> ## 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.

# Prepayment

> Sell set menus, tasting menus, or tickets that customers pay for when they book — securing revenue and helping the kitchen plan.

**Prepayment** lets customers pay for menu items when they book — a tasting menu, a festive set menu, or an event ticket. You secure the revenue upfront and the kitchen knows exactly what to prepare.

<Warning>
  You must connect a **payment provider** (Stripe, Payzone, or CMI) before enabling prepayment. A shift can use **either** prepayment **or** a [deposit](/shifts/payments-deposits), not both.
</Warning>

<Note>
  Prepayment is on the **General** tab. Enable **Prepayment** to reveal the options.
</Note>

<Tip>
  It's also the mode that creates the **least friction with customers**: the menu is paid in full at booking, so there's no card hold to release (whose delay depends on the customer's bank) and no deposit to remember to deduct from the bill. See [Customer friction in practice](/shifts/payments-deposits#customer-friction-in-practice).
</Tip>

## Optional or required?

Turn on **Prepayment mandatory** to require every customer to pick and pay for a product to complete their booking. Leave it off to offer prepaid products as an option.

## Add your products

Add the menus or items customers can prepay for. Products come from your [product catalog](/shifts/products) (**Settings → Products**) — that's where you edit a product's name, description, and **price**; the settings below only control how *this shift* sells it:

| Setting                 | What it does                                                                        |
| ----------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Featured**            | Highlights the product on your booking portal's homepage                            |
| **Internal only**       | Available to staff only — hidden from customers                                     |
| **Cashable online**     | Paid online now (vs. recorded as pay-on-site)                                       |
| **Show price**          | Displays the price (for items not cashed online, you can hide it)                   |
| **Percentage of total** | How much is paid online now (20%, 30%, 50%, 75%, or 100%); the rest is paid on site |

<Accordion title="Limiting how many you sell (capacity)">
  Set a **capacity per day** to cap how many of a product can be sold each day — useful for limited menus. If a product has variants (e.g. vegetarian / meat), you can set a **capacity per variant** so each option has its own limit.
</Accordion>

<Accordion title="Requiring advance notice (minimum delay)">
  Set a **minimum delay** so a product can only be ordered a certain number of hours ahead — for example a tasting menu that needs 48 hours' notice to prepare.
</Accordion>

## Refunds & late cancellation

Turn on **Refundable prepayment** to let customers cancel for a refund up to a deadline. Set the **late cancellation threshold** in hours, measured either **before the reservation** or **after creation** — after that point the prepayment is kept.

<Accordion title="Prepayment expiry — giving customers time to pay">
  When prepayment is requested, the customer has a limited window to pay before the booking is cancelled. You can set different windows for **same-day** and **future** reservations, in **minutes** (5 minimum) or in **hours**. If it isn't paid in time, the reservation is automatically cancelled.
</Accordion>

## FAQ

**What's the difference between prepayment and a deposit?**

A [deposit](/shifts/payments-deposits) is a single amount that secures the booking (often refunded). **Prepayment** sells actual products — set menus, tickets — that the customer chooses and pays for. A shift uses one or the other.

**How is this different from extras?**

Prepaid products are the main offer (often the whole point of the booking). [Extras](/shifts/payments-extras) are optional add-ons layered on top, like a bottle of wine. The same product can't appear in both.