Is the deposit for the June conference paid
That question comes up in the Monday meeting. The events coordinator thinks so. Finance is not sure: a payment arrived last week with a company name and no reference, and it could be that booking or another from the same group. The second stage payment on a different event was due on Friday, and nobody has sent the request because the coordinator was on leave.
Your contract terms are clear about when payments fall due. What is missing is anything that acts on those dates.
Payment dates are written in contracts, not in systems
Event bookings have schedules that vary: a deposit to confirm, a stage payment months before, a balance before or after the event, and different terms for repeat clients. These dates sit in contracts and in a spreadsheet kept by one person. Requests go by email. Receipts arrive by bank transfer, card or cheque, often with references that do not mention the booking.
- Requests are sent when someone remembers, not on the due date.
- Corporate payers use their own references, so matching is guesswork.
- Part payments and combined payments for several events confuse the picture.
- The events team and finance each have part of the information.
The cost of unclear payment status
Unpaid deposits leave you holding a date for a booking that may not be committed. Late stage payments mean cash arriving later than you planned. The less visible cost is the internal time: coordinators and finance staff asking each other the same question each week, and awkward calls to clients who had in fact paid.
We do not set your payment terms or advise on credit risk. Those decisions are yours and your accountant's.
How we build payment schedules into each booking
- When a booking is confirmed, its payment schedule is created from your contract terms, with amounts and due dates, and any client-specific terms applied.
- On each due date, or a set number of days before it, a payment request goes to the billing contact with a unique reference and, if you want, a card payment link through Stripe or your existing provider.
- Bank feeds from your accounts system are read, and receipts are matched to bookings by reference, amount and payer, with uncertain matches shown to finance.
- Paid, due and overdue status shows on the booking, so the events team sees it without asking.
- Overdue payments trigger a polite reminder and an alert to the booking owner, who decides what to do next.
- Combined payments covering several events are split across them once finance confirms the allocation.
| Status | Who sees it | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| Due soon | Billing contact | Request with reference and link |
| Received, matched | Events and finance | Booking marked paid |
| Received, unclear | Finance | Suggested match to confirm |
| Overdue | Booking owner | Reminder sent, next step is theirs |
How the Monday meeting changes
The question is answered by the screen. Each booking shows its payment status, and the list of overdue items is short enough to discuss. Finance spends less time matching and more time on the few real problems. Clients receive requests that are clear, dated and easy to pay.
Recognise any of these?
- Payment schedules live in a spreadsheet kept by one person.
- Requests go out late or not at all when someone is away.
- Payments arrive without references and take time to match.
- The events team does not know whether a booking has paid its deposit.
- Clients have been chased for payments they had already made.