Calculating Monthly Membership Payments

Topic

Plan Pricing

For

Front Office Team

Read Time

~3 minutes

Offering a monthly payment option makes your membership easier to say yes to for patients who prefer smaller, recurring payments. This guide walks through how to set the monthly price for a membership payment plan, including an optional convenience adjustment and enrollment fee.

Setting the monthly price

Many offices price the monthly option slightly higher than one-twelfth of the annual fee to account for the convenience of paying over time. If you choose to do that, calculate the monthly amount like this:

Monthly payment = Annual fee / 12 x (1 + convenience adjustment %)

Example. For an annual fee of $500 with a 20% convenience adjustment:

1. Base monthly amount = $500 / 12 = $41.67
2. With a 20% adjustment = $41.67 x 1.20 = $50.00

The monthly price is your office’s choice. You can also charge exactly one-twelfth of the annual fee with no adjustment at all.

Setting up monthly payments

1. Select the monthly plan option.
2. Enter the pre-calculated monthly amount (including any convenience adjustment).
3. Verify that the recurring payment plan is selected. Monthly plans are billed as automatic recurring payments.
4. Add an enrollment fee as a one-time charge, if your office uses one.

A monthly plan with an enrollment fee collects the fee once, on the first payment:

• Initial payment: monthly fee + enrollment fee
• Following payments: monthly fee only

For example, with a $99 enrollment fee and a $50 monthly payment:

• First month: $149 ($99 + $50)
• Following months: $50

Communicating with patients

Present the monthly payment option as a convenience.

Tip

Explain the annual fee first, then offer the monthly payment as a flexible alternative, noting that the monthly price reflects the convenience of paying over time.

A few things to keep in mind on the payment side:

• All monthly plans are billed as automatic recurring payments.
• Payment information is collected during enrollment.
• The system processes the recurring charges automatically on each billing date.

For help setting your overall fee, see Pricing Your Membership, or compare payment cadences in Monthly or Annual Plans?.