> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.eat-now.io/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Deposits, prepayments and imprints

> How money collected by EatNow before the meal ends up on the till's bill, and how card imprints are handled automatically.

EatNow collects **before** the meal (deposits, prepayments, card imprints). NowOS collects **during and after** (the bill). The integration bridges the two so your guest never pays twice, and your numbers stay right.

<Note>
  This page assumes you've already set up payments on your shifts. See [Deposits](/shifts/payments-deposits) and [Prepayment](/shifts/payments-prepayment).
</Note>

***

## Deposits and prepayments

### What the floor sees

When a reservation arrives with an amount already collected by EatNow, the till shows it in two places:

* **In the Reservations panel** — a *prepaid* badge on the guest's line.
* **On the bill** — a green **prepaid** banner, with the amount.

### How to apply it

<Steps>
  <Step title="Open the order's payment sheet">
    On the till, cash out the table as usual.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Tap Apply on the green banner">
    The prepaid balance is deducted from the amount due. It's recorded as a **payment method in its own right**.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Take the rest as usual">
    Cash, card, as normal.
  </Step>
</Steps>

<Warning>
  Applying the deposit is **not automatic**: it's a gesture your team makes on the payment sheet. If the server forgets, the guest pays the full bill even though they already paid a deposit. Train your floor to spot the green banner.
</Warning>

<Tip>
  Prepaid money never went through your cash drawer, so NowOS keeps it separate in the close-of-day totals — which keeps your drawer count accurate.
</Tip>

### What EatNow records back

When the bill is cashed on the till, EatNow receives the breakdown of tenders used and records:

* **The amount actually collected at the table**, i.e. the bill **minus** the deposit EatNow had already booked. No double counting.
* **The order total**, for display and statistics.

Those amounts automatically feed the customer's **average spend** and **total spent**. That's what finally makes your CRM accurate: until now, EatNow only knew about the money it had collected itself.

***

## Card imprints

The card imprint (the pre-authorisation held on the guest's card to guarantee they show up) stays **entirely managed by EatNow**. NowOS only displays it as an informational badge for the floor.

<Info>
  **The till never charges and never releases an imprint.** It tells EatNow what happened on the floor, and EatNow acts.
</Info>

<Note>
  "Released" here means EatNow sent the release to your payment provider. How long the amount stays visible on the guest's account after that is up to **their bank** — count on a few days, sometimes more than a week. Warn guests upfront: see [Customer friction in practice](/shifts/payments-deposits#customer-friction-in-practice).
</Note>

### The automatic behaviour

| What happens on the floor                     | What EatNow does with the imprint                                       |
| --------------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| The guest pays their bill normally            | **Released** automatically                                              |
| The table is cashed out then freed            | **Released** automatically                                              |
| The guest is marked **no-show** on the till   | **Charged** automatically                                               |
| The order is voided after the meal started    | **Nothing** — that call is yours                                        |
| The order is voided before anything was fired | **Nothing** — the reservation is still live, so the guarantee must hold |

<Note>
  Why do nothing on an order voided mid-meal? Because it's ambiguous: it could be a goodwill gesture (the meal is on the house) or a guest who walked out. Auto-releasing would lose a legitimate charge; auto-charging would bill a guest you comped. So EatNow leaves the imprint alone and lets you decide.
</Note>

### Forcing from EatNow

If you mark a **no-show** from EatNow while the guest is seated on the till, EatNow warns you (the *Open bill on the NowOS POS* dialog) and then — if you confirm — asks explicitly whether to **charge or release** the imprint. See [Day to day with NowOS](/nowos/daily-workflow).

***

## Extras

Extras (a bottle of champagne, a birthday cake… sold online at booking time) are **excluded from the prepaid amount** sent to the till.

That's deliberate: an extra is a product already sold and delivered separately, not a credit to deduct from the meal's bill. It stays visible in EatNow, on the reservation.

See [Extras](/shifts/payments-extras).

***

## Checking a payment

To see exactly what happened on a reservation:

1. Open the reservation in EatNow.
2. **History** tab.
3. Look for the **Exchange with NowOS** line for the payment.

You'll find the bill total, the currency, the tenders used, and the amount of deposit consumed.

***

## Frequently asked

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="The guest paid a deposit but no green banner shows on the bill">
    Check that the payment is at status **Paid** in EatNow (payments tab of the reservation). A pending payment isn't sent to the till. Also check that the till's order is actually **linked** to the reservation — a party mistakenly seated as a walk-in has no deposit attached.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="The order was linked to the reservation afterwards — is the deposit recovered?">
    Yes. As soon as the till links the order to the reservation, the deposit becomes applicable on that bill.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="The bill was split across several payments">
    Every partial payment comes back to EatNow and adds to the total. EatNow never shrinks a total already recorded: the reservation's final amount is the sum of all payments.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="The imprint wasn't released after payment">
    Check the reservation's **History** tab: you should see an *Exchange with NowOS* line about the imprint. If it **failed**, the problem is on the payment provider's side (expired card, authorisation too old), not the integration. You can release the imprint manually from the reservation.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="The customer's average spend didn't move after the meal">
    The amount is only attached to a customer if the reservation is **linked to a customer file**. An anonymous walk-in seated on the till has no file: its bill counts towards the shift's revenue, but not towards any particular customer's average.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>