Articles on: Timesact V2

Billing and Partial Payments

Billing decides how and when the customer is charged for a pre-order. Both options place a real order, the difference is when the money is collected. It is one of the reusable pre-order building blocks, for the overview see How Pre-Orders Work. Set it under Feature settings, Billing. The optional pre-order discount also lives here.

Full amount

The customer is charged the full price at checkout, exactly like a normal order. The only difference from a standard purchase is that fulfillment is deferred until you ship.

Shopper sees: a normal-looking checkout, pays in full now.
In Shopify: a normal paid order, that is not fulfillable until you fulfill it.

Partial payment

The customer pays part now and the rest later. You choose the upfront amount, and this is where the common scenarios come from.

0 upfront (reserve now, pay later) — the shopper reserves the item and is charged nothing at checkout. Shopify securely stores their payment method, and the full amount is collected automatically later. Use it for "reserve now, pay when it ships."
Percentage upfront — the shopper pays a percentage deposit now, for example 20 percent, and the remaining 80 percent later.
Fixed amount upfront — the shopper pays a set amount now, for example 10.00, and the remainder later.

How the balance is collected

This is the same in every partial-payment scenario:

At checkout, Shopify takes the upfront amount (which may be 0) and securely stores the customer's payment method.
The order carries payment terms showing the outstanding balance and when it is due, either on a specific date or a set number of days after checkout, depending on how the plan is configured.
When the balance is due, Shopify charges the stored payment method automatically, where your payment provider supports automatic collection. Where it does not, you send an invoice or charge the balance from the order.

What the shopper sees along the way

On the product page: the pre-order button, plus the payment option, for example a "Pay Later" or deposit line describing that they pay part now and the rest later.
In the cart: the item marked as a pre-order.
At checkout: they are charged only the upfront amount (full, a deposit, or nothing).
After ordering: their confirmation reflects what was charged and that a balance remains, and they are charged the remainder later without needing to do anything.

What you see in Shopify

The order shows payment terms with the outstanding balance and its due date.
You can let Shopify auto-charge the balance when due, send the customer an invoice, mark the order as paid if you collected another way, or charge the balance manually from the order.

Pricing: optional pre-order discount

You can reward early orders with a discount applied to the pre-order price at checkout.

No discount: full price.
Amount: a fixed amount off, for example 5.00 off.
Percentage: a percentage off, for example 10 percent.

Scenario: you offer 10 percent to early birds. A 50.00 item is charged as 45.00, or a deposit calculated from 45.00 if you also use partial payment.

Known limitations

Automatic balance collection depends on your payment provider supporting deferred capture. Where it does not, you collect the balance by invoice from the order.
Selling-plan pre-orders, including partial payments, are not supported for B2B or wholesale orders, this is a Shopify limitation.

When the customer is told it ships: Shipping dates
When inventory is reserved and how fulfillment is deferred: Inventory and Fulfillment
Overview of all the building blocks: How Pre-Orders Work

Updated on: 07/01/2026

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