This article covers recording offline payments as held deposits, charging a payment method to hold funds, and applying held deposits to a student's balance.
Playground allows you to hold deposits so they can be applied to a student's balance at a later date.
Create a Held Deposit for an Offline Payment
Open the student's profile and click the Billing tab.
Click Billing Actions button and select Record payment.
Enter the payment method, amount, and date.
Check the box next to Hold as deposit.
Add a description and, if applicable, an accounting code.
Click Record payment.
Create a Held Deposit by Charging a Payment Method
Admins can charge a family's payment method directly and hold the amount as a deposit. Families cannot make a payment through the platform outside of an enrollment listing and have it recorded as a held deposit, this must be initiated by an admin.
Open the student's profile and click the Billing tab.
Click Billing Actions and select Charge payment method.
Select a payment source, enter the amount, and add a description.
Check the box next to Hold as deposit.
It is best practice to leave Save as a new item on statement unchecked. Selecting this option will create a charge for the amount collected, which will show as overdue on the student's account since the deposit will not be applied until you do so manually. When you are ready to apply the deposit, create the debit at that time.
Click Charge.
Apply a Held Deposit
Once a held deposit has been recorded, you can apply it to a student's balance from their profile or from the Billing tab.
🚨 Held deposits automatically apply to the oldest unpaid debit on the student's account. When you apply a held deposit, it will apply to the current billing cycle, so make sure the intended debit is already posted and is the oldest unpaid charge before applying. Applying it early will cause it to apply to the wrong debit.
From Student Profiles
Navigate to My School and click the Students tab.
Click into the student's profile with a held deposit and navigate to their Billing -> Credits tab.
Next to the student's held deposit, click the three dots and select Edit held amount.
This will bring up the Manage held amount window. From this window, choose the exact amount you want to apply, or click Apply All to apply the entire held deposit automatically.
Once you have entered the amount you want to apply, click Confirm.
After the held amount has been applied, the status of the credit should reflect as "Paid."
From the Billing Tab
Navigate to Billing tab, then Transactions and the Credits tab
Locate the held deposit you want to apply. To view all held deposits from this screen, click Add filters and set the Payment Status to Deposit Held.
Click the three dots next to the deposit you would like to apply and select Edit held amount.
This will bring up the Manage held amount window. From this window, choose the exact amount you want to apply, or click Apply All to apply the entire held deposit automatically.
Once you have entered the amount you want to apply, click Confirm.
After the held amount has been applied, the status of the credit should reflect as "Paid."