Note: The recurring payment plan feature is only available on both our Essential and Business plans only while integrated with PantherPayments. To find out more regarding our paid subscription plans, please click here.

The Payment Plan feature allows the firm to begin automatically receiving online payments until a certain agreed-upon dollar amount has been paid over time.

First, make sure you are integrated with PantherPayments.
To review how, please click here before continuing.

Below you will find a start to finish tutorial covering everything you will need to know regarding payment plans with PantherPayments. Jump to the topic of interest by clicking on a title in the index below.

Index:

Creating a Payment Plan on the Payment Plans page
Creating a Payment Plan on the Matter page
Creating a Payment Plan when generating an invoice
Creating a Payment Plan when generating a new payment
Steps to follow when creating a Payment Plan
What happens when the Payment Plan is set up

After integrating with PantherPayments, there are a few ways to create a new Payment Plan.

Creating a payment plan on the Payments Plan page

1) Click "Automation", then "Payment Plans".

2) Click "New Payment Plan".

Creating a payment plan on the Matter page

1) In a matter, click on New, then Payment Plan

Creating a payment plan when generating an Invoice

1.) Click "New" from the top left of any page, and select "Invoice"

2.) From here, select Payment Plan

Creating a payment plan when generating a new Payment

1.) Click "New" from the top left of any page, and select "Payment"

2.) Fill in the Contact & Matter and click Next

3.) Select Payment Plan

Steps to follow when creating a payment plan

1) Link the contact and matter.

2) Fill out the Payment Plan details.

Description: The title of this Payment Plan.

Total to Pay: The total amount you want to charge the client over the course of the payment plan.

Amount Per Payment: The amount you want to charge for each recurring payment.

Repeat Every: How often you'd like to automatically charge your client.

First Charge: The date you'd like the first payment to process.

Installments: This information will auto-populate and requires no action on your part. Simply review this information to ensure your plan is set up to your liking.

3) Fill out the Payment Details section:

Billed By: Select a User. If an invoice is generated for this payment, this will be the user linked to the billed entry on the invoice.

Pay Using: Select which saved payment method you'd like to use for this Payment Plan. You can create additional payment methods on the fly by clicking "New Payment Method" in this drop down menu. To review how to save a payment method, follow this article.

Deposit To: Pick which bank account you'd like this money to be initially deposited into. Note: If an invoice is not being created for this payment, the payment will be logged as a retainer payment for the chosen account.

Notes: Add a note with any information you'd like about the client or payment plan.

Create Invoices: If you would like a recurring bill for this payment plan, choose "Yes" for "Create Invoices". Note: If a trust account was chosen for the deposit, the payment will first get logged as a trust retainer on the chosen contact and matter. Then a second payment will automatically apply this trust money to your new invoice. You will still need to physically transfer the trust money in your bank to your operating account accordingly.

Item In Invoice: Pick a line item to use on these automatically created invoices. Note: Invoices created by Payment Plans will use your default invoice template. For more information on invoice templates, click here.

4) Click "Save" when finished.

What happens when the payment plan is set up?

Now your clients will automatically be charged for the amount and frequency you've chosen. These payments will be logged here in PracticePanther and in your Bank.

If you've chosen to create invoices for each payment, the item chosen will automatically be included on the invoice for you. This item will be tied to the "Billed By" user chosen. This invoice will also automatically be fully paid.

Back in the Payment Plans page, you can review all of your previously created plans and their status.

If a card gets declined, the status of the individual transaction will be viewable as "Failed" in the Payment Plan History. We will not make any additional attempts to charge this card. To fix a "Failed" payment plan, you will need to create a new Payment Plan with a new, working, card.

You can view the history for any specific Payment Plan by clicking on the name of the plan.

When any transaction occurs through this payment plan, your client can automatically receive a receipt from PracticePanther.

To review a list of the individual payments you've received via Payment Plans, in PracticePanther click "Payment Plan History" on the top right.

You can sort your recent and upcoming automated transactions by status, and even choose to skip an upcoming "Pending" payment by hovering over the payment and clicking "Skip Payment".

You can also view all of your automated payments inside of your Payments tab by changing the "Payment Method" to "PantherPayments CC" or "PantherPayments eCheck"

After receiving many automated retainer payments, you may want to quickly check to make sure that all available retainer is being utilized before sending out your newest invoices. To easily run a mass check for any usable retainer, follow this helpful article!