Prepayment or Credit?

Prepayments or Credits - that is the question!

Recording prepayments is a great way to allow guests who don't have credit cards to pay by cash at the school and still use the same form - select their seats and indicate guest details - without going through the payment page. 

BUT you could also add a credit to their account and achieve the same purpose. 

So when should you record a prepayment and when should you add a credit? It all depends on the information that you would like to see. 

If you add prepayments, the Prepayment Balance will show up under the Fees and Breakdown section of the Admin Area:

This is useful because if you have the money received from guests in your office drawer, it's very easy to match it with what is showing up in the system. But if you are going to receive and record prepayments, they must be the exact amount that the guest must pay, including all taxes and fees. Remember that prepayments cannot be removed once added. And until exhausted, no other payment method will be accepted. 

Which is different from adding Credits. If you add a credit to the student ID, the student can pay the remainder with any other payment method listed on the payment page. This is useful because some people may not be able to pay the full amount due by credit card and are able to pay part of it by cash. 

Credits also show up differently under the Fees and Breakdown section of the Admin Area:

So it all depends on how you want to see the information in the InviteRight Admin Area. In summary, the table below shows the differences between adding credits and recording prepayments:

Adding Credits	Recording Prepayments
Credits can be added and removed as you wish.	Prepayments cannot be removed after they have been applied to the ID.
Once a credit has been added, guests can pay by any other method listed on the payment page.	Until exhausted, no other payment methods will be accepted.
If you are unsure of the total amount due and don't know what the convenience fee will be, add a credit.	Prepayments must be the total amount due, including all taxes and fees. Otherwise, the system will not allow the guest to proceed.

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