How to Create & Apply Payment Plans in Dubsado 3.0
- Bloom Team
- Dec 24, 2025
- 4 min read
Payment Plans in Dubsado 3.0 let you structure how clients pay and unlock automated billing follow-ups. You can even create templates for installments or a Pay in Full option - which is recommended if you want to automate invoice reminder emails inside your workflows.
There are two ways to apply a payment plan:
Default (global) → apply a main payment plan directly inside your Proposal Template. When selected, this plan will automatically apply to all future invoices created through the Proposal → Contract → Invoice onboarding method.
Manual (variable) → open any active invoice and apply a Payment Plan Template on a case-by-case basis. This method is ideal for repeat clients, unique projects, or customized billing needs.
Both options give you flexibility in how you bill - one automated for future conversions, and one tailored in real time for individual clients.
How to Create a Payment Plan Template in Dubsado 3.0
→ Start by navigating to the Invoicing tab on the left sidebar
→ Click "Payment Plans"
→ You can click the "+" sign to create a new Payment Plan template from scratch, but I recommend clicking the "duplicate" icons to duplicate an existing plan, so that you don't need to configure the initial settings
Let's say you're duplicating a 4x payment plan and wish to create a 6x payment plan. You'll duplicate your 4x payment plan first.
→ Click into the Payment Plan title to update it
→ Double check the "Amount due" category. Our preferred setting is "Divide Equally" unless you have a fixed amount that you prefer to receive up front.
→ From here, you can click "+ Add Installment" to manually add new installments, but we prefer to click the 3 dots next to one of the existing payment installments, and click "Duplicate" as many times as needed to match the number of payment installments you'd like to see.
→ Each time you duplicate an installment, simply click into the "Due date" column to modify the due date. We recommend setting installments to be "Relative" and to be an ascending number of months after contract signing.
→ Another setting that's important to configure are the Reminders.
Our framework is to set a reminder for:
2 days before the due date, and use an "Upcoming Payment" Custom Email Templatem and a
7 days after due date, using a "Past Due" Custom Email Template.
**It's important to remember that the "Past Due" Reminder will NOT send if the customer has made their payment sooner than 7 days after the due date.
→ The only Reminder that doesn't need an "Upcoming Payment" email is the very first payment installment.
The Due Date for the very first payment installment should be set up similar to this:
Relative Due Date - this settings is mandatory for the Proposal → Contract → Invoice onboarding method
0 days After Contract Signed - meaning 1st payment should be due upon submitting the Proposal, if you're using the Proposal → Contract → Invoice onboarding method.
The Reminder emails should be set to:
7 days after due date
using the Custom Email Template "Past Due" or even a special Custom Email specifically for the 1st Payment Installment that reminds them that their initial deposit is required in order to hold their Project Start Date
→ Something you can also set at this time is an Autopay setting specifically for this Payment Plan by clicking "Override" up near the Payment Plan title.
Your global Autopay settings can be confugured within your Brand Settings, but you do have the option to override the default brand setting for each payment plan, should you wish.
This is entirely up to you, but our practice is to set Autopay as optional for shorter payment plans (ie., 50/50 or 3 Installments) but to make Autopay 'required' for longer payment plans (ie., 4 Monthly payments, 6 Monthly payments, 12 Monthly payments, etc)
How to Set a Default Payment Plan on a Proposal Template
When building a payment plan for future use, you can set it as the default option inside your Proposal Template.
This ensures that when a client is onboarded through the Proposal → Contract → Invoice flow, the same payment structure is automatically applied to all upcoming invoices created from that proposal.
Updates to this plan are made globally in the Templates → Packages → Payment Plans tab, and will apply to future proposals and automated invoices moving forward.
→ Start by navigating to the Forms tab on the left sidebar
→ Ensure you're clicked into "Form Templates"
→ Click the 3 dots and click "Edit" or simply click into your Proposal to open the editor
→ Click into the Proposal Settings
→ Click the dropdown arrow under "Payment plan" and select your default payment plan from the list of options
→ Click "Save and Close"
How to Apply a Payment Plan to an Active Invoice
If you need to apply a payment plan for a client who already has an invoice on their project, you can add it directly inside the active invoice.
This allows you to manually choose the correct payment structure based on the client’s needs - whether that’s split installments, a Pay in Full plan, or a custom billing arrangement.
This method keeps the plan connected to that individual invoice only, without impacting future proposal or onboarding defaults.
→ Click "+ Add a payment plan" to apply one of your Payment Plan Templates to an active Invoice
→ Select your Payment Plan Template from the dropdown list, and modify if needed
→ Click "Save"
IF you already have a default Payment Plan Template applied but simply wish to swap it out for another plan, follow these steps.
→ Click "Edit" next to the existing Payment Plan
→ Using the dropdown arrow, select a new Payment Plan from the list. This should override the existing Payment Plan, but if you run into any issues you can always click "Clear installments"
→ Click "Save" to ensure your new Payment Plan is applied correctly to the Invoice
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