What you’ll accomplish
By the end of this guide, you’ll understand all payment options for your schedulers and know exactly how to configure each one. You’ll be able to accept payments, issue credits, or offer free sessions based on your business model.Before you begin
Understanding your options helps you choose the right payment model: Payment options available:- Free sessions - No payment required (trials, assessments, complimentary)
- Direct payment - Athletes pay per session via Stripe (one-time purchases)
- Credit-based - Athletes purchase credit packs, redeem credits to book
- Hybrid models - Combine free trials with paid ongoing sessions, or let one scheduler take either a credit or a card payment
- Stripe account connected to CoachIQ (for direct payments)
- Products created in CoachIQ (for credit-based and direct payment)
- Understanding of your pricing strategy
- 10-15 minutes to configure and test
Understanding the three payment types
Before configuring, understand what each payment type means for your business. In the builder these map to Free, Paywalled → Price, and Paywalled → Credit:- Free Sessions
- Direct Payment
- Credit-Based
- Free trial sessions for new athletes
- Assessment sessions to evaluate fit
- Complimentary make-up sessions
- Team practices (free for team members)
- Community events or clinics
- Sees “Free” on booking page
- Books instantly with no payment step
- No payment method required
- Higher no-show risk (no financial commitment)
- Great for building pipeline
- Easy to convert to paid after trial
- Still tracks attendance and engagement
Decision framework: Choosing your payment type
Use this framework to decide which payment model fits your business:Choose FREE sessions if:
- ✅ You’re building a new coaching business and need to attract athletes
- ✅ You want to offer risk-free trials before commitment
- ✅ You’re running community events or team practices
- ✅ You plan to convert free users to paid packages after experiencing your coaching
- ❌ BUT: Higher no-show rates and no immediate revenue
Choose DIRECT PAYMENT if:
- ✅ You want simplicity (no credit management)
- ✅ You offer drop-in sessions or workshops
- ✅ Athletes prefer flexibility over commitment
- ✅ You’re comfortable with per-transaction revenue model
- ❌ BUT: Transaction fees on every booking and less predictable revenue
Choose CREDIT-BASED if:
- ✅ You want better cash flow (payment upfront)
- ✅ You offer package deals or memberships
- ✅ You want to reduce no-shows (prepayment commitment)
- ✅ You can manage credit issuance, expiration, and tracking
- ✅ You want to offer subscriptions with recurring credit delivery
- ❌ BUT: More complex setup and requires product creation
Choose HYBRID MODEL if:
- ✅ You want the best of all worlds
- ✅ You offer free trials that convert to credit packages
- ✅ You have different services at different price points
- ✅ You’re willing to manage multiple schedulers
Option 1: Setting up FREE sessions
Free sessions require no special configuration—leave the scheduler on Free.Create or edit your scheduler
Open the Payment section
Leave the toggle on Free

Save your scheduler
Test the free booking experience
- Verify “Free” displays clearly
- Complete a test booking
- Confirm no payment step appears
- Check that booking appears on your calendar
When to upgrade free sessions to paid
Once athletes experience your coaching through free sessions: Conversion triggers:- After 1-2 free trial sessions, present package options
- Use email or in-person conversation to explain ongoing pricing
- Create urgency with limited-time package discounts
- Share success stories from other athletes
- Create credit-based scheduler for ongoing training
- Create product for credit packages (e.g., “10-Session Package”)
- Share booking link for paid scheduler after free session
- Consider automation to send package offer after free session completion
Option 2: Setting up DIRECT PAYMENT sessions
Direct payment requires connecting a Product that processes payment via Stripe.Prerequisites for direct payment
Before starting:- Stripe account connected: Settings → Stripe Portal → Connect Stripe
- Bank account connected to Stripe: For receiving payouts
- Product created: You’ll create this during setup (or use existing)
Creating a direct payment session
Navigate to your scheduler payment section
Switch to Paywalled, then choose Price

Connect to a Product (or create new)
- Click dropdown to see existing products
- Select the product with correct pricing
- Scheduler now uses that product’s price
Save scheduler with connected product
