How to accept payments and tips at checkout

Getting paid should be the easiest part of the visit, not a scramble at the front desk. This guide walks you through taking payments and tips in Opraly — and, just as important, choosing when the card gets charged so the checkout matches how your business actually runs.

Before you start

Make sure payments are switched on for your account and that your services have prices set. If you run more than one site, confirm you are working in the right location first — see managing multiple locations in one account if you are not sure which one you are in.

Heads-up: the steps below assume a staff member with permission to take payment. If buttons are missing, your role may not include checkout — an owner can fix that in staff roles & permissions.

Choose your capture timing

The biggest decision is when money moves. Opraly gives you four capture timing options, set per service so a quick add-on and a premium package can behave differently:

• Prepaid — the visit is already paid (a package, a gift card, a membership credit). Checkout just confirms it.
• Pay-before — collect the full amount at booking. Good for classes and high-demand slots.
• Pay-after — charge the saved card-on-file when service is done. The most natural fit for salons, clinics and rides.
• Deposit — take a portion at booking, the balance at checkout.

Pick the option that means the fewest surprises for your customer and the least chasing for you.

Take a payment at checkout

1. Open the appointment, tab, or queue entry you want to close out.
2. Select Checkout. Opraly shows the services, any add-ons, and the total.
3. Apply a package, membership credit or gift card if one is on file — the balance updates automatically.
4. Choose the payment method: the card-on-file, a card on the spot, or another method you accept.
5. Confirm. The receipt is recorded against the visit, the staff member and the location, so it flows straight into your reports.

For walk-ins, the same flow runs off the walk-in queue entry; for restaurants it closes the tab from the host stand; for rides it closes the job after dispatch completes it.

Add tips the right way

Tips are part of checkout, not an afterthought.

• Prompt at checkout. Offer tip choices on the payment screen so customers decide before they pay.
• Attribute to staff. Tips attach to the team member who delivered the service, which keeps your end-of-day totals honest.
• Split across a team. When more than one person worked the visit, tips can be shared so everyone is credited fairly.

Because tips are captured with the payment, they show up in reporting & analytics alongside sales — no separate tally to reconcile at close.

Pay-after with card-on-file

Pay-after is the smoothest experience for most appointment businesses:

1. The customer saves a card when they book (nothing is charged yet).
2. They arrive, you deliver the service, and the appointment is marked done.
3. At checkout you charge the card-on-file, add the tip, and you are finished — no card to hand over, no terminal to fumble with.

This is also what makes your no-show fees and deposits work without an awkward phone call. If you have not set those up yet, start with cutting no-shows with deposits and card-on-file.

Refunds and adjustments

Plans change, and so do checkouts. From the completed visit you can issue a refund or adjust the amount before settling. Each adjustment is logged against the original payment, so your daily sales total always reconciles and nothing disappears quietly from the books.

A quick reference

Where the numbers land

Every payment and tip you take rolls into reporting & analytics — daily sales, revenue per staff member, and tips by team member — across one location or many. To make sense of those figures, see how to read your reports and dashboard.

Payments, tips and capture timing are the same across every vertical, so whether you run a chair, a class, a table or a car, checkout works the same way. See it in action for salons & barbers or restaurants & delivery.

Ready to take your first payment? Start free and have checkout running today.