Planning Fees

Planning fees let you collect payment for your professional expertise — before you start planning, after a consultation, or at any point in the client relationship. A client receives a branded payment page, pays via credit card or ACH, and gets an automatic receipt. You get paid directly through Stripe.

What Are Planning Fees For?

Planning fees are designed for professional service charges that aren't tied to a supplier booking:

• Initial consultation fees
• Trip planning and research fees
• Destination expertise fees
• Itinerary design fees
• Ongoing advisory retainers
• Change or cancellation service fees

Planning fees are NOT for:

• Trip deposits paid to suppliers
• Supplier booking payments
• Travel package costs
• Any amount that needs to flow through to a vendor

For those, use Invoices instead.

Planning Fee or Invoice?

Invoices are not only for money that flows through to a supplier. An invoice bills your client for anything you charge them, and that includes your planning fee. Which one to reach for depends on what you need to send with it:

To bill a planning fee as an invoice, go to Invoices & Cards → New Invoice, pick the client, and add a line item for your planning package. You do not need to build the trip first. Before sending, the Terms & Conditions card on the invoice controls which terms the client sees and whether they must accept them before paying; turn those on for every new invoice under Settings → Agency & Branding → Defaults → Terms & Conditions. See Invoice Terms & Conditions.

Setting Up Stripe

Before sending a planning fee, the Stripe account selected by your agency must be ready to accept payments.

1. Open Settings → Payments. Working solo, use Client payments and choose Set up Stripe. You only need one connection. If you already have two different saved accounts, the page keeps the choice of which one receives new payments.
2. Already use Stripe? This setup creates a separate Stripe account for JourneyFuse payments. You can use your existing Stripe login, but your other account and its payment history stay separate.
3. Finish the required business and bank details in Stripe, then return to JourneyFuse. If setup is unfinished, choose Continue Stripe setup to resume the same saved account.
4. Check that the account is connected and ready before sending a payment link. If JourneyFuse cannot save or check the connection, follow the message on this page or contact support before starting over.

On a team: owners and admins use Where client payments go to choose advisor or agency collection. For advisor collection, use Your client-fee account. For agency collection, an owner or admin sets up Agency payment account. Advisors do not need a separate account when their agency collects centrally.

The destination is locked when a planning fee is sent. Changing the agency setting does not move an existing payment request to another account. An unsent draft uses the policy in effect when it is sent.

These are client-fee collections, separate from supplier commission payouts. Connecting Stripe does not release held advisor commissions, and a card authorization does not itself charge the client's card through Stripe. For group collections, use the group's Funds workflow.

JourneyFuse does not add a platform fee to planning fee payments. Stripe processing fees apply. Check the connected account for available payment methods and bank payout timing rather than assuming an instant deposit.

Sending a Planning Fee

You can send a planning fee from four places:

From a Lead

If you charge before you start planning, send the fee while the person is still a lead.

1. Open the lead from your Leads pipeline
2. Click Planning fee
3. Enter the amount, a description, and an optional due date, then tick Send immediately

You don't need to convert the lead first. If they aren't in your contacts yet, we add them so the fee has a record to live on, and the lead stays in your pipeline at its current stage until you convert it. When you do convert, the same contact record is used, so nothing is duplicated.

Sending the fee moves a New lead to Contacted, puts the email under the lead's Emails Sent, and adds a line to its Activity & Notes ("Planning fee of $500.00 sent to …"). When your client pays, a "Planning fee … paid" line appears there too, and voiding or refunding the fee is recorded the same way.

From a Trip

1. Open the trip → go to the Invoices tab
2. Click New Planning Fee
3. Enter the amount, a description, and an optional due date
4. Click Send — your client receives an email with a payment link

From a Client Profile

1. Open any client → look for the Planning Fees section
2. Click New Planning Fee
3. Fill in the details and send

Standalone

1. Go to Invoices & Cards
2. Click Send Planning Fee
3. Select the client, fill in the details, and send

Inside Any Email or Automation

Put a Pay now button for the fee straight into an email, so the client pays from the first message instead of filling in a form and waiting for a second one. It works in automation emails, in the email composer, and in a trip's emails.

1. In the email editor toolbar, click Add a button, then Planning fee
2. Enter the Amount and What it is for, then click Insert button
3. Save the email and use it in any automation step, or send it

When the email goes out, each client gets their own fee for that amount, attached to their client record (and their lead or trip, if the email is about one). The fee appears in your Planning Fees list as Sent, and the usual payment reminders apply.

