Applicable to: Club Administrators
Application(s): Admin Portal > Competition > Registration Forms > Payments
This article will cover the following:
- How payment instalments work
- Enabling instalments for club registration fees
- Monitoring instalment payment schedules
- Managing payment issues and cancellations
Related articles:
- Club Administrators: Payment Requests: Collecting additional fees outside of registration
- Club Administrators: Flexible Payments in PlayHQ
Overview
Payment instalments allow participants to pay club registration fees over multiple monthly payments rather than in full upfront. Participants pay a deposit (set by you) plus any association or membership fees, PlayHQ service fees, and any products on registration day, then pay the remaining club fee balance in equal monthly instalments.
Instalments can be enabled in a club registration form settings for player registration fees, and helps remove financial barriers for participants while maintaining payment visibility.
Instalment payments are processed automatically on scheduled monthly dates. When a participant selects instalments during registration, they’ll be prompted to save a card on file. After the initial payment, all remaining instalments will be automatically charged to the saved card. No further action is required from participants or admins unless their are payment fails or issues, which will be flagged to follow up.
How payment instalments work
Payment structure
When instalments are enabled, registration payments split into two components:
Paid on registration day:
- All association and governing body fees, including memberships
- Any products or merchandise added to cart
- Deposit percentage of club fee (set by club administrator)
- Platform service fee
- Applicable taxes to the amount due on the day
Paid over instalments:
- Remaining club fee balance after deposit
- Applicable taxes on remaining amount
Additional fee for using instalments
💡 Consider a participant registering with a $500 club fee where you've set a 20% deposit and the final payment due date is 5 months away. On registration day, they'll pay the $100 deposit (20% of $500) plus any association or governing body fees or memberships, any products they've added to their cart, and the platform service fee. The remaining $400 club fee balance is then divided equally across 5 monthly instalments of $80 each, with payments automatically processed on the same date each month until the final due date.
Payment schedule generation
The system automatically calculates instalment schedules based on:
- Registration date
- Final payment due date (set in registration form)
- Monthly payment date (same day each month as the final due date)
Instalments are spread evenly between the registration date and final due date, with payments processed on the same day each month.
Enabling payment instalments
Setting up instalments in registration forms
Before enabling instalments, ensure your registration form is set up for the new season or competition.
-
Navigate to registration form settings
- Go to Admin Portal > Competitions
- Select your competition and season
- Navigate to Registration Forms
- Select the player registration form you want to configure
- Scroll to the Payments section
-
Enable and configure instalments
- Toggle 'Allow payment instalments' to ON
- Set the Final Payment Due Date using the calendar
- Must be a future date
- Can only select days 1-28 of any month (ensures consistent monthly billing)
- Should be within 6-12 months of season end date
- The Monthly Payment Date will automatically populate (read-only field matching the day selected in final due date)
- Select Deposit Percentage from dropdown
- This is the percentage of club fee paid on registration day
- Consider your club's cash flow needs when setting this
- Save your registration form settings
Configuration considerations
Final payment due date Choose a date that aligns with your season timeline while giving participants reasonable time to complete payments. Consider when your season ends and when you need full payment received.
Deposit percentage Higher deposit percentages provide more upfront cash flow but may create barriers for some participants. Lower percentages are more accessible but mean waiting longer for full payment. Many clubs set deposits between 20-50%.
Monthly payment date: The final payment due date you select determines the day of the month all instalments are processed. If you select the 31st, payments in shorter months will automatically process on the last available day (e.g. 28th February, 30th April). This is handled automatically, with no action required.
💡 Tip: Changing settings mid-season If you adjust the final due date or deposit percentage after registrations begin, changes only apply to new registrations. Existing registrations maintain their original payment schedule.
Managing payment issues
When payments fail
The system automatically retries failed payments before moving on to the next scheduled instalment. If a payment cannot be processed, the instalment will be marked for follow-up.
More details on retry attempts, notifications, and overdue handling coming soon.
Updating payment status for offline payments
If a participant pays their outstanding balance outside of PlayHQ:
- Ensure the instalment plan is cancelled (if not, cancel it first)
- Click Update Payment Status
- Change overall status to "Paid Offline"
- This records the registration as fully paid in your records
Cancelling instalment plans
When to cancel plans
You might need to cancel an instalment plan if:
- The participant has paid offline
- The registration needs to be cancelled
- Payment issues cannot be resolved
- The participant withdraws from the program
Cancelling a plan
-
Access the registration record
- Navigate to the participant's registration
- Expand the registration record to view the payment schedule
-
Cancel the plan
- Click Cancel Instalment Plan
- Enter a reason in the modal (required)
- Confirm cancellation
-
What happens next
- All remaining instalments marked as cancelled
- Overall payment status changes to "Instalments Cancelled"
- Cancellation reason, admin name, and date recorded in audit trail
- Participant notified via email (if configured)
- Update Payment Status button becomes available
⚠️ Important: You can only cancel plans that have unpaid instalments remaining. Once all instalments are paid, the plan cannot be cancelled.
Cancelling registrations with instalments
If you need to cancel a participant's registration entirely:
- Follow your standard registration cancellation process
- The system will automatically cancel any remaining instalments
- The participant won't be charged for future payments
Important considerations
Service fees and instalments
PlayHQ service fees are calculated on the full registration amount and charged entirely on registration day (not split across instalments). This means participants pay the complete service fee upfront even though they're paying club fees over time.
An instalment processing fee in included in each instalment payment.
Discounts and vouchers
When participants apply discounts or vouchers:
- The discount or voucher can be applied as normal
- Both the "pay today" amount and instalment amounts adjust automatically
Tax calculations
All applicable taxes (GST, sales tax, etc.) are calculated and applied correctly to both the upfront payment and instalment amounts based on your jurisdiction's requirements.
Payment methods
- Participants must provide credit/debit card details to set up instalments
- PayPal Pay in 4 is not available for instalment-based payments
- Card details are securely stored for automatic processing
⚠️ Deferred payments will be phased out with the instalments feature. This only affects new registration forms and doesn't impact existing forms with deferred payments already set up.
Frequently asked questions
Can we offer instalments for all registration types? Currently, instalments are only available for player registration fees to clubs. Coach, official, volunteer, and other registration types require full payment upfront.
What happens if we change our instalment settings after registrations begin? Settings changes only affect new registrations. Participants who've already registered keep their original payment schedule based on the settings at the time they registered.
Can participants pay off their instalments early? This won't be available initially. Participants must wait for each instalment to be automatically processed on the scheduled date. Ad-hoc early payment functionality is planned for future releases.
What if a payment fails and we can't reach the participant? After the system's automatic retry attempts are exhausted, the payment moves to Overdue status. You can cancel the instalment plan and either: (a) send a payment request for the outstanding balance, or (b) cancel the registration following your club's policies.
How do instalments appear in our transaction reports? Each instalment payment creates a separate transaction line in your reports with its own transaction ID. All instalments for a single registration share the same order number, making it easy to group related payments.
Do we receive instalment payments immediately or are they held? Instalment payments will be paid out to your club according to your configured payout schedule.
Can association or governing body fees be paid in instalments too? No, only club registration fees can be split into instalments. All association, governing body, and administrative body fees must be paid in full on registration day.