- Show price to athletes on booking page
- Redirect to Stripe checkout when athlete books
- Complete booking only after successful payment
- Issue receipt automatically
Test the payment flow
- Get your scheduler booking link
- Open in incognito/private browser
- Select a time slot
- Verify price displays correctly
- Complete Stripe checkout using test card:
- Card: 4242 4242 4242 4242
- Expiry: Any future date
- CVC: Any 3 digits
- Confirm booking completes
- Check booking appears on calendar
- Verify you received payment notification
Managing direct payment sessions
After going live:- Athletes see price before selecting time
- Stripe processes payment securely
- You receive payout on Stripe’s schedule (typically 2 business days)
- Athletes receive email receipt automatically
- Refunds processed through Stripe dashboard
- Stripe: 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction
- CoachIQ: 1% + $0.20 per transaction, on top of Stripe’s
- On a $75 session: ~$3.43 total fee (you receive $71.57)
- Decide if you absorb fees or add them to price
Option 3: Setting up CREDIT-BASED sessions
Credit-based sessions are the most powerful but require understanding CoachIQ’s credit system.How credits work in CoachIQ
Before configuring, understand the credit flow: Coach creates Product (Credit Package) ↓ Athlete purchases Product (10 Credits for $650) ↓ Credits added to athlete’s account ↓ Athlete books session using Scheduler ↓ System deducts credits (1 Credit per booking) ↓ Athlete can continue booking until credits depleted Key concepts:- Credits = Virtual currency athletes redeem to book
- Products = What athletes purchase to get credits
- Schedulers = Require X credits to book (typically 1 credit)
- Credit balance = How many credits athlete has remaining
Creating credit-based products
Before connecting schedulers to credits, you need products that issue credits.Navigate to Products
Create new product
Configure product basics
- Descriptive of what athlete gets
- Example: “10-Session Training Package”
- Select Add Credits once Purchased.
- This tells CoachIQ to add credits upon purchase
- Total package price (e.g., $650 for 10 credits)
- Consider bulk discounts (10 sessions = 650, not 750 if individual price is $75)
Configure credit settings
- How many credits athlete receives upon purchase
- Example: 10 credits for 10-session package
- Set expiration period (30 days, 60 days, 90 days, 6 months, 1 year)
- Creates urgency and prevents indefinite credit holding
- Example: “Credits expire 90 days after purchase”
- Limit daily bookings (prevent athlete from booking all sessions at once)
- Limit weekly bookings
- Specific schedulers credits can be used for

Save the product
Connecting scheduler to credits
Now configure your scheduler to accept credits as payment:Edit your scheduler
Select credit-based payment
- Set the toggle to Paywalled
- Under How they pay, choose Credit (“credit from a package they already bought”)

Set credit cost
- Most coaches use 1 credit per session
- Advanced: Use 2 credits for longer/premium sessions
Link to credit-issuing product (optional but recommended)
Save scheduler
Testing the credit-based flow
Complete end-to-end testing before going live. The first four steps are the core flow; the rest apply only if you use that feature.Create test athlete account
- Name: Test Athlete
- Email: A second personal email (different from your admin email)
- Tag: “TEST” for easy filtering
Get credits onto the test athlete
- Get the product purchase link from the Products page (admin)
- Open it in an incognito window and log in as the test athlete
- Complete purchase using Stripe test card (4242 4242 4242 4242)
- Verify credits added to account and the email receipt mentions credit quantity
- Open Test Athlete’s profile in People → Clients
- Navigate to the Credits tab → Master Credits tab
- Enter
10in Credit Balance and save
Verify credit display in athlete view
- ✅ “Available Credits” section with the correct balance (10 credits)
- ✅ Product name listed (e.g., “10-Credit Package”)
- ✅ “Redeemable Sessions” list (if scheduler-specific credits), with usage notation (0/∞ or numeric)
- ✅ Credit Renewals date (if subscription)
- ✅ Credit Expirations tracking (if expiration set)
Book session using credits
- Navigate to scheduler booking page
- Verify it shows credit amount instead of dollar amount (“Use 1 Credit”, or your configured amount)
- If hybrid: verify both credit and payment options are visible
- Select time slot and choose Use Credit
- Confirm booking flow doesn’t request payment
