When a patient pays more than their scheduled installment, Practice by Numbers (PbN) gives you flexible options for how that extra amount is applied.
This ensures you can tailor the payment plan to the patient’s preferences—whether they want to pay off their balance faster, lower upcoming payments, or stay on their original schedule.
Why This Matters
Patients don’t always pay exactly what’s scheduled—and that’s a good thing.
By choosing how extra payments are applied, your practice can:
Improve the patient experience by aligning with their financial preferences
Reduce confusion around future payments
Accelerate plan completion when appropriate
Maintain predictable payment schedules when needed
The Three Adjustment Options
When a payment exceeds the scheduled installment amount, you’ll see the following options:
Reduce next payment by: applies the extra amount to the very next installment.
Best for: Patients who want immediate relief for their upcoming payment.
Reduce remaining installments equally by: Distributing the extra amount evenly across all remaining installments.
Best for: Patients who want to lower their monthly payment moving forward.
Reduce last payment by: Applies the extra amount to the end of the plan, leaving upcoming payments unchanged.
Best for: Patients who want to pay ahead without changing their regular payment schedule.
Reduce Last Payment By
This option is ideal when a patient wants to stay consistent with their upcoming payments while still paying down their balance faster.
How It Works
The scheduled installment is applied as usual
Any extra amount reduces the total remaining balance
That reduction is applied starting from the final installment and working backward
All upcoming installments (with non-zero amounts) remain unchanged
Example
A patient has a 5-installment plan of $100 each ($500 total).
They pay $300 on Installment 1 ($100 scheduled + $200 extra).
Before Payment
Installment | Amount | Status |
1 | $100 | Scheduled |
2 | $100 | Pending |
3 | $100 | Pending |
4 | $100 | Pending |
5 | $100 | Pending |
After Selecting “Reduce Last Payment By
Installment | Amount | Status |
1 | $100 | Paid |
2 | $100 | Pending |
3 | $100 | Pending |
4 | $0 | Pending |
5 | $0 | Pending |
Remaining balance: $200
➡️ Installments 4 and 5 are reduced to $0
➡️ Installments 2 and 3 remain unchanged
➡️ Once Installments 2 and 3 are paid, the plan completes automatically
How $0 Installments Are Handled
If future installments are reduced to $0:
They remain visible in the schedule
They stay in Pending status until the plan is fully paid
No payment is attempted
No retry logic is triggered
Once the remaining balance reaches $0, these installments are automatically resolved.
Automatic Plan Completion
When the final non-zero installment is paid:
The remaining balance reaches $0
All $0 installments are automatically marked Completed
The plan status updates to Completed
The plan moves to Archived
This applies to:
Active plans
Delinquent plans
Retrying plans
No manual action is required.
Choosing the Right Option
Patient Situation | Recommended Option |
Wants to reduce their next payment | Reduce next payment by |
Wants to lower all future payments | Reduce remaining installments equally by |
Wants to pay ahead without changing upcoming payments | Reduce last payment by |
Important Notes
All three adjustment options are always available (existing behavior is unchanged)
“Reduce last payment by” only appears when the entered amount exceeds the scheduled installment
Available for Active, Delinquent, and Retrying plans
Per-installment and per-patient overrides are not impacted