Granting the time discount: on date of registration or date of payment?

We have an early-bird registration phase for participants. What happens when participants register on the last day of the early time-discount phase, but pay their fee several days later?
Will the prices be automatically adjusted to the moment the participants pay?

(A German version of this article is available.)

For early-bird registrations (or any other time-based discount), the registration date is used to determine the applicable fee, not the payment date.

Reasons for this approach:

• Limited influence on the payment process: Many participants don’t have direct influence over when their payments are processed, especially if handled by their institution or employer. It is common for universities and companies to take 4 to 6 weeks to process payments
• Binding contract between participants and organizers: The registration establishes a contractual obligation for participants to pay the specified fees. At the same time, organizers cannot increase fees retroactively unless explicitly stated in the terms and conditions.
• Common practice at conferences: Most conferences apply fees based on the registration date, aligning with common expectations among participants.

Recommendations:

• Send payment reminders: Notify participants with overdue payments. Any fee increases should only be applied if clearly outlined in your registration terms.
• Set a payment deadline: In most EU countries, the standard invoice payment period is 4 weeks. If payment is not received within this time frame, an increase in fees may be justified. Alternatively, registrations may be canceled if no payment or response is received within 4 weeks.
• Clear registration terms: Define your procedures transparently in the registration terms under Overview => Settings => Wording and Phrases, using the “S_PARTICIPATION_REGISTRATIONTERMS” string. These terms should be set before registration begins.

Checking for Overdue Payments:

• Navigate to: Overview => User and Participant Management => List of All Registrations for Participation
• Use the “Payment Status” dropdown menu to filter and identify registrations with outstanding payments (see image 1).
• Send reminders to these participants via: Overview => Bulk E-Mails => Send E-Mails to Participants

Adjusting Fees for Late Payments:

Recommended Method:

• Follow the detailed steps in this guide to ensure accurate and documented fee adjustments: Changing early bird prices for participants with delayed payment

Recommended Method:

• Manually update the registration date for participants who no longer qualify for the early bird discount:
• Go to the participant list and select “Edit Registration”.
• In the “Registration Date” section, change the date to the first day of the regular registration phase.
• Click “Update Prices and options (Do not save data yet)” to preview the adjusted fees.
• Review the updated prices and click “Save Participant Data and Send a New Confirmation Mail”.
• Include a “Supplemental Text for E-Mail Message” to inform participants about the fee adjustment and the new amount due (see image 2).

Note: If your ConfTool installation is set up in Mode A, the old invoice will be overwritten with the updated registration data. See: Different invoicing modes of ConfTool Pro