking online with no saved card saves one before the appointment exists. Their time is held for 30 minutes while they do, and saving the card creates the appointment, already confirmed. Nothing is charged. If they cancel late or no-show, charge your fee to that card from the scheduler. No-show protection without making clients pay a deposit upfront.
Reschedule policies
Set a minimum notice period for rescheduling (separate from cancellation). Reschedule is time-based only - no fee. Inside the window, clients must contact you to reschedule.
Self-service portal
Clients can cancel or reschedule online within your policy rules. Refunds are calculated and processed automatically.
Automatic refunds
When clients cancel, refunds are calculated from your policy (notice period, fee and deposit rule) and processed through Stripe or Square. Cancelling a completed appointment that had a deposit works like any other cancellation, with the refund decided by your policy.
Your client is told when you refund them
Refunding a sale sends the client a Refund issued message with their amended receipt - partial refunds included, since those are the ones clients query most. Turn Notify the client off on the refund itself for a correction they do not need to hear about, or reword the message under Settings → Automated messages → Sales & receipts.
Refund a fee charged by mistake
A late cancellation or no-show fee charged to a saved card can be given back. Open the cancelled appointment and click Refund fee: the whole amount charged returns to the card it came from, the appointment records it, and you can charge a corrected fee afterwards.
Service-specific policies
Override default deposit, cancellation, and reschedule settings per service, including a service's own late cancellation or no-show fee. When an appointment has multiple services, the longest notice period applies and each service's own fee is added up.
Membership deposit perks
Members can skip the upfront deposit on the services their plan covers - set per membership benefit (No deposit, a smaller member-only deposit, or Card on file), even when the benefit is only a partial discount. The waiver applies everywhere the deposit is read - online booking, reminders and the pay-deposit link - and non-members are unaffected.
Stripe integration
Payments processed securely through Stripe. Accept credit cards, Apple Pay, and Google Pay.
Policy calculator
Visual calculator shows clients exactly what they will be refunded based on when they cancel.
Saved cards & card on file
Clients save cards through the online booking portal. Your team can then charge that card for a deposit, an appointment checkout, or a product sale - a real payment, not just a record. The card brand, last four digits and expiry are always shown, with inline warnings when the card is expiring or expired.
Record any deposit, any way, as often as needed
Collect deposits over the phone or in person with one consistent action - Cash, Card (Manual), Other, Card on file, or a gift card the client holds. Record deposit stays on the appointment while a balance is left, so a client can pay a deposit now, a part payment later and the rest up front, each under the method it came in. The appointment shows each deposit and the Balance due, the same figure the till asks for; checkout takes every deposit off the bill, and each refunds the way it came. Same picker everywhere (deposit, checkout, sale), so nothing to relearn.
Digital tipping
Clients can leave tips for team members after appointments via your online booking portal. Tips are processed through your connected payment account, and your business and the team member are notified automatically. Part of the review-and-tip flow, which comes with client reviews - a Professional-plan feature.
Deposit override
Override the default deposit amount on individual appointments. Set a custom deposit when the standard amount does not suit a particular booking - without changing your account-wide or service-level deposit settings.
Afterpay / Clearpay
Clients can pay with Afterpay (Clearpay in the UK) for deposits, gift card purchases, and package purchases. Split into 4 interest-free instalments - you receive the full amount upfront through Stripe. Available in Australia, New Zealand, United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom.
Promo codes & discounts
Create promo codes with percentage or fixed-amount discounts, for services, products and gift cards, or only the services and products you choose. Give a code a start date and an expiry date, and a sale code switches on and off by itself. Apply per-line discounts to a service or a product row, appointment-level discounts, or ad-hoc discounts at checkout. Clients redeem codes when they book online, shop online or buy a gift card, and team members apply them at checkout. A Discount summary report tracks usage, amounts, and breakdowns by reason and by item.
Appointment fee
Add a fixed fee to every appointment, named the way you charge it (a booking fee, a consumables fee), taxable or not. Take it at booking with the deposit and mark it non-refundable, so a default refund keeps the fee and returns the rest. A session a package, membership or service gift card has already paid for carries no fee unless you want it to.
