Deposits and upfront payments

If your business suffers from a lot of no-shows (customers who book but don’t show up) or you offer expensive services where a no-show hurts, you can require a deposit upfront to confirm the booking. Citauno supports this natively — the customer pays online and the booking is confirmed automatically.

When to turn on deposit mode

How to turn on deposit mode

Step 1: configure the confirmation mode

1. Go to Settings → Bookings → Confirmation mode.
2. Choose “Deposit required” (the third option).
3. Configure the deposit parameters:
   • Type: a percentage of the price (e.g. 30%) or a fixed amount (e.g. PYG 50,000).
   • If the customer doesn’t pay within X time: the booking is canceled automatically. The default is 24 hours. You can adjust it.
4. Tap Save.

Step 2: connect a payment method

To charge online, Citauno needs a payment provider connected. Options available in Paraguay:

• tpago: the most common one. You accept Visa, Mastercard, local debit, and the tpago wallet. Setup: ~30 min with a merchant account.
• Bancard/Bepsa: for local cards.
• Others: contact us if your preferred provider isn’t listed.

To connect:

1. Settings → Payments → Connect provider.
2. Choose the provider.
3. Enter the credentials (API key, secret) the provider gave you when you opened the merchant account.
4. Run a test charge with your own card (PYG 100 — it’s refunded automatically).
5. Done.

Don’t have a Bancard merchant account yet?

To charge with tpago you need a Bancard merchant account. If you don’t have one, you can request it with the Bancard adhesion form: fill it in online, download the PDF, and send it to your Bancard contact, noting that it’s to integrate with Citauno.

Since Citauno is already integrated with Bancard’s platform, mentioning this speeds up your onboarding: you don’t have to go through the whole technical validation process from scratch. When Bancard gives you your credentials (public key, private key, commerce code, and branch code), enter them under Settings → Payments and click Test connection.

If you don’t have an account with any payment provider yet, turn on “manual” mode in the meantime: the booking stays pending and you verify the payment by bank transfer or cash. But most customers prefer to pay online for convenience.

How the customer sees it

1. They book normally (service → professional → time → details).
2. Before confirming, they see a summary:
   • Service total: PYG 150,000
   • Deposit required (30%): PYG 45,000
   • Balance due on the day of the appointment: PYG 105,000
3. They tap “Pay deposit” → it takes them to the provider’s checkout.
4. They pay by card or wallet.
5. They return to Citauno with a confirmation.
6. They receive an email + WhatsApp with the confirmed booking and the receipt.

What happens if they don’t pay the deposit

• The booking stays in “Pending payment” status.
• It blocks the time slot on the calendar (so it isn’t double-booked).
• If they haven’t paid within the next 24 hours (or the time you configured):
  • The system cancels the booking.
  • The slot is freed up.
  • The customer receives an email: “Your booking expired”.

Refunds on cancellation

If the customer cancels before the cutoff time you defined in your policy, the system refunds the deposit automatically to the original payment method.

If they cancel after or don’t show up, the deposit stays as a forfeited credit for the customer — it isn’t refunded. This is the incentive for them to follow through.

Set the “refund cutoff time” in Settings → Bookings → Cancellation policy:

• 4 hours before the appointment (typical).
• 12 hours before (premium customers).
• 24 hours before (expensive services, a tight schedule).
• 0 hours (no refund once confirmed — very strict).

Hybrid mode per service

If you want a deposit only on some services (not all of them):

1. Settings → Bookings → Confirmation mode: leave it on Automatic (general).
2. Go to Services and edit each service that should require a deposit.
3. In the Payments section, turn on “Require a deposit for this service”.

Result: most of your services confirm right away, but the more expensive ones require a deposit.

Remaining balance (what they pay on arrival)

When the customer pays the deposit, the rest of the price stays as the “balance due” tied to that booking.

• In the calendar view, each appointment shows: paid PYG 45,000 / total PYG 150,000 / balance PYG 105,000.
• When the customer arrives and pays you the balance (in cash or by card), you mark the booking as “Balance paid” from the details.
• If you want, you can offer online payment of the balance (the same provider as the deposit).

Financial reports

In Analytics → Payments:

• Total deposits received in the period.
• Total balances collected.
• Total refunds.
• The difference (PYG still in the provider’s account before payout).

Useful for reconciling against your provider’s statement (tpago, Bancard, etc.).

Provider fees

Each provider charges a per-transaction fee. Typically:

• tpago: 3-5% + VAT.
• Bancard: 4-6% + VAT.
• Others: check with each one.

This is not charged to the customer — it comes out of your revenue. If you want to pass it on to the customer, raise the service price accordingly.

Common errors

Best practices

1. Start with a small deposit: 20-30% is standard. If you ask for 100% upfront, conversion drops.
2. A clear refund policy: state it in the summary — “Full refund if you cancel 4 hours in advance”.
3. Visible confirmation: make sure the customer knows they paid and confirmed — not that they think “that’s it, I’ll look at it later”.
4. Balance reminder: the 24h WhatsApp can include “Remember that the PYG 105,000 balance is collected on arrival”.
5. Heads-up communication: if your regular customers weren’t used to paying a deposit, let them know in advance.

What you’ve got now

• Deposit mode turned on with a configured percentage or amount.
• A payment provider connected and tested.
• A clear cancellation and refund policy.
• Reports for reconciling with your provider.

What this guide wraps up

With this, you’ve completed Citauno’s advanced workflows. For an exhaustive breakdown of each form and option, go to the Reference guide.