Payments & Fulfillment
The Layaway app does not process payments itself. Instead, it tracks payment and fulfillment information from Shopify orders linked to your layaways. Payments are made through Shopify's standard POS payment flow or via invoice.
How Customers Make Payments
In-Store at POS (Partial or Full Payments)
Customers must come to the store in person to make partial payments. This is the primary payment method for layaways.
- Customer provides their layaway or order number
- Staff finds the order in Shopify POS or via the layaway app's "View Order" button
- Tap "Capture Payment" on the order screen
- For a partial payment: use split payment, enter the amount, then tap "Mark as partially paid"
- For the full remaining balance: process the full amount
Via Invoice (Full Remaining Balance Only)
If an order already exists (a deposit was made previously) and the customer cannot come in person, an admin can send an invoice from Shopify Admin > Orders.
- The customer receives the invoice by email and can pay the full remaining balance online
- Partial payments are not possible via invoice — for partial payments, the customer must come to the store
- Invoices require an existing order — if no deposit has been made yet (layaway is still "Reserved"), there is no order to send an invoice for
Finding the Order
There are several ways for staff to find a layaway's linked order:
- From the layaway on POS: Open the layaway in the Layaway Orders tile, tap "View Order" to jump directly to the Shopify order
- From the admin dashboard: Open the layaway detail page, click the order link in the sidebar
- From Shopify's order search: The app tags linked orders with the layaway name, so searching for the layaway name (e.g., "LAY0042") in Shopify POS or Shopify Admin will find the corresponding order
Note: Once an order is linked, the Shopify order is the source of truth. All payment, refund, and fulfillment actions happen on the order — the layaway syncs these changes automatically.
Payment Tracking
Once a Shopify order is linked to a layaway, the app syncs payment information automatically. You can see the current payment status on the layaway detail page.
Payment Statuses
| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Pending | No payment received yet |
| Authorized | Payment authorized but not captured |
| Partially Paid | Some payment received, balance remaining |
| Paid | Full amount collected |
| Refunded | Payment has been refunded |
| Voided | Payment authorization was voided |
What the App Tracks
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Amount Paid | Total collected so far |
| Amount Remaining | How much the customer still owes |
| Amount Refunded | Total refunded back to the customer |
[Image placeholder] Layaway detail page payment breakdown section
Price Changes
If the price on the linked Shopify order changes (e.g., a discount is applied after the fact), the layaway syncs those changes automatically. The payment breakdown on the detail page will always reflect the current order totals.
Fulfillment
Fulfillment status is also synced from the linked Shopify order. The app checks whether the order has been fulfilled (items handed to the customer or shipped).
Completion Rules
A layaway moves to Completed only when both conditions are true:
- The linked order is fully paid
- The linked order is fulfilled
If only one condition is met, the layaway stays at In Progress.
| Paid? | Fulfilled? | Layaway Status |
|---|---|---|
| No | No | In Progress |
| Yes | No | In Progress |
| No | Yes | In Progress |
| Yes | Yes | Completed |
Automatic Status Changes from Payments
Certain payment events trigger automatic status changes:
| Payment Event | Layaway Effect |
|---|---|
| Full payment + fulfillment | Layaway moves to Completed |
| Full refund | Layaway moves to Canceled |
| Order voided | Layaway moves to Canceled |
| Partial refund | No status change (stays In Progress) |
Tips
- You do not need to do anything special to sync payments -- it all happens automatically.
- If a payment seems out of date, check the linked Shopify order directly and refresh the layaway detail page.
- Partial payments (deposits, installments) are only possible at the POS in-store. The layaway stays In Progress and tracks the remaining balance after each payment.
- Invoices can only collect the full remaining balance -- use them when the customer is ready to pay everything they owe but cannot come to the store.