⏰Setting Up Payment Plans

Learn how to setup and use Payment Plans to lower the barrier of cost to your classes, workshops, and even shows!

Are you a student or ticketholder? Check out our Patron's Guide to Payment Plans.

The following guide is for venue administrators and managers who need to configure payment plan options for their events

What are Payment Plans

Payment Plans are an optional method for customers to break up payments into smaller installments over time. For example, instead of a $100 payment, they can decide to split into four $25 payments over time. This can help with purchasing specific shows or classes that might otherwise not be able to be afforded in one payment. The amount and number of installments can be decided by you, along with which specific shows and classes you want to allow to be purchased via a plan.

Setting Up Payment Plans

Setting up Payment Plans is very straight-forward. Simply expand the "Payment Plans" option on the left-hand sidebar and select Manage Plans.

Direct link: Payment Plans Dashboard

Heads up for Square theatres!

Depending on when you created your account and connected Square, you may need to reconnect to grant additional permissions. If you see a "Reconnect Square Account" button present on this page, simply click and follow the steps. You will only need to do this once. Theatres on Stripe don't need to do anything here.

From this page, you'll be able to create a new Payment Plan by clicking the Create New Payment Plan option in the upper-right.

Payment Plan Configuration Options

On the creation page, you have a few options:

• Plan Name: This is a custom name you can include that is displayed both internally and to the patrons.

• Plan Description: This is an optional description you can use to include more details about the plan. This is included along-side the Template description (more on that below).

• Select Show, Class, or Tag: This is to assign the specific events you'd like to this payment plan.

• Template: This is the payment plan template you'd like. More on templates below.

Payment Plan Templates

We've created helpful templates for you to use with this feature. Choose the template that best fits your payment collection needs:

Plan Template	Plan Schedule	Plan Notes
50% now, 50% at start	1st payment: 50% of the total due at checkout 2nd payment: 50% charged just before the event start date	Ideal for pre-event collection: This template ensures you have everything paid in full prior to the start of the show or class. ⚠️ Special handling: If the patron purchases a plan less than 24 hours from the start of the event, then they are charged both halves at checkout.
50% now, 50% in a month	1st payment: 50% of the total due at checkout 2nd payment: 50% charged one month after checkout	Time-based schedule: Unlike the "50% at start" template, this plan charges the second payment on a fixed schedule relative to checkout — not tied to the event date. This makes it a good fit for events that are far out or when you want a predictable billing timeline.
3 Payments	1st payment: ~1/3 of the total due at checkout 2nd payment: ~1/3 charged just before the event start date 3rd payment: ~1/3 charged 30 days after the event start date	⚠️ Post-event payment included: This template includes a payment that intentionally occurs after the event. Ensure your terms and conditions clearly communicate this to patrons.
3 Payments (monthly)	1st payment: ~1/3 of the total due at checkout 2nd payment: ~1/3 charged one month after checkout 3rd payment: ~1/3 charged two months after checkout	Time-based schedule: All three payments follow a fixed monthly cadence from checkout — not tied to the event date. This is a good option for classes or events where you want straightforward monthly billing.
4 Payments	1st payment: 25% due at checkout 2nd payment: 25% charged 2 weeks after checkout 3rd payment: 25% charged 4 weeks after checkout 4th payment: 25% charged 6 weeks after checkout	Four payments evenly split over six weeks. This familiar template is modeled after what many third-party payment plan platforms provide.

Understanding Payment Plan Fees

Payment plan transactions always pass fees on to the patron, regardless of your theatre's fee settings. Even if your theatre absorbs fees for standard ticket sales, payment plan installments will include fees in each payment the patron sees at checkout.

This is because each installment is processed as a separate credit card transaction through your payment processor, and each one incurs its own processing fees. The system is designed this way to keep pricing transparent — patrons see the exact amount of each installment (including fees) before they commit to a plan, so there are no surprises on future charges.

How it works in practice: When a patron selects a payment plan at checkout, they see a full breakdown of every installment amount — including fees — before confirming their purchase. Each installment is charged as a separate transaction on the scheduled date.

If your theatre absorbs fees for standard sales, be aware that payment plans are the one exception — fees are always included in the patron's installment amounts. You may want to mention this in your plan description so patrons understand the pricing they see at checkout.

For a full overview of how CrowdWork fees work, see Understanding CrowdWork Fees.

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Payment Processing & Management

How Payments Work

When a patron purchases a plan, their card is stored on your connected payment processor account — Square or Stripe, whichever your theatre uses. That's what lets us charge them automatically on each plan date without asking for the card again.

Payment plans are card-only. If your theatre is on Square, patrons normally get an Apple Pay option at checkout — but ticking Pay via payment plan removes it, and they're told why: "Payment plans require a credit or debit card, so Apple Pay isn't available." A plan needs a card we can charge again on each future date.

