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Smart File Payment Plans: Clarifying Upcoming Payments Display

  • August 3, 2025
  • 1 reply
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Byron Honea
Explorer
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I wanted to share some feedback regarding how Smart Files handle payment plan selections and how it impacts the “Upcoming Payments” tracking.

When a client receives a Smart File and selects a payment plan—let’s say two installments—but doesn’t complete the payment (either because they aren’t ready or plan to choose a different plan like 12 installments later), HoneyBook still reflects that selection as an upcoming payment. For example, if the total is $1200 and they select two payments, my dashboard shows a $600 upcoming payment—even though no payment has actually been submitted and the client never finalized their selection.

This creates a misleading view of my actual expected income, because the client might ultimately choose a different plan (like 12 payments) or not pay at all yet. It throws off my ability to track true upcoming revenue.

Suggestions:

  1. Only reflect upcoming payments once a client has completed payment authorization.

  2. Or, show the full amount due as a single figure—or even a baseline like $100—until a payment plan is confirmed. This would reflect the minimum payment possible, since many clients choose longer installment plans.

  3. Or, rename this section to something like “Proposal Amounts” or “Pending Selections” to clarify that it’s not locked-in revenue yet.

I hope this can be improved, as it would help keep my financial projections more accurate and reduce confusion.  This is also included in overdue payments.  maybe when should have a setting to turn off or on for including potential client selection in forecasts - upcoming, overdue... etc.???

Can someone explain maybe I’m missing something? I'm seeking understanding before sending as idea. Thanks!

 

Best answer by Alicia Bauer

@Byron Honea -  You’re not missing anything, this is actually how HoneyBook works right now. Once a client selects a payment plan in a Smart File, the system counts those amounts toward “Upcoming Payments,” even if they never complete payment or change the plan later.

It can definitely make the dashboard feel misleading since it’s really showing a forecast, not confirmed revenue.

I love your idea of having a toggle or a clearer label like “Pending Selections” to make it more accurate. I’d definitely submit this as a feature request in the Ideas section, your examples make a really strong case for the update!

In the meantime, I recommend using the Payments Report filtered by “Completed Payments” if you need a true revenue snapshot.

1 reply

Alicia Bauer
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  • Newcomer
  • Answer
  • August 4, 2025

@Byron Honea -  You’re not missing anything, this is actually how HoneyBook works right now. Once a client selects a payment plan in a Smart File, the system counts those amounts toward “Upcoming Payments,” even if they never complete payment or change the plan later.

It can definitely make the dashboard feel misleading since it’s really showing a forecast, not confirmed revenue.

I love your idea of having a toggle or a clearer label like “Pending Selections” to make it more accurate. I’d definitely submit this as a feature request in the Ideas section, your examples make a really strong case for the update!

In the meantime, I recommend using the Payments Report filtered by “Completed Payments” if you need a true revenue snapshot.