Recurring Payment Plans are currently in Closed Beta.
Purpose
Recurring Payments provides a built-in way to automate scheduled billing for a client’s outstanding balance using Shepherd Pay. Practices can set up payment plans that charge a saved payment method on a repeating schedule.
Before you start
Recurring Payments requires Shepherd Pay.
Clients must approve the plan (in person signature or email eSignature) before it can run.
A plan’s total amount cannot exceed the client’s outstanding balance at the time the plan is created.
Enable Recurring Payments
Recurring Payments is available once Shepherd Pay is enabled.
To enable Recurring Payments
Go to Admin → Clinic Settings → Financial Settings.
In the Shepherd Pay section, turn on Enable Recurring Payments.
If you are enabling Shepherd Pay for the first time, Enable Recurring Payments turns on automatically.
If Shepherd Pay is already enabled, you may need to turn on Recurring Payments manually (existing accounts may start with it off).
Select Save.
What you’ll see after enabling
Once recurring plans exist, the number of active plans displays next to the Enable Recurring Payments toggle.
Enable Recurring Payments and Enable Shepherd Pay cannot be turned off while active plans exist.
To disable Recurring Payments, you must pause or cancel all active plans first.
Creating a Recurring Payment Plan
Recurring payment plans can be created in two ways.
Option 1: From the client profile
Open the Client Profile.
Go to Financial → Recurring Payments.
Select + Add Recurring Plan.
Option 2: From the Take Payment screen
Select Take Payment.
Confirm Use Shepherd Pay is toggled on.
Under Payment Method, toggle on Set Up a Recurring Payment.
Set up the Recurring Payment Plan
Complete the following fields.
Plan details
Plan Name - Visible to clients in emails and documents.
Payment Frequency - Weekly, Bi-Weekly, Monthly, or Yearly.
Plan Duration - choose either Number of Occurrences or Date Range
If Date Range:
The start date must be in the future.
The first payment date cannot be the current date.
Payment amount
Total Amount - The full amount due across the entire plan.
Cannot be $0.
Cannot exceed the client’s outstanding balance.
Recurring Amount - Automatically calculated based on the total amount and schedule. This is the amount charged each billing cycle.
Select a payment method
Choose an existing saved payment method, or select + Add New Card.
Add a new card
Select + Add New Card.
Enter the required card details.
Select Use Card.
Client approval
Choose one:
Request client signature immediately
Send for eSignature via email
Client approval must be received on or before the scheduled start date. If approval is not received by the start date, the plan is automatically voided.
View Recurring Payment Plans
From the Client Profile
Go to Client Profile → Financial → Recurring Payments to see active, scheduled, and completed plans.
From the Recurring Plans dashboard
The dashboard provides an overview of plans across the practice.
From the left menu, select Financial.
Select Recurring Plans.
You can search by:
Client first name
Client last name
Recurring plan name
The dashboard shows:
Active recurring payment plans (includes Active, Scheduled, Past Due as of today)
Total payments collected in the last 30 days
Upcoming 7-day charges
Payments are processed in Eastern Time (ET). Dates may appear as the next day in your local time zone, but processing follows ET.
Dashboard tabs
Overview
Past Due Plans
Completed Plans (past 30 days)
Managing User Permissions
Recurring Payments includes separate permissions for viewing vs creating or updating plans.
In Admin → Users/Roles:
Recurring Payment Dashboard (View): shows or hides the dashboard in Financial.
Recurring Payment (Create): allows users to create new plans.
Recurring Payment (Update, Cancel): allows users to edit, reschedule, or cancel plans.
Admins and practice owners receive these permissions by default.
Plan statuses
You may see these plan statuses in the client profile and dashboard:
Pending: awaiting client approval
Scheduled: approved, but starts in the future
Active: approved and currently running
Past Due: one or more recent billing attempts failed
Completed: reached the end of the schedule
Canceled: manually stopped, no future billing
Denied: client declined the plan
Voided: approval not received by the start date
Editing and canceling plans
Edit a plan
If you have the Update, Cancel permission, you can edit a plan.
Plan name and payment method can be updated.
When a plan is updated, the client receives an email summarizing what changed.
Cancel a plan
If you have the Update, Cancel permission, you can cancel a plan.
A cancellation reason is required.
Once canceled, a plan cannot be restarted.
The client receives a cancellation confirmation email.
Client communications and receipts
Recurring Payments triggers automated emails based on client actions and payment events, including:
Plan sent for approval (in-person or eSignature)
Approval confirmation (with PDF summary)
Decline confirmation (with PDF summary)
48-hour approval reminder (if no response)
Upcoming payment reminder (7 days before)
Payment receipt after a successful charge
Payment processing issue notice if a charge fails
Plan canceled confirmation
Plan details modified confirmation
Surcharge fee wording is included only if surcharge fees are enabled for the Shepherd Pay account.
Important behaviors to know
Recurring charges continue as scheduled even if the client’s outstanding balance becomes paid in full. Any overpayment becomes a credit balance on the client’s account, and the plan must be canceled manually if no longer needed.
If a payment attempt fails, the schedule does not advance. Future charges follow the original cadence.
Activity logs should record key events such as creation, approval requests, approvals/declines, edits, cancellations, and automatic voiding.
Troubleshooting
The Recurring Payments tab does not appear
Confirm Shepherd Pay is enabled.
Confirm Enable Recurring Payments is on in Admin → Clinic Settings → Financial Settings.
I cannot turn off Recurring Payments
You cannot disable Recurring Payments while there are active plans. Pause or cancel the active plans first.
The client says the approval link expired
The plan may have been voided because the start date passed before approval was received. Create a new plan with a new start date and resend approval.
Dates look off by one day
Processing follows Eastern Time (ET). If your device is in another time zone, upcoming charge dates may display differently even though processing still occurs based on ET.