A running plan can change in three common ways. Move a payment to a later date, split one payment into smaller ones, or change the amount and recalculate the remaining balance across the payments left. Agree each change in writing, record it on the customer's file, and if the customer pays by automatic bank debit, give written notice of a new amount at least 10 days before it's taken. Withdrawals and refunds are a different process.
What can change without starting over?
Three things cover most requests:
- The date. A customer's payday moves, or one payment lands in a bad week.
- One payment, split. A single payment is too large this month, so it becomes two or three smaller ones.
- The amount. The customer pays extra, or needs smaller payments for the rest of the plan.
None of these needs a new plan. Cancelling and recreating one loses the history of what was paid and when.
If the customer is leaving altogether, that's a withdrawal, with its own calculation. See what to do when a student withdraws mid-program.
How does moving a date work?
Move only the payment that needs to move, and leave the rest of the schedule where it is. If every future payment needs to move, change the schedule's day, for example from the 1st to the 15th, and confirm the new first date in writing.
A moved payment can push the plan's last date later. Check that it still ends when your agreement says it must.
How does splitting a payment work?
One payment becomes two or more that add up to the same amount, on dates you agree. A $700 payment due on 1 November might become $350 on 1 November and $350 on 15 November.
The total and the remaining balance don't change. Only the timing does.
How does changing the amount work?
The balance left is recalculated across the payments that remain. Take a $6,000 balance on twelve monthly payments of $500. After four payments, $4,000 is left:
| Change | Payments left | New payment |
|---|---|---|
| None | 8 | $500 |
| Spread over 10 payments instead | 10 | $400 |
| Customer pays $1,000 extra now | 8 | $375 |
Either way, the customer should see the new amount and the new end date before the next payment is taken.
What does the customer need to agree to?
Put every change in writing: the new dates, the new amounts and the new end date. Keep it with the original agreement.
If the customer pays by automatic bank debit, the federal rules for preauthorized transfers apply. The debits need the customer's signed or similarly authenticated authorization, and when the amount varies, the customer must get written notice of the amount and date at least 10 days before the transfer, unless they've chosen to be notified only when it falls outside an agreed range (12 CFR 1005.10).
What should finance record?
- The date of the request and who approved it.
- The schedule before and after.
- The balance at the moment of the change.
That's what an auditor, an accountant or the customer will ask for if the numbers are ever questioned.
Payment plans built from the deal in HubSpot or Pipedrive, with each location paid into its own account and books.
Paycove recalculates the balance across the remaining payments, splits a payment into more, or refunds one, from the plan itself, and your CRM shows the new balance.
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