Paying the registration fee
Record a patient's registration fee so they can be booked for appointments.
Overview
Every new patient must have a registration fee on file before they can be booked for an appointment. The fee is configured in Settings → Financial during onboarding (defaulted from your country); the payment is recorded against the patient profile. This guide covers a single registration-fee payment.
Prerequisites
- Owner, Admin, or Receptionist role
- A patient already created in the clinic — see Registering a patient
- The patient physically present (or you have their payment method)
- The clinic's registration fee value, set in Settings → Financial → Default Registration Fee
Steps
Find the patient. From the top nav open Patients. Search by name, patient number, or phone. Click the patient row to open their profile.
Locate the Registration Fee section. On the patient profile, scroll to or click the Billing tab. You'll see a card titled "Registration Fee" with the current status: usually "Not paid".
Click "Record payment". A modal opens titled "Record Registration Fee Payment". The amount is pre-filled from your tenant's default registration fee.
Confirm or override the amount. Most clinics charge a fixed registration fee. Override only if your clinic has tiered registration pricing — you'll need an Admin or Owner to override.
Choose the payment method. Options are Cash, Card (POS terminal), Bank transfer, USSD, or Online (Paystack link). The platform doesn't process the card itself; you record what you collected.
(For Card / Bank transfer) Enter the reference. Authorisation code for cards, or transaction reference for bank transfers. This appears on the patient receipt and on your daily cash-up.
Click "Record payment". A success toast appears: "Registration fee recorded". The Registration Fee status flips to "Paid" with the date and the user who recorded it.
Print or download the receipt (optional). Click Receipt at the top of the registration fee card. The PDF includes your clinic logo (if uploaded), patient details, amount, method, and reference.
Verify booking is now allowed. Open Appointments → New Appointment and choose this patient. The previously-blocked Save button now works; before payment, you'd see a "Patient must have a paid registration fee" error.
Expected outcome
- The patient profile shows Registration Fee status "Paid" with date, amount, method, and recorder
- A new Payment entry exists
- The day's cash-up totals reflect the payment
- The patient can be booked for appointments — the registration-fee gate has been satisfied
Troubleshooting
| Symptom | Likely cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Record payment button is disabled | You don't have the right role | Receptionist, Admin, or Owner only; ask one of them to record |
| Default amount is ₦0 | Registration fee not set in Financial settings | Set the default in Settings → Financial → Default Registration Fee, then retry |
| Receipt is missing your clinic logo | Logo not uploaded or you're on Starter tier (Branding requires Professional+) | Upload a logo in Settings → Branding (Professional+) — until then the receipt uses a generic header |
| Status still says "Not paid" after recording | Browser cache or backend lag | Refresh the page; if it persists after a minute, check the patient's Billing tab for the payment row |
| Want to refund the registration fee | The payment is recorded but the patient changed their mind | Open the payment row in Billing → Payments, click Refund. See Refunds and credits |