How to split online payments between a practitioner and the practice ?

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By default, every online payment your clients make lands in the practice's bank account. With split payments, you can give a practitioner their own bank account and have Colib send them their share automatically, at the moment the payment is taken. No monthly reconciliation, no manual transfer.

This article covers how to set it up, how the split is calculated, and exactly which practitioner Colib uses to decide where the money goes.

Before you start

• Split payments are available on the Practice Pro plan and on custom plans.
• Online payments must already be enabled for your practice. If they are not, set up the practice's own bank account first, under Settings → Payments.
• Each practitioner needs their own bank account details and personal information. Our payment provider (Stripe) verifies them directly, and Colib never stores or reviews these documents.
• Adding a bank account to a practitioner is optional. Practitioners without one keep working exactly as before: their payments go entirely to the practice.

Adding a bank account to a practitioner (Admin rights needed)

1. Go to Settings → Team.
2. In the list of team members, click the credit card icon next to the pencil on the practitioner's row.
3. Turn on Use a separate bank account for this practitioner.
4. Fill in the bank details (financial institution number, transit number, account number) and the practitioner's information: date of birth, email, phone number, business category and address.
5. Choose how the payment should be split (see the next section).
6. Click Save. You are redirected to a secure form hosted by our payment provider, where the practitioner finishes the verification.

Individual or incorporated. If the practitioner practises under their own name, leave the business type on Individual. If they practise through a company, choose Company and add the legal name and business number.

Choosing how the payment is split

Two options are available.

A percentage

The practitioner receives a percentage of each payment, the practice keeps the rest. For example, at 60%, a $100 payment sends $60 to the practitioner and $40 to the practice.

A fixed amount

The practitioner receives a fixed amount in Canadian dollars on each payment, the practice keeps the rest. For example, at $15, a $100 payment sends $15 to the practitioner and $85 to the practice.

The rules

These are the rules Colib applies, in order. They matter: a split that behaves differently from what you expect is almost always explained by one of them.

1. The practitioner on the invoice decides where the money goes

Colib looks at the practitioner assigned to the invoice, and nobody else. In particular:

• It is not the person who took the payment or who is logged in.
• It is not the practitioner who saw the client for another appointment.
• It is not the practitioner who originally added the client's credit card.

So if an invoice is assigned to the wrong practitioner, the money goes to the wrong bank account. Check the practitioner on the invoice before taking the payment.

2. Where the card was entered makes no difference

Client credit cards are stored on Colib and are not tied to a practitioner. The same saved card can pay any invoice of your practice. The beneficiary is decided at the moment the payment is taken, from the invoice, not when the card was saved.

This also means the split applies wherever the invoice is paid: from Colib, or from the client portal.

3. Without an active bank account, everything goes to the practice

The whole payment goes to the practice when:

• the invoice has no practitioner assigned;
• the practitioner has no bank account set up;
• the practitioner's bank account has been turned off.
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4. The split is calculated after processing fees

Card processing fees are taken once, on the payment. What is left is what gets split. Both parties therefore share the fees in the same proportion as the payment: on a 60/40 split, the practitioner absorbs 60% of the fees and the practice 40%.

On a percentage split, rounding to the cent goes to the practice, so the two shares always add up exactly to the amount received.

5. Fixed amounts only work in Canadian dollars

• If the payment is smaller than the fixed amount, the practitioner receives the whole payment and the practice receives nothing.
• If the payment is in another currency, the fixed amount cannot be converted reliably, so the whole payment goes to the practice.

A percentage split has neither limitation and works in every currency.

6. Changing the split only affects future payments

Payments already taken are never recalculated. If you change a percentage or a fixed amount, the new setting applies from the next payment on.

7. Refunds give back both shares

When you refund a payment that was split, Colib automatically pulls back what was sent to the practitioner as well as what was sent to the practice, then refunds the client. You have nothing to do manually, and there is never a partially refunded payment.

Finding the payouts of each practitioner

Go to Settings → Payments and open the Payouts section. Every line is money sent to one bank account, yours or a practitioner's, with a Beneficiary column telling you which.

Showing only one practitioner

Two filters sit above the list.

• Beneficiary: leave it empty to see everyone, or pick your practice or a single practitioner. Only practitioners with their own bank account appear in this list.
• From: the period shown, starting on the last three months. Pick an earlier date to go further back.

Selecting a practitioner is also the fastest way to answer "how much has this person been paid so far": filter on them, set the date, and the list holds every transfer that went to their account, including those made while their account was turned off.

Reading a line

The same invoice can therefore appear on two lines, once for the practitioner and once for the practice, each with its own share of the amount and of the fees. That is exactly what a split payment looks like.

What is on its way, and what has already been sent

• A line with no date, marked In transit: money already collected from the client but not yet scheduled for a payout. This is what is about to be sent to that bank account. It is the line to look at to know what a practitioner is going to receive next.
• A line with a date, marked In transit: the payout is on its way and will arrive on that date.
• Available or Paid: the money has been released to the bank account.

Payments usually take 4 to 7 calendar days to reach a bank account, so a recent payment normally shows up without a date for a few days before a payout date appears.

Exporting

The Excel icon exports the list with the Beneficiary column, and follows both filters: you export exactly what you see on screen. It is the simplest way to hand a practitioner a statement of what they were paid over a period.

Reading the icons in the Team list

The credit card icon on each row tells you the state of that practitioner's bank account at a glance.

Turning a bank account off

Open the practitioner's bank account window and turn off Use a separate bank account for this practitioner. From then on, their payments go entirely to the practice.

The account itself is kept, never deleted, so past payouts stay visible in your history and the practitioner's details are still there if you turn it back on later.

Troubleshooting

The money went to the practice instead of the practitioner

In almost every case, the invoice was assigned to no practitioner or to a different one. Open the invoice and check the practitioner. Rules 1 and 3 above cover the other possibilities.

The practitioner has not received their payout

Check the icon in the Team list. If it is orange, our payment provider is still waiting for information and holds the payout until it gets it. Click the icon to reopen the form and complete it.

A message asks me to contact you when I open the window

Some of your clients' payment information has not been migrated to the new system yet. Split payments cannot be enabled until it is. Contact us and we will take care of it.

The option is not available on my plan

Split payments require the Practice Pro plan or a custom plan. You can change plan under Settings → Plan.