When a customer requests a payment plan through the customer portal, the request lands in Reports > Pending Payment Plans for your team to approve or reject. This article covers the report itself, the approval/rejection workflow, and what happens after each.
Where to find it
From the main menu, click Reports > Pending Payment Plans. The page lists every plan that's currently in Pending status — meaning a customer has submitted a payment plan request and is waiting on your decision.
The report only shows pending plans. To see approved, rejected, or completed plans, open the customer record and look at their Payment Plans section.
What's on the report
| Column | What it shows |
|---|---|
| ID | Internal plan ID. Click to open the plan's Details page. |
| Business Name | The customer who submitted the request. |
| Down Payment | The down payment amount the customer is offering at approval time. |
| Status | Always "Pending" on this report. |
Reviewing a plan
Click the plan ID. The Details page shows:
- The customer and the open invoice(s) the plan covers.
- The proposed plan terms — down payment, the recurring installment amount, the frequency (typically monthly), the number of installments, and the start date.
- The stored payment method the customer specified for the recurring installments.
- Approve and Reject action buttons (visible because the plan is in Pending status).
Approving a plan
Click Approve. Biller Genie does several things in one step:
- Processes the down payment immediately against the customer's stored payment method. The down payment is applied to the open invoice(s).
- Creates a recurring schedule for the remaining installments. Each scheduled installment will charge the stored payment method automatically on the configured frequency.
- Emails the customer a plan-approved confirmation with the schedule.
- Flips the plan to Approved status. It drops off the Pending list.
If the down payment fails to process at approval time, the plan stays in Pending status with an error — fix the underlying payment issue (often a card on file that needs updating) and try again.
Rejecting a plan
Click Reject. The plan is flipped to Rejected status. The customer receives a notification email. The underlying invoice(s) remain open and continue to follow your normal reminder cadence.
Common reasons to reject: terms don't fit your business policy, the customer has a history of failed payments, or you'd prefer to negotiate different terms directly. There's no built-in counter-offer flow; for negotiated plans, decline the request and have the conversation outside Biller Genie, then your team can manually create a plan if needed.
How customers submit payment plan requests
For the option to appear in the customer portal, two things must be true:
- The Payment Plans Add-On is installed on your account.
- The customer has Allow Payment Plans enabled at their customer level — either by default (set in Customer Defaults) or by per-customer override.
From the customer portal, an eligible customer sees a "Request Payment Plan" option on their open invoices. They fill out the proposed terms, save a payment method, and submit. That submission appears on Pending Payment Plans.