- Verify credit deducted from balance after booking (10 → 9)
- Check booking appears on calendar and the confirmation notification (email/SMS) went out
Verify credit balance tracking
- Go to People → Clients
- Find test athlete
- View Credits tab or section
- Confirm balance shows correctly (purchased - redeemed)
- Verify transaction history logs the booking redemption
Test insufficient credits
- Verify the system prevents the booking with a “Not enough credits” message
- (Optional) Verify a link to purchase more credits appears (if a Buy more credits link is set)
- If hybrid scheduler: verify the athlete can still book via direct payment
Test scheduler-specific restrictions (if configured)
- Attempt to book “Rising Stars Class” → should work
- Attempt to book “Elite Class” → should fail, with clear messaging that the athlete lacks sufficient credits
- In Billing settings, confirm “Redeemable Sessions” lists the correct schedulers
Test credit refund on cancellation (if enabled)
- Book a session (balance = 9), then cancel it within the allowed cancellation window
- Verify the credit is refunded immediately (balance = 10) and logged as refunded for that session
- Book again, wait until past the cancellation deadline, and attempt to cancel
- Verify the system prevents cancellation OR does not refund the credit (per your policy)
Test subscription renewal (if using subscriptions)
Test unlimited credits display (if configured)
- In Billing settings, verify “Credit Balance: ∞” and “Redeemable Sessions: [Schedulers] (0/∞)”
- Book 1-2 sessions → balance still shows ∞, usage shows “2/∞”
- Trigger next month’s billing → usage resets to 0/∞
Troubleshooting credit setup
Athlete purchased credits but they didn't appear
Athlete purchased credits but they didn't appear
- Payment didn’t complete (declined card, Stripe error)
- Product not configured with “Add credits once purchased” enabled
- Credit granting system error
- Check payment transaction status: Payments → Products
- Verify product configuration: Product → Credits section → “Add credits once purchased” toggled ON
- Check credit amount field is set (not blank)
- Manually grant credits to athlete if payment succeeded: People → Athlete → Credits tab
- If system error: Contact CoachIQ support with customer and order info
Athlete has credits but can't use them to book
Athlete has credits but can't use them to book
- Scheduler not configured to accept credits (payment-only)
- Scheduler-specific credits don’t match this scheduler (wrong product/scheduler linkage)
- Athlete has 0 credits (all used)
- Product’s “Redeemable Schedulers” doesn’t include this scheduler
- Verify scheduler has credit payment enabled: Scheduler → Payment → Paywalled → How they pay: Credit
- Check athlete’s credit balance: Should show in their profile Credits tab
- Verify product configuration: Product Builder → Usage Limits → “Redeemable Schedulers” includes this scheduler
- Check credit type: If scheduler-specific, athlete needs credits from correct product
- Test booking yourself to replicate issue
Credit balance showing incorrect number
Credit balance showing incorrect number
- Recent booking/cancellation still processing
- Manual credit adjustment not saved properly
- Multiple packages purchased close together (timing)
- Subscription renewal timing issue
- Review athlete’s credit transaction history: Credits tab → Credit Logs
- Check for pending bookings that haven’t deducted yet
- Look for recent cancellations that should have refunded credits
- If system error confirmed: Manually adjust balance with note
- Document issue and report to CoachIQ support if recurring
Hybrid scheduler not showing both payment options
Hybrid scheduler not showing both payment options
- Scheduler set to “Credit-Only” instead of “Hybrid”
- Athlete viewing has 0 credits (only payment option shows)
- Credit payment not enabled on scheduler
- Browser cache issue
- Verify scheduler payment settings: Should show BOTH credit amount AND direct payment amount
- Test as athlete with credits: Both options should appear
- Test as athlete with 0 credits: Only payment option should appear
- Clear browser cache and retry
- Check scheduler “Pricing Model” dropdown is set to correct option
Subscription credits not renewing automatically
Subscription credits not renewing automatically
- Subscription inactive in Stripe (payment failed, cancelled)
- Product configuration error
- “Add credits once purchased” not enabled for recurring
- Stripe webhook issues
- Check subscription status in Stripe dashboard: Should be “Active”
