This help explains how booking payments work in WPRentals when the site admin uses a Deposit Fee and/or an Admin Service Fee.
It also explains the difference between:
- Manual Booking Approval – the owner must approve or reject the booking request.
- Instant Booking – the booking can be confirmed without owner approval, depending on payment settings.
Main Payment Rule
In WPRentals, the site admin controls how booking payments are handled.
If online payment is used, the guest pays through the payment methods enabled by the site admin. The money goes to the admin payment account.
This applies to payments made through supported payment methods such as PayPal, Stripe, Wire Transfer, or WooCommerce merchants, depending on your setup.
Booking Payment Settings Managed by Admin
The admin manages booking payment settings from:
Theme Options > Add Listing Page & Payment Settings > Booking Payment Settings
From this section, the admin can set:
- Deposit Fee – the amount the guest must pay before the booking is confirmed.
- Admin Service Fee – the admin commission or service fee for the booking.
- Cleaning fee and city fee behavior – whether these expenses are included in the deposit calculation.
- Payment methods – the merchants used to collect booking payments.
Deposit Fee and Admin Service Fee Explained
Deposit Fee
The Deposit Fee is the amount the guest must pay before the booking is confirmed.
The deposit can be:
- a fixed amount
- a percentage of the booking total
If the deposit is greater than 0, the guest must pay the deposit to confirm the booking.
Admin Service Fee
The Admin Service Fee is the admin commission for the booking.
The service fee is paid by the guest as part of the booking payment collected by the admin.
On the invoice, the service fee is calculated as part of the amount collected by the website admin.
Expenses
The admin can decide whether city fee and cleaning fee are included in the deposit calculation.
If the deposit is set to 100%, these expenses must be included so the full booking amount can be collected correctly.
Scenario 1: Deposit and Service Fee Are 0
Use this setup when the website should not collect a booking payment through WPRentals.
In this setup:
- Deposit Fee is set to 0.
- Admin Service Fee is set to 0.
- The booking can be confirmed without an online payment through the theme.
- Any payment between guest and owner is handled outside WPRentals.
This setup is useful if the website is used mainly for booking requests, inquiries, or offline payment arrangements.
How to confirm a booking when admin deposit and service fees are 0
Scenario 2: Admin Collects Only the Service Fee
Use this setup when the admin wants to collect only the platform commission through WPRentals, while the remaining booking amount is handled outside the theme between the guest and owner.
For this setup, the admin can set the Deposit Fee and Admin Service Fee to the same value.
Example:
- Deposit Fee: 10%
- Admin Service Fee: 10%
With this setup, the guest pays the 10% deposit to confirm the booking, and that amount represents the admin service fee.
Scenario 3: Admin Collects Full Payment
Use this setup when the admin wants the guest to pay the full booking amount through the website.
For this setup, set the Deposit Fee to 100%.
When the deposit is 100%:
- the guest must pay the full booking amount to confirm the booking
- the payment goes to the admin payment account
- city fee and cleaning fee must be included in the deposit calculation if those fees are used
Manual Booking Approval Flow
Manual Booking Approval means the owner must review the booking request before the guest can pay and confirm the booking.
This flow is used when Instant Booking is not enabled for the listing.
Step 1: Guest Sends a Booking Request
The guest selects the booking details on the property page:
- Selects Check-in and Check-out dates.
- Selects the number of guests, if guest selection is enabled.
- Logs in or registers.
- Clicks Book Now.
The request appears in the guest dashboard under My Reservations with a pending status.
Step 2: Owner Reviews the Booking Request
The owner receives an email notification when a new booking request is sent for one of their listings.
The owner logs in and goes to:
User Dashboard > My Bookings
New requests appear with pending status.
Step 3: Owner Rejects or Issues Invoice
The owner has two options:
- Reject Booking Request – the guest receives a rejection notification.
- Issue Invoice – the owner approves the request and creates the invoice for the guest.
When issuing the invoice, the owner can review the booking details and add manual expenses or discounts if needed.
