Pause SimplePractice AutoPay While Insurance Is Pending
By George Ruan • October 7, 2026
Last reviewed: October 7, 2026.
To hold one client’s card while insurance is still processing, uncheck AutoPay Enrolled on that client’s Billing and Insurance settings and save before the overnight run. A note in the chart does not stop the charge, and turning AutoPay off does not reverse a charge that already ran.
Sections
When practices ask us to hold the card
The requests we get are rarely about AutoPay in the abstract. They sound like “please hold off on running the card,” “the nightly summary shows a charge I didn’t expect,” or “I asked for this client not to be autobilled and they still were.” The situations behind them repeat:
A secondary payer has not been billed yet. The primary applied the visit to the deductible, so the balance looks like the client’s full responsibility until the secondary (often Medicaid) processes. If AutoPay runs first, the client pays money the secondary may have covered.
A claim was denied. A denial can shift the whole session fee to the client in SimplePractice. AutoPay will collect that full amount overnight unless someone intervenes.
The client asked for time. A job loss, a hardship conversation, a request to wait until payday or a specific date, or a payment plan under discussion.
The practice wants to talk to the family first. Especially with a minor’s account, a clinician may want to confirm the balance with a parent before anything is charged.
Turn AutoPay off for that one client
SimplePractice documents two paths in its AutoPay guide:
From the client’s Overview, choose Edit client > Billing and Insurance. Under Credit & Debit Cards, clear AutoPay Enrolled and click Save Client.
Or go to Settings > Payment processing > AutoPay, uncheck that client, and save changes.
Reopen the setting and confirm it stayed off. Then write down who asked for the hold, why, and what has to happen before the card runs again.
Timing matters. SimplePractice runs AutoPay overnight, between midnight and 6 a.m. practice time, and lists the planned charges in the Evening Summary Email. If you see an amount in that summary that looks wrong, change the setting that evening. A change made after the run does not undo the charge.
What tends to go wrong
In our experience, most unwanted AutoPay charges trace back to one of these:
The hold lived in a chart note. Practices sometimes write “do not autopay” in the client’s chart or tell a colleague. AutoPay reads only the enrollment setting, so the card is charged anyway. Change the setting itself.
The summary amount was an interim number. A planned charge built on a primary’s deductible adjudication is not the client’s final share when secondary coverage exists. Pause first, bill the secondary, then collect what is actually left.
Nobody owned the restart. A hold with no follow-up turns into a balance nobody collects. Note the specific event that ends the hold: the secondary’s remittance, the client’s go-ahead, or an agreed date.
AutoPay was assumed to be on. The reverse also happens: a self-pay client with a card on file builds up unpaid invoices because AutoPay was never enrolled for that client. If invoices are piling up unpaid, check the same setting.
If the card was already charged
Turning AutoPay off stops future runs only. If a charge went through while the secondary was still pending or after a denial that is being appealed, decide whether to refund it now or hold it as credit until the claim settles, and tell the client which you chose. When part of a visit was paid from existing account credit rather than the card, only the card portion is refundable to the card; the credit stays on the account.
The AutoPay guide also warns that refunding a payment can reopen the invoice, so AutoPay may try to collect it again if the client is still enrolled. Keep AutoPay off until the balance is corrected. For the refund itself, including payments too old to refund to the card, see the SimplePractice refund guide.
Before you turn AutoPay back on
The pending claim, secondary, or appeal has a remittance, or the client has agreed to pay before it does.
Client responsibility on each open visit matches that remittance. Use SimplePractice’s appointment-level billing changes to correct a visit that still shows the interim amount.
Any account credit has been applied, so AutoPay charges only the remainder.
The client knows the amount and date the card will run, especially after a hardship conversation or payment plan.
At Bomi we stopped relying on SimplePractice AutoPay for the practices we bill for. We charge cards ourselves from a conservative, per-session plan, and when a claim denies or a secondary is pending we hold the charge and ask the practice before running it.
Related Guides
Frequently Asked Questions
Why does the evening summary show an AutoPay charge before insurance is finished?
The planned charge reflects the current client balance. If the primary applied the visit to the deductible and a secondary has not been billed yet, that balance is temporary. Turn AutoPay off for the client that evening if you do not want it collected.
Will a “do not autopay” note in the chart stop the charge?
No. AutoPay follows the client’s AutoPay Enrolled setting. Uncheck it and save; a note or a verbal request does not change what runs overnight.
Does pausing AutoPay stop the claim from being filed?
No. It only stops automatic card collection. Claims, secondary billing, and appeals continue on their own track.
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About Bomi
Founded by George Ruan, Dax Earl, and Andrey Goder, Bomi helps independent therapists and group practices with insurance billing, credentialing, and payer follow-up. Bomi grew out of Dax’s experience helping his mother with her therapy practice, with a clear purpose: reduce the administrative burden of insurance while keeping practice owners in control.
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