Client credit (stored-value wallet)
Give each client a single prepaid balance they top up at the till - with optional top-up bonuses (e.g. "top up $100, get $10 extra") to reward bigger spends. Credit applies automatically at checkout, and refunds can be routed to a client's balance instead of their card. A liability report tracks your total outstanding stored value, split into the client's own money and promotional bonus.
GST, VAT & Sales Tax
Register your business for tax and Bella captures the tax component on every sale, shows it on the client's receipt as a proper tax invoice, and totals it up in a Tax collected report for your BAS, VAT return or sales-tax return. Works in any country, with sensible label and rate suggestions based on your location's country - and because tax settings live per location, a business running sites in more than one country gets the right settings for each without them having to match.
How deposits work
Connect your Stripe account
Link your Stripe account to receive payments. If you do not have one, you can create it during setup.
Configure deposit requirements
Set your deposit amount (fixed or percentage) and cancellation policy (notice period and fee).
Clients pay when booking
When clients book online they pay the deposit on the spot. Under Pay to book the time is held for 30 minutes and the appointment is created the moment the deposit lands; under Book now, pay within a window the appointment is created first and waits for its deposit.
Cancellations handled automatically
If a client cancels, refunds are calculated based on your policy and processed via Stripe.
Plan availability
Feature
Solo
Starter
Professional
All prices in AUD, GST included. No currency conversion fees.
Frequently asked questions
What are the payment processing fees?
Stripe charges 1.65% + A$0.30 for domestic transactions. Bella Booking adds a 1% platform fee. Total: 2.65% + A$0.30 per transaction. These come out of the payment you receive: Bella never adds a processing fee to your client's bill. To recover costs, add an appointment fee, charged the same however the client pays. What an Australian business can still charge after the 1 October 2026 surcharge change is at /questions/can-salons-still-charge-card-surcharge-australia.
How do cancellation policies work?
Set a cancellation period (e.g., 24 hours) and a late cancellation or no-show fee: a percentage of the service price or a fixed amount. If clients cancel with sufficient notice, they receive a full refund. With less notice, or a no-show, the fee applies. It comes out of the deposit first and the rest of the deposit is refunded, unless you choose to keep the whole deposit. Any fee the deposit does not cover, or the whole fee on a card on file booking, your team can charge to the saved card when you cancel or mark a no-show. Bella never charges it on its own.
Can clients cancel or reschedule online?
Yes, within your policy rules. Enable self-service cancellation and/or rescheduling in your booking policies. If a cancellation policy is set, late cancellation (less than required notice) online is only available for appointments with a deposit; without a deposit, clients must contact you to cancel. Reschedule policy is time-based only - no fee; inside the notice window they must contact you. Refunds are processed automatically when applicable.
Can I set different policies for different services?
Yes. Set default deposit and cancellation policies at the account level, then override per service. When an appointment includes multiple services, the longest cancellation period decides whether a cancellation is late, and the fee is each service's own fee added up. Require larger deposits for expensive treatments or longer notice for complex services.
Can clients save cards for future payments?
Yes. Clients save cards from the Payment Methods page in your online booking portal. Saved cards can be used for faster online checkout and can be charged by your team at the point of sale using card on file.
What is card on file?
Card on file lets your team charge a client's saved card during appointment checkout. The payment is processed through your payment provider, so it's a real transaction, not just a record. Standard processing fees and Bella's platform fee apply.
When do I receive the funds?
Funds go to your connected Stripe account based on Stripe's payout schedule (typically 2-7 business days depending on your region and account history).
How do digital tips work?
When tipping is enabled, clients find the tip prompt through the "Leave a review & tip" button on a completed appointment in the online booking portal. They pick a preset amount ($5, $10, or $20) or enter a custom amount, and pay on a secure checkout page. Your business and the team member are notified, and tips are included in your regular payouts.
Do you support EFTPOS or payment terminals?
You can already run any EFTPOS machine alongside Bella Booking - record payments as Card (Manual), and name your machines at Settings → Card terminals so every payment says which terminal took it and each machine balances at end of day on the Sales summary report. Integrated terminal payments, where Bella charges the card and the transaction syncs automatically (such as Stripe Terminal), are planned as a separate capability - no date to announce yet.
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