Collecting participation fees online with pmPayment

Elmsbrück has a contract with pmPayment and collects participation fees online from the summer holidays 2027. Anyone who cannot pay online pays in cash at the citizens' office. You turn on the app Payments, connect fepli to pmPayment, set up the payments and accompany the season from the admission notice to the last cash payment. Setting up takes about 30 minutes; the reminder and the cash payments are spread over the weeks after committing.

What you need

• An account with the role Super admin. Only super admins see the Settings. For the Payments area, the role View and create payments is enough later.
• The credentials from the pmPayment contract: the official municipality key, the salt and the procedure.
• The season Summer holidays 2027 with a registration phase using the lottery. The offers carry a Participation fee. Planning the summer holidays with a lottery shows how to create the season.

Step 1 – Turn on the app Payments

Receipts, debtors and cash payments belong to the app Payments. pmPayment builds on it and can only be switched on once it is on.

1. Select Settings.
2. Switch to App-Store.
3. Select the card Payments.
4. If the app shows “Switched on.” or “Set by the installation.”, select Close and continue with step 2.
5. Select Switch on.

The message “Payments switched on.” appears, the card Payments shows Switched on, and the sidebar lists Payments.

Step 2 – Connect pmPayment

With the credentials, fepli forwards families to pmPayment to pay, and pmPayment reports each payment back to fepli. Your instance stores the credentials encrypted.

1. Select Settings.
2. Switch to App-Store.
3. Select the card pmPayment.
4. If the app shows “Set by the installation.”, the installation provides the credentials. In that case select Close and continue with step 3.
5. Under AGS (official municipality key), enter the official municipality key.
6. Under Procedure, enter the procedure, and under Salt, enter the salt from your contract.
7. Select Connect.

The message “pmPayment connected.” appears, and the card pmPayment shows Connected. fepli does not show the salt again: the field Salt contains only a row of dots. If the field stays empty, fepli keeps the saved value.

Step 3 – Set receipt numbers and how fees are paid

The prefix marks the receipts of the year: with FP2027- they are called FP2027-1, FP2027-2 and so on, and a new prefix starts again at 1. Elmsbrück leaves Offers selectable for payment off, so that each family settles all open fees in one payment; if the setting is on, families select individual offers and pay the rest later.

1. In the settings, switch to Payments.
2. Under Receipt number prefix, enter FP2027-.
3. Make sure that Offers selectable for payment is turned off.
4. Select Save.

The message “Settings saved.” appears. The row Payments shows “Enabled”, the row Online payment shows “pmPayment”.

Step 4 – Collect fees for the season

Only a season with Collect participation fees keeps a payment status, and only its registrations appear in the payment views. The setting is turned on for new seasons. Verify it anyway before the first registrations are confirmed.

1. In the sidebar, under Seasons, select the season Summer holidays 2027.
2. Switch to the tab Edit.
3. On the left, open the page Payment & completion.
4. If Collect participation fees in the section Payments is turned off, turn it on and select Save.

Collect participation fees is turned on, and on the season's tab Details, Participation fees now shows On.

Step 5 – Point to payment in the admission notice

In a lottery, families owe something only with the admission notice, and the default text of the notice mentions no fees. An additional paragraph tells families where to pay. Elmsbrück names the citizens' office in it right away, for everyone who pays in cash.

1. Select Communication > Notifications.
2. On the left, select Admission notices.
3. Switch to the tab Default and then to the tab Edit.
4. Under Text, enter a paragraph at the end, e.g. You pay the participation fees online in your account on the Ferienpass website or in cash at the citizens' office.
5. Select Save.

The message “Saved.” appears. The note now appears in every admission notice, as long as the season has no version of its own of the notification.

Step 6 – Track the open fees after committing

In a lottery, the payment obligation arises when you commit, because every confirmation can still change until then. In first come, first served, it would arise already with the confirmation at registration. For Elmsbrück this means: families pay as soon as their admission notice has arrived.

1. Commit the registrations and notify the families. The steps are in Commit registrations.
2. In the sidebar, select Payments.
3. At the top, select the season Summer holidays 2027.
4. At the top, select Open.

The list shows every registration with an open fee, and Open at the top shows the total. Families see “Payment pending” on the website and pay through Pay participation fees: they verify the billing address and the amount and select the payment method at pmPayment. After the payment, they receive the email Receipt created with the receipt as a PDF, and the registration disappears from Open.

Step 7 – Remind families of open fees

After two weeks, Elmsbrück reminds all families who have not paid yet. Each account receives an email with its amount and a personal payment link, which is valid for 30 days. Accounts without an email address are left out; the team gives them a printed invoice.

1. Select Payments and then, at the top, Open.
2. Select all registrations and then Send payment link.
3. In the dialog, verify which accounts are left out, and select Open draft.
4. At the end of the message, enter You can also pay in cash at the citizens' office.
5. Select See preview and verify the email.

6. Select “Send {count} payment reminders” and then Send for good.

Each account has received an email with the button “Pay now”. Under Receipts, the new receipts appear in the state New.

Step 8 – Book a cash payment at the citizens' office

Anyone who cannot pay online brings the amount to the citizens' office. The team books it in fepli and gives the family a receipt. That way, cash and online payments appear in the same cash report.

1. Select Payments and then Record payment.
2. Enter the participant's name, e.g. Alex Beispiel, and select the entry.
3. Under Who pays, verify the account, and under Billing address, verify the address.
4. Under What for, select the items the family pays.
5. To see the change, enter the amount received under Received.
6. Select “Book {amount} & print receipt”.

The receipt is paid, bears a number like FP2027-12 and opens for printing. The registration disappears from Open.

What you have achieved

fepli is connected to pmPayment, and in the summer holidays 2027 Elmsbrück bills participation fees. Families pay after the admission notice, online or in cash at the citizens' office. On both routes, the receipts come from the same number sequence.

If your case is different

• If you allocate places first come, first served, the payment obligation arises already with the confirmation at registration: Allocating the autumn holidays first come, first served.
• If a season levies no fees, turn off Collect participation fees there: Collect participation fees for a season.
• If a family has still not paid after 30 days, its payment link is no longer valid, and you send a new reminder: Send a payment reminder with a payment link.
• If a paid offer is cancelled, you refund the fees or leave them as credit: Refund fees after a cancellation.
• If you collect only cash, without an online provider, turn on the app Payments and leave pmPayment off: Payments.

Where to go next

• Send a payment reminder with a payment link
• Record a cash payment
• How payment obligation, receipt and credit fit together