Every Trips invoice has a payment schedule — dated milestones that add up to the invoice total. This article covers picking a shape, marking money in as it arrives, sending receipts, and reversing a mistake.
When you need a payment schedule
Most travel bookings aren't paid in one shot — a cruise wants a deposit at booking and the balance 90 days before sailing; a tour operator wants 25% / 25% / 50% across three dates. The Payment schedule section of the invoice is where you spell that out. It offers three radio cards — Due on receipt, Deposit + final, and Custom schedule — and the client sees the resulting milestones (with due dates) on their copy of the invoice.
Deposit + final vs. Custom schedule
Deposit + final
Picking this radio opens the Set up deposit + final payment modal: Deposit amount, Deposit due date, Final due date. Running math (total minus deposit = final balance) updates as you type. Click Create schedule and Trips writes two milestones at once: Deposit and Final balance.
Use this for the vast majority of bookings. It's opinionated on purpose — two rows, no manual editing.
Custom schedule
Picking this radio reveals an inline editor at the bottom of the schedule: Milestone label, date, amount, plus an Add button. Type a label like "25% at 120 days", pick a date, type the amount, hit Add. Repeat as needed.
Use this when you have more than two payment dates, or when the deposit / balance language doesn't fit what the supplier actually wants.
Marking a milestone received
When the client pays — by check, wire, card on file with the supplier, anything — you log it against the matching milestone. Each unpaid row has a small green checkmark button on the right; tooltip reads Mark payment received. A modal opens with these fields:
Amount received — prefilled with the milestone's outstanding amount. Override for a partial.
Payment date — defaults to today. Change it for a back-dated payment.
Method — Cash, Check, Credit card, Bank transfer, Online, or Other. Defaults to Credit card.
Reference (optional) — check number, supplier confirmation, anything that helps you trace it later.
Internal notes — a private text field your team sees but the client never does.
At the bottom is the Send the client a payment receipt by email toggle. It defaults to on. Click Save payment and Trips writes the payment, updates the milestone's status pill (Paid in green, or Partial in amber), and recomputes the invoice's overall balance due.
Receipts (when you leave the toggle on)
When the toggle is on, an extra panel appears under it: Receipt recipients. Every trip contact with an email is listed with a checkbox (all pre-selected). Untick anyone who shouldn't get it, or paste extra addresses into Other emails (comma-separated). A CC me option copies you on the send.
The receipt uses the platform's default template with your agency name, logo, and brand color. It shows the amount received, the date, the method, the reference number if you added one, and the new outstanding balance.
Undoing a payment you logged in error
A reversed payment drops out of the milestone's paid total and writes a Payment reversed entry to the activity timeline on the right side of the builder.
Reversing is for typos, not refunds. If the client actually paid and needs the money back, use Refund on the milestone instead — that creates a proper refund record and refund receipt.
Frequently asked
Can I have more than two milestones with Deposit + final?
No — that mode is locked to exactly two rows (deposit and final balance). If you need three or more milestones, switch the radio to Custom schedule and add as many rows as you like. If you're already on Deposit + final and Trips needs to add a third row because of a rebalance, it'll prompt you and flip to Custom automatically.
What if the client overpays a milestone?
Log the larger amount anyway — Trips lets you. The cleanest pattern is to log only what was due on this milestone, then log the surplus against the next one separately so the dates and methods line up with the actual deposits.
Does the client see the receipt the moment I click Save payment?
Yes — the email goes out from the trip's connected sending address as soon as you save. There's no draft step. If the toggle is off, no receipt is sent (you can always send one later from the Receipts menu).
A milestone is paid in full but I need to change its due date or label.
The delete control hides once any payment is recorded on the row. Reverse the payment first (audit trail stays), make the edit, then re-record.