Step 4: Guest Pays the Required Deposit
After the invoice is issued, the guest must pay the required deposit if the deposit is greater than 0.
The payment goes to the admin account.
After payment is completed, the booking becomes confirmed.
Instant Booking Flow
Instant Booking allows a booking to move forward without the owner manually approving or rejecting the booking request.
Instant Booking is enabled per listing from:
User Dashboard > My Listings > Edit Listing > Description
The owner or admin must check:
Allow instant booking? If checked, you will not have the option to reject a booking request.
How the Guest Books With Instant Booking
- The guest selects the check-in and check-out dates.
- The guest selects the number of guests, if guest selection is enabled.
- The guest logs in or registers.
- The guest clicks Book Now.
- If a deposit is required, the guest pays the deposit.
- After payment is completed, the booking is confirmed.
How to enable and disable Instant Booking
How the Renter Pays the Invoice
When an invoice is created and a deposit must be paid, the renter receives an email notification.
The renter can pay from:
User Dashboard > My Reservations
The renter clicks Invoice Created – Check and Pay, reviews the invoice details, and pays with the enabled payment method.
After the deposit is paid, the booking status updates to Confirmed.
Booking Statuses Explained
Pending
The booking request was sent, but the owner has not issued an invoice yet.
Invoice Created / Pending Payment
The owner issued the invoice and the guest must pay the required deposit.
Confirmed, Not Fully Paid
The guest paid the deposit, but there is still a remaining balance because the deposit was less than 100%.
The owner can see the confirmed booking in My Bookings and can send reminder emails for the remaining balance.
Confirmed and Paid
The booking is fully paid through the theme.
The status appears in both the owner dashboard and renter dashboard.
Remaining Balance and Full Payment
If the deposit is less than 100%, the booking can have a remaining balance.
The renter may see a button to pay the invoice in full from:
User Dashboard > My Reservations
To pay the remaining balance through the theme, the renter can:
- Log in to the renter account.
- Go to My Reservations.
- Click Pay Invoice in Full.
- Complete the payment using the enabled payment method.
After the remaining balance is paid, the booking status updates to Confirmed and Paid.
Important Notes
- The admin controls Deposit Fee and Admin Service Fee from Booking Payment Settings.
- Online payments collected through WPRentals go to the admin payment account.
- WPRentals does not send booking payments directly to owner accounts.
- If Deposit Fee is greater than 0, the guest must pay it before the booking is confirmed.
- If Deposit Fee is 100%, the booking is fully paid through the theme when the guest pays.
- If Deposit Fee is less than 100%, the booking can be confirmed but still show a remaining balance.
- If Deposit Fee and Service Fee are both 0, the owner can confirm the booking without online payment.
- Instant Booking skips owner approval, so use it only when listing price and availability are accurate.
- A confirmed booking cannot be canceled by the guest from the dashboard.
- The Booking Deposit Fee from Theme Options is different from the Security Deposit that can be added in the listing price settings.
Related Help Articles
Booking: How to work with Deposit Fee and Service Fee
Send booking. Approve booking and issue invoice or reject booking as owner
How to confirm a booking when admin deposit and / or service fee is set
How to confirm a booking when admin deposit and service fees are 0
How to enable and disable Instant Booking
My Reservations Page – User Dashboard
What payment platforms are supported in WPRentals?
Booking Price – Understand Security Deposit Fee
Summary
- The admin sets the Deposit Fee and Admin Service Fee.
- Payments collected online through WPRentals go to the admin account.
- Owners manage booking requests from User Dashboard > My Bookings.
- Renters manage reservations and payments from User Dashboard > My Reservations.
- Manual Booking Approval requires the owner to issue an invoice or reject the request.
- Instant Booking skips owner approval and sends the guest directly to payment if a deposit is required.
- If deposit is 0, bookings can be confirmed without online payment.
- If deposit is less than 100%, the booking can be confirmed but not fully paid.
- If deposit is 100%, the full booking amount is paid to the admin account.