How getting paid works
The short version of money in Booked: what customers pay, where it goes, and when you get it.
Money in Booked follows one path: a customer pays on your booking form, it lands in your Booked Payments balance, and Booked sends it to your bank on the schedule you choose. Deposits, refunds and chargebacks hang off that path.
The path a payment takes
- The customer booksThey choose a service and a time and fill in their details. The appointment is created here, before any card is entered.
- They pay on the formA Secure your booking step appears in your own colours, with Apple Pay and Google Pay where the device supports them.
- The booking is confirmedBooked verifies the charge, sets the appointment to Confirmed, and records it as Paid in full or Deposit paid.
- The money joins your balanceIt shows under Your money as On the way while it clears, then as Available.
- It reaches your bankOn your payout schedule — every working day unless you change it — the balance goes to your account.
A customer who closes the tab at the payment screen leaves a real, unpaid appointment holding the slot. Check the Pending filter on Bookings and cancel anything that was never paid.
Turning payments on
Two things have to happen first. Your Booked licence key must be active — until it is, the Payments tab shows only Activate your licence to take payments and a Go to Licence button. Then, on Settings Payments, press Activate — it's instant. That opens Set up payouts, which collects your details, address, bank account and a photo of your passport or driving licence — all inside Booked, with no third-party sign-up.
Payout schedule
The money half of the Payments tab: balance, recent payments, payout schedule.
- 1Available — cleared money waiting to go out. If refunds or chargebacks take it below zero it is relabelled Balance to recover; your next takings clear it and payouts resume on their own.
- 2On the way — taken but not yet cleared. It moves across by itself.
- 3Refund — refunds that one payment; a disputed payment shows Appeal instead. This list holds only the 12 most recent payments — the filterable, exportable history of every site lives on your Booked account website.
- 4Payout schedule — Daily to begin with. Manual sends nothing automatically, so your balance builds until you ask for it. Your first payout takes a few days longer while the account settles in.
- 5Pay out now — sends the whole available balance at once. It is greyed out with no bank account on file, and hidden while the balance is negative.
Update details switches the account future payouts go to — money already on its way still lands in the old one. Below it, Payouts to your bank lists what has been sent, using raw status words like "paid" and "in_transit".
Everything on the Payments tab saves itself the moment you use it, even though the Save settings button is still on screen. Deposits, booking references and your bank statement name do need it — and they sit on the Bookings tab.
Refunds and chargebacks
Refunds are yours to give. From Transactions you can refund the full amount, exactly half, or a custom figure, in as many parts as you like; from the booking itself, Refund payment is always the full amount. Your processing fee goes back to the customer with the money, and a partial refund does not change the booking's status — it still reads Paid in full until you refund the lot.
Chargebacks are not. When a customer's bank disputes a payment the amount is held back while the case runs, and the card network's dispute fee is charged whether you win, lose or accept — conceding to save time does not save money. Answer under Chargebacks & disputes: challenge it with evidence, or accept it. That card stays hidden until your first dispute.
Where each payment setting lives
| What you want to change | Where it lives |
|---|---|
| Which system takes the money | Settings › Payments |
| Bank account and payout timing | Settings › Payments › Payout schedule |
| Balance, payments, refunds | Settings › Payments › Your money |
| Answering a chargeback | Settings › Payments › Chargebacks & disputes |
| The default deposit | Settings › Booking rules › Deposits |
| A deposit for one category or service | Business › Categories, or Business › Services › General |
| The reference customers see | Settings › Booking rules › Booking references |
| Wording on the card statement | Settings › Booking rules › Bank statement name |
| The currency | Settings › Region & currency |
The rest of this section takes each stage in turn: verification, deposits, payout schedules, refunds, and answering a chargeback before its deadline.