Core Docs - Church Management - Registration Finances

Rock Version: v19.0
Last Modified: 2026-05-28 8:41 AM

Paid registrations come with the additional complexity of having to work with money. Rock provides several tools to make this as simple as possible while also ensuring that there are good protections in place for proper accountability.

Manage Payments

While most of the time payments for events will be handled by the registrar during the registration process, you can manually enter payments on their behalf from the registration details page:

Tools > Event Registration > Registration Template > Registration Instance > Registration (ok... that seems complex, but it's really not as bad as it looks on paper...)

From the Registration Details page, you can manage payments using the Payments tab pictured below.

Once you click the link you will see the Payments Edit Panel. The screenshot below shows you all the options on this screen.

Refunds

Processing full or partial refunds through Rock is simple. Simply click the Date / Time link shown in call-out #1 above to proceed to the financial transaction detail page for the payment. From here you will see the screen below. Note the refund button at the bottom of the page.

Clicking the Refund button will show the refund modal below.

Partial Payments

Partial payments are a popular feature for events with higher costs, like camps. The age ol' problem with them comes when it's time to complete the payments. Many times, people want to pay off the balance, but they're not sure how. Other times... well... they just need a reminder. Let's look at several strategies on how to make partial payments work for you.

Allowing Partial Payments
To allow partial payments, a Minimum Initial Payment amount must be provided in either the registration template or the registration instance (wherever the cost is being set).

Reminder Emails

The default email template for event reminders will provide a summary of the amount due with a link to complete the payment. Remember that the reminder emails can be sent out more than once by changing the send date to the future after the initial reminder goes out.

Recent Registration Block

Rock also ships with a Recent Registration block on the My Account page of the external website. This block, located under the Assessments list along the right of the page, shows registration information and notes if a payment is due. Clicking the link will take them to a page where they can complete the payment or apply a discount code. Note: this block only displays registrations that have an attached Calendar Event Item.

You'll want to review this block's settings. It can display registrations based on various criteria: recent registrations, future events, balances due, or any combination thereof. It's not limited to recent registrations only. There's also a Lava Template, which means you can customize how the block appears and what information it shows.

Post-Registration Discount Codes

Not only does the Recent Registration block allow individuals to make payments against an outstanding balance, they can also apply a discount code (see Discounts). This is great if they find out about the discount after registering, or if they simply forgot to apply the code when they first registered.

To apply the discount code the individual needs to access the Review Registration page from the Recent Registration block, the same way they would to make a payment as described above.

Individuals who have already paid in full will not be able to enter a discount code after registering. Similarly, individuals who have already used a discount code can’t apply an additional discount code.

If the discount ends up deducting more than the individual owed, the result will be a negative balance on their account. In that case you’ll need to manually issue a refund (see Refunds) to get the balance back to zero.

Event Registration Matching

If you need to match event payments to transactions in a batch, Event Registration Matching is exactly what you’re looking for. You’ll find it under Finance > Event Registration Matching.

This lets you select a batch and a registration instance, then match transactions from that batch to individual registrations. This can be particularly helpful if you’re using Check Scanning to process a set of registration payments, but it works with any transaction from any open batch.

You’ll notice there is no Save button on this page. As soon as a transaction is matched to a registration, the registration itself is updated behind the scenes in real time. For instance, we could view Noah Decker’s registration right now and see that it has been paid in full. If we were to un-match that transaction from Noah’s registration, that too would be updated in real time and anyone viewing the registration would see a balance owed.

We get it - events are tricky and often come with odd requirements for additional fees. We've tried to think of as many combinations as possible when creating the features here, so we have a lot to cover.

Fee Types

Below is a chart of the various types of fees that are available. You can use any combination of these to create the fee structure you need for each registration event.

Now that we see what's possible, let's look at how to set up fees.

Setting Up Fees

You can add, edit and delete fees in the Fees section of the Registration Template.

Click the ti ti-circle-plus button to create a new fee.

Optional vs. Required Fees

Fees can be either optional or required. To designate a fee as required select the Is Required checkbox on the Fee Editor screen. Required fees are designated by a red dot on the event registration screens. If a registration is submitted with a missing required fee value, Rock will display a message asking the registrar to select a value before proceeding.

Here's a closer look at how Rock handles each of the fee types above when they are designated as required:

Keeping the Is Required checkbox on the Fee Editor screen unchecked creates Additional Options in the registration.

Fee Reports

All of the fees for each registration are listed under the Fees tab on the Registration Instance screen. You can use the filter options to filter the information by date range, fee name, and/or one or more of the options that apply to that fee. (Note: because the options vary with each fee, the available filter options are only displayed once a particular fee name is selected.)

To further help you track and work with fees, you also have the option of exporting fees to an Excel spreadsheet. To do this, click the ti ti-table button on the Fees tab on the Registration Instance screen.

Apply Discounts

People often ask, "Do you have quantity or early bird discounts?" Well, Rock has something better. Rock's discount feature gives you a ton of flexibility to create discounts customized for your organization's needs. Want to provide a discount code? You can do that. Want to offer a discount for families registering more than three children? You can do that, too. How about a unique combination of both of these only for a limited time and you want the discount to be automatically applied? Yep, Rock's got you covered. Let's take a closer look at these options and how they work.

Discounts are listed in the Discounts section of the Registration Template. Here you can add, edit and delete discounts.

Click the ti ti-circle-plus button to create a new discount.

All of the discount options are available in the Discount Code screen. From here you can create whatever combination of criteria you want for each discount.

