A deposit converts intent into commitment, slashes no-shows, and funds the work; the balance on completion respects the customer's leverage. The mechanics decide whether it feels professional: the card saved once, the balance charged automatically with a receipt, no awkward second ask. Payment plans for larger projects are the same principle stretched further, and they widen who can say yes.
Businesses that dispatch crews or contractors live the other split: one customer payment that must become several correct payouts. Done manually, this is spreadsheet purgatory and Friday-night math errors. Done in the platform, the split executes by rule the moment the job completes, with statements everyone can see. Book With NAV runs exactly this: bookings collected, photographer payouts and the P&L computed automatically across 7,500+ shoots.
Card-on-file with real security handled by the processor, automatic receipts and reconciliation, refund paths that reverse splits correctly, and reporting that shows who is owed what at any moment. Payments are where software errors become relationship errors, so this layer earns engineering rigor.
Common shapes run from a flat reservation fee to a meaningful percent for custom work. It should sting enough to commit, credit fully toward the total, and be stated before the ask.
Modern financing options can pay the business up front while the customer pays installments to the provider. Weigh the fees against the jobs that only close because installments exist.
Yes, that is a solved platform pattern: percentage or flat rules per job type, executed on completion, with statements generated. It is one of the most loved features we ship.
Everything in this glossary, we build and operate for real businesses. Thirty minutes maps it to yours.