- Verify product is subscription type (not one-time)
- Check Product Builder → Credits → “Add credits once purchased” is ON
- Test: Manually trigger renewal in Stripe → Verify credits issued
- Check webhook connectivity: Payments → Settings → Webhooks
- If webhooks failing: Contact CoachIQ support
Unlimited credits (∞) not displaying correctly
Unlimited credits (∞) not displaying correctly
- Product “Unlimited credits” checkbox not enabled
- Display formatting issue
- Browser rendering problem
- Verify product configuration: Product Builder → Credits → “Unlimited credits” checkbox ON
- Check athlete’s view in Billing settings: Should show ∞ symbol
- Verify per-scheduler display: “0/∞” notation under Redeemable Sessions
- Test with different browser if rendering issue suspected
- Educate athlete: ∞ means unlimited THIS PERIOD, not forever
Option 4: Hybrid payment models
Common hybrid patterns
Pattern 1: Free Trial → Credit Package
Setup:- Scheduler A: “Free 30-Min Assessment” (free)
- Scheduler B: “Ongoing Training” (1 credit per session)
- Product: “10-Session Package - $650” (issues 10 credits)
- New athlete books free assessment
- After assessment, coach presents package offer
- Athlete purchases 10-session package
- Athlete books ongoing sessions using credits
Pattern 2: Drop-In + Membership
Setup:- Scheduler A: “Drop-In Session” ($85 direct payment)
- Scheduler B: “Member Session” (1 credit per session)
- Product: “Monthly Membership - $300” (issues 5 credits/month)
- Casual athletes use drop-in ($85 each)
- Regular athletes see value in membership ($60/session effective rate)
- Members prepay, then book using credits
Pattern 3: Tiered Service Pricing
Setup:- Scheduler A: “Group Training” (1 credit)
- Scheduler B: “Private Training” (2 credits)
- Product: “20-Credit Package - $1,200” (issues 20 credits)
- Athletes purchase credit package
- Athletes choose scheduler based on session
- Private sessions cost more credits
Setting up hybrid models
Map your customer journey
- How do athletes discover you? (free trial, referral, drop-in)
- What’s your conversion path? (trial → package, drop-in → membership)
- How do you upsell? (small package → large package)
- What prices incentivize each path?
Create schedulers for each tier
- Entry-level scheduler (free or low-priced direct payment)
- Mid-tier scheduler (credit-based main offering)
- Premium scheduler (credit-based or higher direct price)
- Distinct name explaining the difference
- Appropriate payment configuration
- Clear description of what athlete gets
Create products for each tier
- Small package (5-10 sessions) for new athletes
- Standard package (10-20 sessions) for regulars
- Large package (30+ sessions) for committed athletes
- Monthly subscription (recurring credit delivery)
Create conversion workflows
- Automate email after free trial with package offer
- Train coaches on presenting packages in-person
- Website clearly shows “Start with free trial”
- Booking confirmations link to upgrade options
Test all paths
- Free trial → Check email → Purchase package → Book with credits
- Drop-in purchase → Compare pricing → Choose membership
- Standard member → Run low on credits → Upsell to larger package
Booking without an account (guest checkout)
A paid or free scheduler can also be opened to guest checkout, so a prospect from an ad or your website can reserve an intro call or trial session with just their contact and payment details and no login. Where the toggle is, what a guest provides, and how the booking appears without a client record: Guest checkout.Troubleshooting common payment issues
Athlete says they don't see payment option
Athlete says they don't see payment option
- Product page not shared with athlete
- Athlete looking in wrong place
- Product visibility settings
- For direct payment: Payment happens during booking (athletes see price and checkout before confirming)
- For credit-based: Athletes must purchase credits FIRST before booking:
- Share direct product link or to your website or athlete portal
- Or share general “Buy Credits” page link
- Or add “Purchase Credits” button to website
- Verify product isn’t set to “Private” or “Invite only”
- Test the flow yourself to ensure it’s clear
Want to change payment type after going live
Want to change payment type after going live
- Edit scheduler → Change payment configuration
- Disconnect old product if applicable
- Connect new product with new payment type
- Save scheduler
- Critical: Communicate change to athletes
- Existing bookings remain valid with old payment method

