Activity Messenger Help Center
Payment forms
Before you begin
Prepare what you will sell, the information needed for the account owner and participants, the applicable taxes and the payment methods you will accept. For card payments, connect Stripe and explicitly check whether the account is in test or live mode. Do not assume a newly connected account is automatically in test mode.
Payment forms are forms with integrated payment. They extend the existing Forms that you already use for waivers and surveys. Just like regular forms, payment forms are standalone pages that have unique URLs. You can point your clients to the form, embed them on your website and even post a QR code on your wall for clients to purchase using their smartphone.
With Payment forms you can create a complete class or event registration in a single page. The form can include questions like parent, children, skills and preferences. The form can contain one item you are selling (i.e. class or event) or you can also bundle other items in the same form. Options are limitless. Best of all, since they are a single page, payment forms limit the number of clicks, steps and options a client has to make. Payment forms allow you to contextualize a purchase for your client.
To clients filling a payment form is a 3-step process:
Step 1 - Filling the form
The client fills in the form and answers questions. Answers will be used to build an invoice as per the question rules.
Step 2 - Invoice and payment
The invoice is presented based on question answers. A payment form is presented to the client.
Step 3 - Confirmation
The client sees the confirmation for the selected payment method. Check the invoice and payment status: offline payments and pending bank payments are not the same as a completed card payment. Configure the confirmation email and PDF options for the client’s records.
After a purchase is made, the client appears in the Respondents table of the payment form. A Purchases column shows you what was sold and what was paid. Click on a respondent to open up the Client billing.
Activity Messenger allows you to set up email notifications and configure the email confirmation message. More later on these options.
Creating a payment form
To get started click on Forms and "Create a payment form". Give your form a name and click on Create.
Choose the Create from scratch option, then Create a payment form. Give it a name and click Create.
Designing the Form
Click on the Form tab to build your form. Click on (+) to add questions. In the Add a question dialog, select the E-Commerce tab. Choose one of the options available. You can also add images and text block by choosing the Content tab in the Add a question dialog. For example this payment form includes an image, an event/class block and an account owner question.
Adding Courses
To add a course, click on Courses and select the course to add to the form.
If you want to add more than one course to your form, choose the multiple courses option. With this option, you'll need to set enrollment rules based on your preferences.
After saving, you'll see that the course has been added to the form, allowing users to purchase it.
Events with tickets
To add event tickets, click on Event with Ticket and select the desired event.
This will create an item that users can purchase with various options, such as adding multiple participants. A ticket with a QR code will be automatically generated along with the invoice.
Products
You can also add items like merchandise. Select the items you have created so that people can purchase them through the form.
Donation/Tip
Donations and tips can be added, including options for recurring monthly donations. You can set a minimum or maximum amount and include a donation receipt via email.
Fundraising
For fundraising, you can set a goal, such as $6,000, and allow people to contribute to that goal. You can choose whether or not to display the donors.
Invoice Items
Invoice items can also be added. For example, for room rentals, you can add items such as the number of people, the price per table, or cleaning fees.
Mandatory Invoice Items: Set mandatory items by specifying minimum and maximum quantities, making certain items required for purchase.
Variable Invoice Item: Allow your customers to purchase an item while modifying its description, quantity, and amount.
Checkbox Invoice Items: Add multiple items with sub-options. With the checkbox option, the customer can choose multiple sub-options.
Radio Button Invoice Items: Add multiple items with sub-options. With the radio button option, the customer can choose only one sub-option.
Membership
To add a membership purchase, click + on the Form tab, open the E-Commerce tab, and choose Membership. Configure the question for one membership. You can make enrollment required or optional, then save and preview the form. The question displays that membership and lets the client add it to the purchase; it does not provide a single mutually exclusive choice among several membership definitions.
To offer several standalone memberships, add one Membership question for each membership you want to offer. A class-registration question is not a way to present standalone membership choices. Use class participant rules only when the membership is linked to registration for that class. See Membership for membership setup and the class-registration workflow.
The question uses the membership's effective price unless you set a price override in the form question. Review the question price and preview the invoice total before sharing the form.
Contribution to an Invoice
This is useful for allowing multiple users to pay a single invoice. For example, an invoice of $1,000 for a team of 5 people. Each team member can contribute $200 to participate.
Configuring the Payment step
Click on the Payments tab. A preview of the payment step will be displayed. Click the button to configure the payment method.
Different Payment Types Available:
Offline: Payment is made outside of the platform.
Credit Card (via Stripe): The customer pays directly at the end of the registration form with their credit card.
Gift Card: The customer can pay with a gift card that you have previously created on the platform.
Interac Transfers: The customer pays via Interac transfer through email.
Bank Transfer: Ideal for larger transactions. The customer logs into their bank account, with Stripe acting as the intermediary. The payment may remain pending for up to 5 business days before being automatically reconciled.
It is also possible to take a deposit or allow scheduled payments.
Your clients can pay in other ways. Check the Payment methods help page to learn more.
Configuring the confirmation step
Customize the confirmation page that users see after completing the form. This page can include the invoice, additional text, or links to your website.
Payment form options
Click on the Options tab. Several options are available.
If your payment form also serves as a contract, Activity Messenger can include the answers to the questions in the PDF invoice document. The PDF file will be sent to the client and kept for your records. You can even include an electronic signature.
Activity Messenger uses a template for the confirmation email. You can modify it or design your own template.
You can notify one or more users (coaches or administrators) via email after a purchase. They will receive a copy of the PDF file as an attachment.
Your customers can pay by other means. Checkout the help page Payment methods to find out more.
Analytics
The Analytics tab provides charts and metrics. It gives you a summary of sales, payments and balance. It will also present charts for specific questions you may ask. Consult the Surveys and analytics help page to find out more.
Share the form
Once your payment form is ready, click on Share to obtain a unique link, a QR code, or an embed code for your website. You can also send it via email or SMS to your participants or clients.
Check the full purchase before launch
- Configure prices and taxes on the invoice-producing questions, not only in the organization’s settings. For a simple season fee, an Invoice items question can define the description, price and allowed quantity. For scheduled registration, use the class question instead.
- Check the payment mode before submitting anything. In test mode, use the test details shown by your payment provider; in live mode, a card submission can create a real charge.
- Complete the form and review the invoice, chosen payment option and confirmation. A deposit leaves a balance; offline or pending payment does not mean the invoice is paid in full.
- Find the submission under Respondents. Review its purchases and open client billing to inspect the invoice and payment status.
- Review sales, taxes, payments and question summaries under Analytics. Use columns and exports to see the answers required by your team.
- Before sharing a public registration link, deliberately confirm your live payment configuration, taxes, confirmation text and notifications.
Keep invoice corrections, cancellations and refunds in the client billing workflow. For payment-method eligibility and processing details, use Payment methods.