Autopay

Autopay lets you set up recurring automatic payments for a family. Once configured, payments are charged automatically on the schedule you choose — no manual work needed. Families’ saved credit cards or bank accounts are charged on the scheduled dates.

Setting Up Autopay for a Family

1. Go to the Families page from the sidebar.
2. Click on the family you want to set up.
3. Scroll down to the Autopay section.
4. Click Set Up Autopay.
5. Choose how much to charge (see “Amount Options” below).
6. Select the family’s saved payment method (card or bank account).
7. Configure the schedule (frequency, start date, day of month or week).
8. Click Create.

The schedule will start generating payments on the dates you chose. Campflow charges the family’s card or bank account automatically on each scheduled date.

Amount Options

When setting up Autopay, you choose how the payment amount is calculated:

Fixed Amount

Charge the same dollar amount every time. For example, $500 on the 1st of every month.

Full Balance

Charge the family’s entire remaining balance each time. This is useful when you want to collect whatever is still owed on a regular schedule. The amount adjusts automatically as payments come in or new charges are added.

Payment Plan

Select from a payment plan template that your camp has set up. The plan defines specific amounts and dates (for example, 25% at enrollment, 25% on June 1st, 50% on July 1st). The amounts are calculated based on the family’s current balance.

Custom Schedule

Define your own set of specific dates and amounts. This gives you full control — you can set different amounts for different dates. For example, $1,000 on May 1st, $1,500 on June 1st, and $2,000 on July 1st.

Frequency Settings

For Fixed Amount and Full Balance schedules, you choose how often payments are charged:

• Monthly — Pick which day of the month (1st through 31st, or the last day of the month). If you choose the 31st and a month has fewer days, Campflow will use the last day of that month.
• Weekly — Pick which day of the week (Monday through Sunday).

The Start date is suggested automatically based on your frequency settings, but you can change it.

When Autopay Stops

You can control when a schedule stops collecting payments:

• When balance reaches $0 (default) — The schedule automatically completes when the family’s balance is fully paid. This is the most common choice.
• After a set number of payments — The schedule stops after a specific number of payments, regardless of balance.
• On a specific date — The schedule stops on the date you choose, regardless of how many payments were made.
• Never — The schedule runs indefinitely until you cancel it manually.

Advanced Options

Click Show advanced options when setting up Autopay to see additional settings:

• Secondary payment method — A backup card or bank account to try if the primary method fails. After two failed attempts with the primary method, Campflow will try the secondary method.
• Payment reminders — Send the family an email a few days before each scheduled payment. You can choose how many days in advance (default is 3 days).

Managing Active Schedules

Once an Autopay schedule is running, you can manage it from the family’s Autopay section:

Pause

Temporarily stop payments from being charged. The schedule stays in place — no payments will be processed until you resume it. You can add an optional reason for pausing.

If there are overdue payments when you resume, Campflow will warn you that those payments will be charged immediately.

Edit

Change the amount, frequency, payment method, or other settings. For custom schedules that have already processed some payments, you can edit the remaining payments without affecting the ones already collected.

Once a fixed or full-balance schedule has processed at least one payment, it cannot be edited — you would need to cancel it and create a new one.

Cancel

Stop the schedule permanently and delete all remaining scheduled payments. Payments that were already collected are not affected. You can add an optional reason for cancelling.

The Autopay Page

The Autopay page (in the sidebar) gives you a bird’s-eye view of all Autopay activity across all families. It has two tabs:

• Payments — Shows all individual Autopay payment items: what is coming up, what has been paid, what failed. Dashboard tiles at the top show urgency-focused stats.
• Schedules — Shows all Autopay schedules across families, their status (active, paused, completed, cancelled), and summary counts.

What Happens When a Payment Fails

If a scheduled payment fails (card declined, insufficient funds, etc.):

1. Campflow sends a notification to the family about the failed payment.
2. The payment is retried the next day.
3. After two failed attempts with the primary payment method, Campflow tries the secondary payment method (if one is set up).
4. After all retry attempts are exhausted, the payment is marked as failed.
5. If three consecutive payments fail, the schedule is automatically paused to prevent repeated failed charges.

Autopay and Balance Changes

If a family’s balance changes after Autopay is set up (for example, because fees were added or a credit was applied), the scheduled Autopay amount does not automatically adjust. Autopay continues charging the original amount that was configured. If you need to update the amount, open the family’s Autopay schedule and edit it. For full-balance Autopay, the amount recalculates automatically based on the current balance.

Autopay and Payment Plans

Payment plans and Autopay work together but serve different purposes. A payment plan is what parents see and choose — it defines a schedule of installments. When a parent selects a payment plan, Campflow sets up an Autopay schedule behind the scenes to charge them automatically on those dates. You can also set up Autopay directly without a payment plan.

Good to Know

• Autopay requires a saved payment method (credit card or bank account). The family must have at least one saved before you can set up Autopay.
• Autopay schedules are tied to a specific season. When you switch seasons, you will see the schedules for that season.
• When a payment is made manually or through a different channel, Autopay automatically recalculates. If the balance drops to zero, the schedule completes on its own.
• Receipts are sent automatically after each successful Autopay payment.
• You can set up multiple Autopay schedules for the same family if needed.
• Upcoming Autopay charges won’t show on the family’s Financial tab until they actually process. If you’ve set up Autopay and don’t see payments listed yet, that’s expected — they’ll appear as each one is charged on its scheduled date. To see what’s coming up, check the family’s Autopay section or the Autopay page.