- For families
Paying an invoice or payment request
An organization can ask you to pay an amount it names, for example a week of lunches, class materials, a late pickup or a service you arranged with them. The request arrives as a card in your Messages conversation with the organization, and you get an email too. Nothing is charged until you open it and pay.
Pay a request
You'll find the request in your conversation with the organization. Open Messages from the bell at the top of the page on a computer, or from Messages in the bottom bar on a phone. The email's Review and pay button opens the same conversation.
- Open the conversation with the organization and find the card headed PAYMENT REQUEST (or INVOICE).
- Check the lines, the Total, who it's for and the pay-by date.
- Select Review and pay (1). The button shows the amount, for example Review and pay $43.00.
The checkout opens, headed "Pay your payment request" or "Pay your invoice".
- Under Your payment request (or Your invoice), check the lines again. The amount is locked and marked "Amount set by" the organization, so you can't change it here.
- If the organization didn't name a child, choose one under Who is this for?, or leave it as Just us (the family).
- Look at the summary on the right. Unless the organization pays it, a Booking fee line (1) is added to the request's total.
- Select Continue to payment (2), then pay as you would at any checkout. The last button names the amount that goes on your card, including the booking fee.
Choosing a card, saved cards and account credit work the same as for any booking. See Paying at checkout.
Have a question first? Select Question about this? under the button. It puts you in the reply box of the same conversation, so you can ask before you pay.
What's on the card
| Part | What it tells you |
|---|---|
| PAYMENT REQUEST or INVOICE | It says Invoice when it's for a service you arranged with the organization, and Payment request for anything else. |
| "Pay by" a date | The day the organization asked you to pay by. |
| Lines | What it's for. A line bought more than once reads like "Packaged lunch × 4", with the price of one ("$7.00 each") under it. |
| Total | What the organization asked for. |
| A date and time | Only on an invoice for a service. The organization is holding that time for you until you pay or the pay-by day passes. |
| "For" a child | Which of your children it's for, when the organization named one. |
An organization can't change a request after sending it. If the amount was wrong, it cancels that one and sends you a new one.
What it costs
You pay the total on the card, plus the booking fee at checkout. The booking fee is 3.7% of the price plus $1.79 a ticket (a request counts as one), plus the cost of processing your payment. It shows as one Booking fee line in the checkout summary. There's no booking fee when the organization pays it for you. The full explanation is in What families pay.
Some organizations set the price so it already covers the fees. In that case the lines on the card add up to one price, no Booking fee line is added at checkout, and you pay the same amount however you pay.
A few things that work for class bookings don't work for payment requests:
- There's no promo code box.
- An organization's own scholarship award doesn't apply.
Account credit still applies, the same as at any checkout.
Paying with Step Up
If the organization offers Step Up on the request, checkout says "Paying with a Step Up scholarship? Name the child it's for, then choose it in the next step." Pick the child, then choose My scholarship pays under Who pays for it?.
After that, the card shows Awaiting Step Up: "Paying $x with Step Up. [Organization] is paid when Step Up funds it." You may still have a step to take in Step Up's portal. Paying with Step Up or an ESA walks through it.
Due, overdue, expired or cancelled
The card in your conversation always shows where the request stands.
| What the card shows | What it means |
|---|---|
| "Pay by" a date, with Review and pay | Open and ready to pay. |
| "Was due" a date, with Review and pay | Overdue. You can still pay it for up to 30 days after the date it was due. |
| "Your payment is going through. We'll email you when it does." | You've paid and the payment is still being confirmed. You don't need to do anything. |
| Awaiting Step Up | You chose Step Up, and the organization is paid once Step Up funds it. |
| Paid | Done. The card shows "You paid" with the amount and when, plus a Receipt link. |
| Expired | "This expired on [date]. Message [Organization] if you'd still like to pay." It can't be paid any more. |
| Cancelled | "[Organization] cancelled this. Nothing was charged." |
An invoice that holds a time for a service expires at the end of its pay-by day, not 30 days later, and the time is released.
Reminders
When the organization sends a request, it chooses whether you get one reminder if it's still unpaid: after 3 days, after a week, or none. The organization can also send you a reminder from its side, at most once a day.
Reminders come as a notification and an email with the subject "Still to pay: [amount] to [Organization]". They follow your Event reminders setting in Account settings › Notifications. If you've already settled it another way with the organization, you can ignore the reminder.
After you pay
- Receipt: the card shows "You paid" with a Receipt link. You also get an email, "Paid: [amount] to [Organization]", with your receipt attached. The payment also appears in Payments & invoices, which Payments & invoices and your receipts explains.
- An invoice with a time: the card shows Add to calendar and Move or cancel. Move or cancel opens the appointment's own page, where you can change or cancel it within the organization's terms. You get the appointment's confirmation email instead of a separate receipt. See Booking a service or appointment.
Late pickup charges
Some organizations charge for late pickup. When a child is collected after a class ends, staff at the door can send the family a late pickup charge. It arrives as a payment request like any other: a card in your conversation with the organization and an email. A line reads something like "Late pickup · Tue, Oct 6 (minutes)", with the number of minutes. It's due a week later. You pay it when you're ready; nothing is charged to a card automatically.
Refunds
You can't cancel a paid payment request yourself. If you think you were charged by mistake or want money back, reply in the conversation with the organization. The organization decides, and can send money back from its side.
When it does, you get an email: "[Organization] sent you a refund: [amount]". Refunds go back to the card you paid with and usually show in 5–10 business days.
An invoice that booked a time is different. You move or cancel it from the appointment's page, as described above.
Troubleshooting
I can't find the request. Look in Messages for the conversation with the organization. The request may also be in the email "Payment request from [Organization]: [amount]" or "Invoice from [Organization]: [amount]". Its Review and pay button opens the conversation.
Checkout says "This payment request has expired." The time to pay has passed. Message the organization if you'd still like to pay, and it can send you a new request.
Checkout says the organization cancelled this payment request. The organization withdrew it, and nothing was charged. If it was replaced, the new request is a separate card in the same conversation.
Checkout says "Your payment for this is already going through." You've already started paying it, for example in another tab. Wait for the confirmation email before trying again.
Checkout says "This is already paid. Your receipt is in your account." It's been paid. Use Receipt on the card or look in Payments & invoices.
Checkout says the time the organization offered has passed or was taken. An invoice for a service can only be paid while its time is still available. Nothing was charged. Message the organization for a new time.
The amount looks wrong. Don't pay it. Select Question about this? and ask. The organization can cancel the request and send a corrected one.