Leave your payment processor account alone while plans are running

Avoid editing or deleting payments or customers inside your Square or Stripe dashboard while patrons are enrolled in a plan.

Do not switch, reconnect, or disconnect that account while patrons have active payment plans. Stored payment methods belong to the connected account, so changing it breaks the link and every remaining scheduled installment fails. If you need to reconnect or move accounts, wait until all active plans have completed their final payments.

Payment Retry Logic

Automatic retry system: We'll try to charge a patron's payment three times, each time with 24 hours between attempts. Every attempt uses the same card saved for that plan — if it's declined, we do not fall back to another card on the patron's account, even one saved under a different heading. Replacing that card is what fixes it.

After the third failed attempt, that installment is marked Failed and every remaining installment on the plan is canceled — not paused, and nothing restores them automatically. You can put them back one at a time with Mark Upcoming (see below), but only after the patron has replaced the card.

Viewing Enrolled Plans

You can view enrolled plans one of two ways:

1. From Payment Plans menu: Navigate to Enrolled Plans option in the Payment Plans dropdown

2. From individual Orders: View payment plan details directly on the specific Order page

Direct link: Enrolled Payment Plans

What You'll See

The enrolled plans view shows:

• Patron information

• Payment schedule and amounts

• Payment status for each installment

• Card on file details

• Next payment date

Managing Enrolled Payment Plans

From the Enrolled Plans page, you can manage individual payment installments for your patrons. This gives you full control over the payment plan lifecycle.

Searching and Sorting

The enrolled plans table allows you to:

• Search by Name: Find specific patrons by their name

• Search by Email: Locate plans by patron email address

• Sort columns: Click on column headers to sort by Patron Name, Email, Date Enrolled, Payment Amount, Payment Due, Payment Status, or Retries

Changing Payment Status

Each payment installment has a dropdown menu (accessible via the three dots ••• icon) that allows you to change its status:

Status	Description	When to Use
Mark Upcoming	Resets the payment to upcoming/scheduled status	Use when you need to reschedule a paused or problematic payment to be processed again. After a declined card, wait until the patron has replaced it — rescheduling first just fails again on the next run
Mark Paused	Temporarily pauses the scheduled payment	Use when a patron needs extra time before their next payment, or when resolving payment issues
Mark Paid	Manually marks the installment as paid	Use when payment was received outside of the system (e.g., cash, check, or external payment)
Mark Canceled	Cancels the payment installment	Use when the patron can no longer complete the plan or by mutual agreement to stop remaining payments

Pausing vs. Canceling: Use Pause when the payment is temporarily on hold and may resume later. Use Cancel when the payment will not be collected at all. Paused payments can be marked as Upcoming to resume processing.

Important: Changing a payment status does not automatically issue refunds or charge the patron. If you mark a payment as Paid manually, ensure you've actually received payment through another method. For refunds, you'll need to process those separately through Square.

Common Scenarios

Patron needs more time to pay:

1. Navigate to their enrolled payment plan

2. Find the upcoming payment installment

3. Click the dropdown menu and select "Mark Paused"

4. When ready to resume, select "Mark Upcoming" to reschedule

Patron paid via cash or check:

1. Find the relevant payment installment

2. Select "Mark Paid" from the dropdown

3. Record the external payment in your records

Patron's card was declined and their plan stopped:

1. Ask the patron to replace the card first, at crowdwork.com/account/payment-methods — under the Payment Plans heading for your theatre. Nothing else works until this is done

2. Then find each canceled installment, click ••• and choose Mark Upcoming — this also resets the retry counter

3. Repeat for every remaining installment; they were all canceled together, but they come back one at a time

The order matters. If you mark installments Upcoming while the declined card is still on file, the charge simply fails again on the next scheduled run — and three more failures cancel the whole plan a second time.

Patron wants to stop their payment plan:

1. Review remaining installments with the patron

2. Mark remaining unpaid installments as "Canceled"

3. Discuss any outstanding balance or refunds needed

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Patron Experience

For Patrons

Patrons can view and manage their payment plans through their account page. They can:

• See upcoming payment dates

• Update their payment method

• View payment history

Email notifications: Patrons receive email notifications about upcoming payments and any payment issues

Payment Method Updates

If patrons need to add or update their payment method, they can do so through their account page under "Payment Methods." If a patron has no card on file, they can add one; if they already have a card, they can replace it. Cards are grouped by theatre and by purpose (Payment Plans and Enrolled Memberships).

Need to help your patrons with their payment plan features?

We've got a guide! See our Patron's Guide to Payment Plans for the customer experience documentation.

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Have questions about implementing payment plans? Just reach out to our Support Team for help.