Paying in instalments (payment schedule)
A member can ask to pay an amount in several instalments. The schedule is a payment facility: the amount owed stays booked once, on the original entry or invoice. The schedule only records when and how much the member has agreed to pay.
Three rules to keep in mind:
- No future entries are created. Each instalment is settled by an ordinary payment (transfer, cheque, card), entered as usual: see Payments received.
- Registration does not depend on it. A schedule neither activates nor blocks a registration or the right to fly.
- Late fees and unpaid amounts are handled outside the ERP. The ERP sends reminders; it does not penalise.
Before you start: the two settings
An administrator sets, in Administration › Parameters › Finance, section Payment schedules (Échéanciers de paiement):
| Setting | Effect |
|---|---|
| Minimum amount of a schedule | Below it, no schedule is offered. 0: no minimum. |
| Maximum number of instalments | From 2 to 36 (12 by default). The number entered is limited accordingly. |
Defining the schedule (office or treasurer)
Where: Finance › Comptabilité › Saisie › Journal (Prepare the accounts right).
- Find the entry that makes the member owe the amount: a line on the debit of the member's account (411), with the member as third party.
- Click the calendar icon (Payment schedule) on the line. It only shows when the entry concerns a member who owes at least the minimum amount.
- Choose how to split:
- Number of instalments: equal amounts rounded down to the cent; the remainder goes on the last instalment;
- Amount of each instalment: as many instalments as needed, the last one carrying the balance.
- Enter the first due date and the months between two instalments. A month-end date stays at month end (31 January, 28 February, 31 March…).
- Create the schedule. The instalments appear with their date and amount.
While no payment is linked, the schedule can be redone or deleted. Once a payment is linked it can no longer be changed: detach the payments first.
Recording the payments
Each payment received is entered normally (card, cheque, reconciled transfer…), as a credit of the member's account. You then say which instalment it settles.
From the schedule: open the schedule, then Link a payment on the instalment. The ERP lists the member's payments (credits of their account) with the amount still available. Pick the payment, then Link.
- One payment can cover several instalments, and one instalment can be settled by several payments.
- The amount applied defaults to the most the instalment and the payment allow.
- Detach undoes a link made by mistake.
From bank reconciliation: when you match a statement line with a payment that credits the account of a member on a schedule, the ERP offers to apply the payment to the oldest open instalment, showing its date and amount. Nothing is applied without your click.
Instalment states
| State | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Upcoming | Not yet due, not fully paid |
| Late | Due and not fully paid |
| Paid | Fully covered by the linked payments |
What a schedule changes for reminders
- An upcoming instalment is not an overdue debt. The nightly check and the members' aged balance set aside the part not yet due: a member who only owes upcoming instalments receives no negative-balance email and does not appear in the aged balance.
- A late instalment triggers the usual reminder, with the same thresholds, the same interval between reminders and the same option to mute a member's reminders. The email lists the unpaid instalments (date and amount). The debt is dated from the due date, not from the invoice.
- Displayed balances stay the real balances: member sheet, member list and dashboard include the part not yet due. A member can therefore show as negative without being reminded.
What the member sees
On their sheet (club side) and in their portal, Balance tab, the Payment schedule block shows the remaining amount, the part overdue, the next due date and, for each schedule, the state of each instalment and what is already paid.
Who does what
| Action | Right | Usual role |
|---|---|---|
| Create, redo, delete a schedule; link and detach a payment | Prepare the accounts | Office, treasurer |
| View the schedules of an entry | View finance | Treasurer, committee |
| See the instalments on a member sheet | View members | Office, treasurer |
| Set the minimum and maximum | System settings | Administrator |
In practice, end to end
- The member asks to pay in instalments; the office checks the amount and the treasurer's agreement.
- The entry or invoice is entered on the debit of the member's account, as usual.
- The office creates the schedule (for example 3 instalments, the first on the 5th of next month) and gives the dates to the member.
- At each payment: normal entry, then Link a payment (or accept the proposal at reconciliation).
- A late, unpaid instalment triggers the automatic reminder; what follows (fees, formal notice) is handled outside the ERP.
- When all instalments are Paid, the member's account is settled.