Virtual Card Posted as Client Payment in SimplePractice

Last reviewed: October 7, 2026.

When you run an insurance virtual card through SimplePractice Online Payments, it is recorded as a client payment. To fix it, enter a manual refund of that client payment (Cash, Check, or External card, never Stripe) and then post the same amount as an insurance payment, unless an ERA already posted it. Better still, ask the payer to stop sending cards so the next payment arrives as a check or direct deposit.

Before you run the next card

A practice that receives a virtual card in the mail does not have to run it. Payer notices often say to process the full amount on your card terminal, but running a virtual card costs roughly 3% in processing fees. When practices ask us whether to run one, we usually say hold off and send us the card notice and remittance instead, so we can identify the payment administrator and request a check reissue or switch the practice to EFT.

Our guide to switching insurance virtual cards to direct deposit covers the opt-out side. In our experience, a switch to direct deposit can take about a month to take effect, so a card or two may still arrive in the meantime. The rest of this page is for cards that were already run.

How to reclassify a card that was already run

SimplePractice’s virtual-card guide describes a manual refund entry that moves the amount out of client-payment reporting. The workflow we see practices use successfully looks like this:

1. Save the card on the client’s profile with a clear label such as “Payer VCard” so nobody mistakes it for the client’s own card.

2. Collect the payment through the client’s Add Payment screen without applying it to an invoice.

3. Open that payment and select Refund, using Cash, Check, or External card as the method for the full amount. Do not choose Stripe credit card; that option sends real money back to the virtual card.

4. Post the amount as an insurance payment to the date of service shown on the EOB, using SimplePractice’s insurance-payment instructions.

Where this goes wrong

• Double posting. If an ERA already created the insurance payment for that date of service, do not enter it again after the refund entry. Check first.

• Charging the card as a separate client charge. That leaves the client looking like they paid, and the insurance claim still looks unpaid.

• Spreading a batch card across clients. One card can cover several clients. Allocate it by the remittance, line by line, not to whoever has an open balance.

• Hiding the fee. The deposit will be smaller than the payment by the processing fee. Reconcile it from the processor’s fee record and let your bookkeeper decide how to book it, rather than shifting it to the client or changing the payer’s amount.

Bomi posts virtual card payments as insurance payments and works with the payment administrator to get future payments sent by check or EFT instead.

Related Guides

• Molina Illinois EFT Enrollment: ECHO’s No-Fee Route

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I have to run an insurance virtual card I got in the mail?

No. You can usually ask the payment administrator to reissue the payment as a check or enroll in EFT, which avoids the card processing fee.

Will the refund entry send money back to the insurance company?

Not if you choose Cash, Check, or External card. Only the Stripe credit card method moves money back to the card.

The insurance payment is already posted. Do I still need to fix the client side?

Yes. Enter the manual refund so the client is not credited for a payment they did not make, but do not post the insurance payment a second time.

Sources

• SimplePractice: Processing a vCard or insurance credit card

• SimplePractice: Adding insurance payments