• Nobody is charged twice. If the client already has that fee for the same trip, open or paid, the button links to it. A paid fee's page says it is paid.
• Leads work too. A lead with no client record yet gets one quietly, and the lead stays at its stage.
• Stripe must be connected for the advisor who sends it. If it is not, the dialog warns you; an automation leaves the button out rather than sending one that goes nowhere, and the composer asks you to connect Stripe first.
• Send it to a saved client. The fee lands on a client record, so the composer warns you under To when an address is not on a client yet, and that email will not send.
• Previews and tests are safe to click. In a preview, or a Send me a test from an automation step, the button opens a sample of the payment page in your branding. No fee is created and nothing can be charged. Only a real send to a client creates the fee.

What Your Client Sees

When you send a planning fee, your client receives an email from JourneyFuse with your name and agency branding. The email shows:

• The fee amount
• Your description of the service
• The due date (if you set one)
• A Pay Now button

Clicking Pay Now opens a secure Stripe-hosted payment page. Clients can pay with:

• Any major credit or debit card (Visa, Mastercard, Amex, Discover)
• ACH bank transfer (US clients only)

After payment, Stripe sends the client a receipt automatically. You'll receive an email notification confirming the payment.

Attaching a Fee to a Proposal

You can require a planning fee as part of proposal acceptance — the client pays before (or at the same time as) accepting your proposal.

1. Open a proposal → go to Proposal Settings
2. Enable Require Planning Fee
3. Set the amount and description
4. Save — the proposal acceptance flow will now include a payment step

When a client accepts the proposal, they're taken to the payment page before their acceptance is confirmed. Once paid, the proposal status updates automatically.

Payment Reminders

If a client hasn't paid by the due date, JourneyFuse can send automatic reminders on your behalf. To configure this:

1. Go to Settings → Workspace Settings
2. Find the Payment Reminders section
3. Set how many days before and after the due date reminders go out

Reminders are sent as branded emails with the original Pay Now link. Clients don't need to create an account — the link works until they pay or the fee is voided.

Seeing Your Planning Fee Income

Every paid planning fee also adds up on Reports → Revenue, in the Planning Fees section at the bottom of the tab. It shows the total collected for the date range you pick, broken down by month.

• Agency Reports also splits the total by the advisor who sent each fee, which is the figure to use when you pay an advisor a share of their fees.
• My Reports shows only the fees you sent.
• Amounts are what the client paid, before Stripe's processing fees. A fee you refunded in full drops out. A fee you refunded in part still counts at its full amount, and the section says so.

Planning fees are kept apart from supplier commission, so they never change the commission figures above them or an advisor's commission payouts. Paying an advisor their share of a fee is still done outside JourneyFuse.

Planning Fee Statuses

FAQ

What fees does Stripe charge?

Stripe's standard rates apply: 2.9% + $0.30 per card transaction, or 0.8% (capped at $5.00) for ACH bank transfers. These are deducted from your payout — JourneyFuse does not add any additional platform fees.

Can I refund a planning fee?

Yes. Go to your Stripe Dashboard and issue a refund from there. JourneyFuse will reflect the updated status once Stripe processes it.

Can I void a planning fee before the client pays?

Yes. Open the planning fee and click Void. The payment link will be deactivated and the client will not be able to pay. You can add a note when voiding to keep a record of why.

Can I disconnect Stripe?

An owner or admin can disconnect the agency account from Settings → Payments → Disconnect Stripe. Any unpaid planning fees will be automatically voided when you disconnect. Paid fees and their records are preserved.

I closed or unlinked my Stripe account. How do I start over?

Open Settings → Payments. When Stripe reports that the account is closed or no longer linked to JourneyFuse, Client payments (or Your client-fee account on a team) says This Stripe account is no longer connected to JourneyFuse and shows Connect a new Stripe account. Click it to set up a new account. For the agency account, the card reads Stripe account no longer connected. An owner or admin uses Disconnect Stripe there, then connects a new account.

Does JourneyFuse charge any platform fees on planning fees?

No. JourneyFuse charges $0 on planning fee transactions. You only pay Stripe's standard processing fees.

Can I send a planning fee in a currency other than USD?

Yes. JourneyFuse supports any currency that Stripe supports. When creating a planning fee, select the currency from the dropdown. Note that the client's payment method must support the selected currency.

What if my client doesn't see the email?

Ask them to check their spam folder. You can also copy the payment link directly — open the planning fee and click Copy Link, then share it with your client via any channel (text, WhatsApp, etc.).