One Discount Per Registration Instance
Keep in mind that only one discount can be applied to each registration instance. If multiple discounts are set up to automatically apply, and if the registration qualifies for all of them, then the first discount listed in the template will be applied. When a discount is automatically applied, it can be manually replaced with a single other code.

OK, let's take a closer look at each of the discount options.

Discount Codes

Discount codes allow you to give individuals a code to reduce the amount of their registration. This discount can be in the form of a percentage of costs/fees or a fixed amount. To create a discount code, enter a percentage or amount in the Discount Type and Discount Percentage fields of the Discount Code screen. Individuals can then apply the discount code at the time of registration, or after registering if they haven’t yet paid in full (see Post-Registration Discount Codes).

Quantity Discounts

Quantity discounts allow you to create a discount for multiple registrations in the same transaction, such as a group registration. To create this type of discount, enter the minimum and maximum number of registrants in the Discount Code screen. When Rock processes the registration, if the number of registrants entered falls within the parameters entered, the discount is applied.

Maximum Registrants
The number of Maximum Registrants reflects how many people within the registration can have the discount applied. If you have three registrants being signed up, and if Maximum Registrants is set to '1', then the discount will only apply to one of the three registrants. If you want to have a group or family pay only the price of a single person, set the Maximum Registrants to be one less than Minimum Registrants, and make sure the discount covers all the costs and fees of only a single person.

Early Bird Discounts

Early bird discounts apply a discount for registrations that fall within a certain date range. That date range is entered in the Effective Dates fields of the Discount Code screen. When Rock processes the registration, if the date of registration falls within the entered timeframe, the discount is applied.

Customized Discounts

You can create your own, unique discount by combining any of these discount types. Just know that when the registration is processed, all of the criteria you enter has to be met for the discount to be applied. So, that super complicated option we mentioned above? Maybe not the best practice.

Automatic Discounts

The Discount Code screen includes an option to automatically apply the discount. If this option is selected, Rock will automatically check the registrations against the discount codes available and apply the first discount that matches the criteria. The order the codes are listed in the Registration Template is the order in which Rock applies them. A registrant can override any automatic discount with a discount code entered manually during the registration process.

Maximum Usage

You can limit the number of times a discount code can be used by entering a value in the Maximum Usage field. For example, you might use this to grant a discount to the first 100 people who register. Leave this field blank if you want the discount code to be available for use indefinitely.

Viewing and Reporting Used Discounts

Once discounts for a particular registration event are used, they're recorded under the Discounts tab in the Registration Instance screen. You can filter these records by:

The amounts displayed in the Total Results section of the screen are based on the discount codes displayed. If you filter the discounts, the totals will be recalculated and updated based on the filter parameters.

Configure Payment Plans

Payment Plans let you spread out your payments over time, making it easier to afford activities like camps or other events. With options to customize how often payments are made, Payment Plans offer flexibility and peace of mind, ensuring everyone can participate in your events.

Obsidian Block
The Payment Plan feature is available only when using the Obsidian version of the Registration Entry block.

Starting a Payment Plan

Registering for an event with a Payment Plan is simple. The registration process stays the same as it is without Payment Plans. There's only a slight change during the final step, where you’ll have the option to create a Payment Plan.

When you reach the payment step, you can either pay in full or set up a Payment Plan by clicking the Set Up Payment Plan button. From there, you’ll be asked to choose:

Once you’ve made your selections, you’ll move to the next screen where you can customize your Payment Plan further.

Please note that Payment Plans can only be created during the registration process. Your staff or volunteers won’t be able to set one up on behalf of someone else. While administrators can modify payment plans, they can't create them.

Once your plan is set, you can manage it by going to the Recent Registrations section from your My Account page. You’ll have the option to cancel your Payment Plan if needed.

If you want to make changes to your Payment Plan, you’ll need to cancel the current plan and set up a new one. Again, you can do this on your My Account page under Recent Registrations.

If a new fee is added after you’ve set up your Payment Plan (like an additional t-shirt), the plan won’t automatically adjust to cover the new amount. The additional fee will need to be paid separately.

Configuring Payment Plans

Now that you’ve seen how a Payment Plan works, let’s talk about how to configure it. Payment Plans are enabled in the registration template settings (under Tools > Event Registration).

Next, set a Payment Deadline for the registration. This is the date by which all payments must be completed. The number of payments available will depend on the frequency selected and the time remaining before this deadline.

Payment Plan Administration

Payment Plan management happens in the same screens used for managing event registrations, with added features. If a Payment Plan is in place, you’ll see a calendar icon next to the Balance Due on the Registrations tab.

Payment Plan Changes Won’t Auto-Sync
If you're using the Payment Plan feature, be aware that changes to a registration's balance (like applying discount codes) won’t update the registrant's payment plan. Payment schedules are controlled by the external payment gateway (e.g., My Well), not by Rock. To adjust an individual's payment schedule, you’ll need to do the following...

Administrators can make changes to existing Payment Plans by accessing the registration details.

Deleting a plan will cancel the plan and any remaining payments will not be made. If the person wants to continue to use a Payment Plan after it’s been deleted, they must create a new plan. Note that the Change and Delete options pictured below are only available if the block's security is updated to allow Edit Payment Plan access.

The Number of Payments field, pictured below, differs for administrators. While registrars can only select a certain number of payments based on frequency, start date and payment deadline, administrators can choose any number. This allows extending the Payment Plan beyond the deadline, which can help if someone is worried about making the current payments.

Please note that changes cannot be made on the date a payment is due. Also, if additional fees are added, the Payment Plan won’t automatically update to reflect the new total, so the person will need to pay the fee separately. However, administrators can adjust the Payment Plan manually to reflect the updated balance.