Deposit, then the balance: setting up a high-ticket program's payment plan from the CRM deal

Checked against Regulation Z, Regulation E and Stripe's pricing on 22 October 2026. General information, not legal advice.

Why set the plan up from the CRM deal?

Because that's where the yes happens. In a sales-team model, a setter books the enrollment call, a closer runs it, and the client agrees to a program and a way to pay: in full or on a payment plan. The deal in the CRM already holds the client, the program and the price.

One $10,000 program, three plans30/40/30$3,000 · $4,000 · $3,000Monthly$1,000 + 18 × $500Every 2 weeks$2,000 + 16 × $500Deposit at enrollment · the rest on the schedule set on the deal

Without a link between the CRM and the checkout, there's a handoff. Someone takes the closer's notes and rebuilds the plan by hand in Stripe or the checkout cart. Each re-keyed field is a chance for the deposit, the number of payments or the first date to drift from what was agreed on the call. Starting the plan from the deal removes that step. The terms are entered once, where the closer already works.

What payment plan structures do high-ticket programs use?

Here are three structures, each worked on one $10,000 program:

Each adds up to $10,000. They suit different programs:

• 30/40/30 front-loads the money and finishes in about two months. It fits a short, intensive program, and the payments differ in size.
• $1,000, then $500 a month keeps the monthly figure low, which can matter for a client weighing the price on the call. It runs for a year and a half, so it can outlast the program itself.
• A percentage deposit, then every two weeks lines payments up with clients who are paid biweekly. Weekly, every two weeks or monthly? covers how to choose.

When the balance doesn't divide evenly, decide which payment takes the cents. The last one is the usual choice.

What should the deal record before the plan is built?

The terms the closer agreed, as fields on the deal rather than notes in a call log:

With those on the deal, the checkout, the agreement and the schedule can all be built from the same numbers. Nobody has to remember what was promised on the call. The step-by-step setup is in take a deposit and schedule the balance from a HubSpot deal, and there's a Pipedrive version.

Should the deposit be a flat amount or a percentage?

Either works, and it depends on how you sell. A flat deposit ($1,000 on every program) is easy for a closer to say and for a client to remember. A percentage (20% of whatever the program costs) scales when you sell programs at different prices, so a $5,000 program and a $15,000 program get proportionate deposits without a separate rule for each.

Take it at signing. The best time to collect a deposit is on the same page as the agreement, while the decision is fresh. Save the card or bank account used for it, with the client's permission, so the balance can run automatically.

Can the client choose their own payment plan?

They can, inside rules you set. Instead of the closer working out a schedule on the call, the client picks from options on a quote. You set the limits:

• The deposit: not required, a minimum, or fixed, as an amount or a percentage.
• The frequencies you allow: for example, monthly or every two weeks, but not weekly.
• A final date the plan can't run past, such as the end of the program.

The client then chooses the deposit, the frequency and the number of payments within those limits, and sees what each payment would be. It saves the back-and-forth of "can we do it in five instead of four?", and every plan still lands inside terms you approved.

What should the CRM show after each payment?

The same thing finance sees:

• The remaining balance, updated as each payment lands.
• The next payment date.
• The plan's status: on plan, paid in full or stopped.

If closers or setters are paid on cash collected, this is the number their commission depends on. When it lives on the CRM record, nobody has to export a payout report to answer a client's "how much do I still owe?"

What happens when a plan payment is missed?

Decide before the first plan starts, and write it into the agreement:

• Who hears about it, and how soon. Someone should know the day a payment fails, not at month end.
• How the client can pay instead. A client whose card declined may be able to pay that payment by bank transfer.
• What happens to the program. Whether access pauses, and after how long. That's your policy, so put it in the terms the client signs.
• Who can change the schedule. Moving a date, splitting a payment or recalculating the rest should be someone's job, not everyone's. Changing a payment plan after it starts covers the rules for doing it.

Reminders before each due date help too. A client who knows a charge is coming can make sure the card on file will clear.

What paperwork does a payment plan need?

Two federal rules are worth knowing before the first plan. This is general information, so take your own setup to counsel.

• The authorization to charge. For recurring transfers from a consumer's bank account, Regulation E says they "may be authorized only by a writing signed or similarly authenticated by the consumer", and you give the client a copy. If a transfer differs in amount from the one before it, the client gets written notice of the amount and date at least 10 days ahead. (12 CFR 1005.10) A 30/40/30 plan paid from a client's bank account has payments of differing amounts, so ask counsel whether the 10-day notice applies to each one.
• Truth in Lending. A business that regularly extends consumer credit payable in more than four installments, not counting a down payment, is a creditor under Regulation Z, even at 0%. Regularly means more than 25 times in the preceding calendar year. (12 CFR 1026.2(a)(17)) Consumer credit means credit "primarily for personal, family, or household purposes", so a business-coaching client buying for their company may fall outside it. Is a 0% payment plan a loan? goes through what follows.

What do card fees add to the plan?

On Stripe's standard US pricing, a domestic card payment costs 2.9% + 30¢ and ACH Direct Debit 0.8%, capped at $5. (Stripe pricing) On the 20% deposit plan above, card fees come to $295.10 across seventeen payments: $58.30 on the deposit and $14.80 on each $500 payment. By bank, they come to $69: $5 on the deposit and $4 on each payment. Passing credit card fees to clients on a high-ticket program covers surcharges and disclosure.

Changelog

• 22 October 2026: first published.