Layaway and payment plans
For Owners & managers · 6 min read · Last reviewed 2026-08-04
High-ticket furniture is routinely paid across several weeks — a deposit today, the rest before collection. A payment plan (layaway) keeps the order open while the customer pays it down, so nothing has to be re-rung and the balance is always current.
Partial payments accrue against the order through the ordinary tender flow. When the balance reaches zero the order closes and the plan is done — ready to hand over or deliver.
Start a plan with a deposit
- Build the order — goods plus any delivery, assembly or haul-away services.
- Start a payment plan and take the customer’s deposit as the first payment.
- The order stays open with the remaining balance owing.
Take payments over time
Each time the customer comes in, ring another payment against the same order. The balance falls with every tender until it reaches zero, at which point the order closesand the plan is fulfilled— no separate reconciliation step.
When a customer cancels
If a customer cancels mid-plan, cancel the plan to flip its status — but the payments already taken stay put. High-ticket reversals deserve a human eye, so RetailPOS never auto-refunds: you decide whether to refund the deposit or keep it as a restocking fee, and move the money through the ordinary refund path.
Frequently asked
- Does the order stay open while the customer is paying?
- Yes. The order stays open through the plan and only closes when the balance reaches zero, at which point the plan is marked fulfilled.
- What happens to payments if a plan is cancelled?
- Cancelling a plan flips its status but leaves the payments already taken in place. RetailPOS never auto-refunds high-ticket sales — you refund the deposit or keep it, through the ordinary refund path.
- Do I need a separate layaway product?
- No. Payment plans are built into RetailPOS and shown on the Layaway page in the back office.
Put it into practice.
Open your shop and try it live. Free until your first 100 sales — no card, keep your hardware.