The balance, handed over once and not discussed again
The balance is the second half of the fee, settled at the door as she comes in, so that money is done with before the lamp is turned down.
Whatever did not go ahead is the balance. On most bookings that is exactly half of the figure in her profile. On a returning guest’s same-day hour or two at a city address, where nothing went ahead, the balance is the whole fee.
When it changes hands
At the door, in the first minute, before anything else happens. This order is deliberate, and guests mention it afterwards more than they mention anything else about the door. Money settled at the start stops being a thing anyone is waiting for. Left until the end it sits in the room for the whole hour, quietly occupying the corner of a mind that came here specifically to stop occupying itself with anything.
What form it takes
Cash is the usual one, counted once and put aside. Cash in another major currency is fine as well, with the exact sum in that currency written into the thread before she sets out, so there is no arithmetic done on a doorstep. All of the figures on this site are given in euro. Nothing is added to the balance afterwards: no travel charge inside the ring, no surcharge for the hour on the clock, no line for anything at all.
For the guest who dislikes the moment
Some people find handing over money awkward, and a guest who has asked for a quiet request often finds it the one exposed moment of the visit. It can be left counted on a table by the door and pointed at. That is a completely ordinary arrangement, it takes no words at all, and it is worth one line in the thread beforehand so she knows to look there.