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General Overview

What is a Payment Schedule?

A Payment Schedule allows you to set up structured payments for a reservation. Instead of collecting everything at check-in, you can take deposits or installments before arrival. This helps reduce no-shows, spread out guest costs, and streamline staff processes.

Who can use Payment Schedules?

All RMS customers can use Payment Schedules. However, only properties on RMS Pay can automate the payments (saved cards and Pay By Link). If you’re not on RMS Pay, you can still set up schedules and track them, but the payments will need to be processed manually.

What’s the difference between “manual” and “automated” schedules?

Manual schedules require staff to process or record each payment. Automated schedules (RMS Pay only) can automatically charge a saved card or send a Pay By Link. Both types are visible on the dashboard.

Templates & Setup

How do I create a Payment Schedule?

You start by building a template. A template defines how much to collect and when. You can apply templates to a Reservation, Rate Type Property rule, Rate Type, Rate Table, Derived Rate Type property rule on a Derived Rate Type, and define specific billing rules (e.g., guest vs travel agent booking source or who you are billing).

Can I reuse templates?

Yes. Once you create a template, you can apply it across multiple reservations or rate types and levels, ensuring consistency.

What’s the “Initial Trigger”?

The initial trigger is the first scheduled payment (Deposit) that is triggered for action when applied to a reservation. It could be a flat amount, a % of the total, the first night’s charge, or another rule you choose. You can also delay it (e.g., collect 24 hours after booking).

Can I set up installments?

Yes. You can create timed triggers, such as “50% deposit at booking, 50% balance 7 days before arrival.”

Can I apply different templates to OTAs, travel agents, or companies?

Yes. You can link templates at the rate or bill-to level, so different payers follow different rules.

Automation & RMS Pay

What is automated with RMS Pay?

With RMS Pay, we can automatically:

• Charge saved credit card tokens.

• Send Pay By Link requests by email or SMS.

What happens if no saved card or email is available?

We try the next available option. If no option works, the schedule falls back to manual, and your staff are alerted via the RMS Message Center. 

I’m not using RMS Pay. What happens to my schedules?

You still get visibility of scheduled dates in RMS. Payments must be handled manually, but you’ll see reminders and can mark them as received.

Can I still see RMS Pay options if I’m not on RMS Pay?

Yes, the options are visible, but they’re clearly labeled as “RMS Pay only.” If you try to use them, the system will fall back to manual.

Edge Cases & Special Scenarios

What happens with late bookings?

You can set up special late-booking rules, such as requiring full payment if the booking is made close to arrival.

What if two payments are scheduled close together?

You can configure the Payment Schedule Template to ignore the next trigger if it’s too close, to avoid multiple guest charges and correspondence in a short period.

What happens if a payment fails?

Failed payments are flagged in the dashboard. For RMS Pay, you’ll see the failure reason (e.g., insufficient funds). Staff can then retry or switch to manual.

What if the guest changes their card details?

For RMS Pay, new card tokens can be used for future triggers. If no token is available, the payment will revert to manual.

Can I change the schedule after it’s been applied?

Yes. Staff can switch templates or adjust the schedule applicable to a reservation. Future payment dates will update automatically.

What if the guest cancels?

When a reservation is canceled, scheduled payments stop. Any processed payments remain on the account.

Can I apply a schedule to existing reservations?

Yes. You can apply a template to an existing reservation, and future payments will be calculated to follow the schedule.

What happens if the customer pays an amount voluntarily?

The payment schedule will take into account any amounts already paid by the customer and only charge the amount required to meet the amounts expected in the payment schedule. This will happen often for the initial trigger, where some channels may already have taken an amount up front - in such cases, the initial trigger will calculate that no further amount is payable at that point.

Dashboard & Monitoring

Where do I see all scheduled payments?

The Automated Payments Dashboard shows upcoming, processed, failed, and manual payments across your property or database.

Can I filter the dashboard?

Yes. You can filter by date range, status (pending, failed, processed), and payment method.

What does “reverted to manual” mean?

This means the system couldn’t complete an automated payment (e.g., no token available) and staff must handle it manually.

Can I export the data?

Yes. You can export payments to CSV or Excel for finance or QA review. (Coming Soon in a future release)

Compliance & Security

Is this PCI DSS compliant?

Yes. All RMS Pay transactions are PCI DSS compliant. (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard) We never expose raw card data to staff.

How is guest data protected?

All PII (Personally Identifiable Information) and payment details are handled securely, with audit logs tracking changes to templates and schedules.

Pilot & Rollout

Do I need to enable the module?

No, Payment Schedules are available to all properties, but you may need to have access granted through your Security Profile. 

Can I turn schedules off for some properties?

No. Payment Schedules are available to everyone, but they do not have to be configured for properties that don't want to use them. 

If Payment Schedules have been created and then are no longer needed, they can be made "Inactive".

You can also control access to Payment Schedules for individuals or groups through the Security Profiles. 

Will more automation options be added later?

Yes. Future phases include retry tools, bulk actions, Direct Debit, and enterprise-level ON/OFF switches.