Pricing and deposits
Direct booking and mini sessions: one price
Both have a single Price per slot field under the Pricing heading. It sits on the Price & duration tab, or Price & slot on mini sessions. Someone is paying that number at the moment they book, so there's nothing for it to vary against.
If you let clients book several slots in a row, you can set a different total for each length. See Longer sessions.
Inquiry services: four ways to price
Inquiry services never take money at the point of inquiring, so their price is a signal rather than a charge. An inquiry service has only two tabs, so its Pricing section sits on Details. The field labelled Pricing chooses how to send it:
Fixed price. One price, shown as it is. Best when what you deliver doesn't vary.
Starting at. Shown to clients as a "from" price. Use it when the real number depends on details you haven't discussed yet.
Per hour. A rate rather than a total, shown with a "/hr" so nobody reads it as the whole job.
Don't show a price. No price appears anywhere on your booking page, and the Amount field disappears. Sensible for commercial work where every job is scoped separately, or where you'd rather not publish numbers.
The first three all reveal an Amount field underneath.
Whichever you pick, the real number is settled in the proposal afterwards.
Currency
Currency sits at the top of the Pricing section. On the Core plan it's fixed to your account currency, with a line offering Upgrade to Pro to change it. On Pro you can set a different currency per service.
Once a booking made from this service has an invoice, that booking's currency is locked. Any invoice you create from it uses the same currency, with no choice offered.
Taking money at the point of booking
Open the service, then the Booking flow tab, and expand step 4 Payment. It's a direct booking and mini session setting. Inquiry services have no payment step at all.
Turn on Collect payment, "Collect a deposit or full payment at booking", and choose under Payment at booking:
- Full payment, the whole amount up front
- Deposit, part now and the rest later
Deposit type is either Percentage of the total or Fixed amount. Percentage scales with the job, which is usually what you want if your prices vary. Deposit percentage starts at 50.
Leave Collect payment off and the booking confirms as soon as the client finishes. You then invoice separately afterwards.
Payment methods
With Collect payment on, you choose which of your methods this service offers under Payment methods. That's your card processor, and any manual methods you've written instructions for, like a bank transfer.
A service that collects payment can't be published without at least one method selected. Set your methods up first under Payments settings.
Before publishing anything that takes money, check that your card processor shows as connected under Payments → Settings → Payment methods, and book the service yourself once to see it work. See Card payments.
When the balance is due
When you take a deposit, Balance due decides when the rest falls due:
- Before the service, which reveals a Days before the service field. Anything you type is held between 1 and 90. It starts at 7.
- On booking, which makes the whole amount due straight away.
This does not raise a second invoice. The deposit and the balance sit on the same invoice. This setting moves the balance's due date.
Getting it right is what makes reminders work. The balance has a due date, so it can go overdue and be chased for you.
Tax
A direct booking or mini session can carry a tax rate, set under Tax beside the price. That rate is applied to the service line on any invoice CoreHue creates from the booking. Each add-on can carry its own rate too, shown once Collect payment is on. Inquiry services have no Tax field.
Set your rates up first under Payments settings, then pick one here. If a rate is deleted later, services using it stop applying tax rather than breaking.
What the client actually does
For a service that collects payment, the last step before the booking page is Review. The button reads Pay deposit or Full payment, with the amount beside it. When a deposit applies, a small menu on that button also offers Full payment for a client who'd rather clear the whole thing.
Pressing it opens a payment sheet headed Pay followed by the amount:
- Your card method describes itself as "Card, Apple Pay or Google Pay; secure checkout." and hands them to a secure checkout page.
- A manual method shows your instructions, a place to upload proof and a Note (optional) box. The upload accepts "An image or PDF, up to 5MB". The button reads I've made this payment.
The booking is created when they choose a method and go through to pay, not when the sheet opens. Somebody who opens it and closes the tab leaves no booking. The time they were holding goes back on your page when the hold runs out.
Afterwards they land on their booking page, which is where any remaining balance is paid.