Manual Credit Card Processing

This section describes Manual Credit Card Processing in StreamV.

When Manual Credit Card Processing is being used in StreamV, credit card information (the credit card number, expiration date, and security code) is entered into the system during order entry.  The credit card information for each order can be entered manually, or selected from an optional  list of credit cards that can be maintained for each customer. 

Sales orders with credit card terms are authorized manually, after sales order entry, and the invoices for the credit card orders are paid manually.  An external program or hardware device is  used to obtain the credit card approvals and to capture the credit card sales. 

When a manual credit card order is placed, no credit card authorization information is entered into the order during order entry, and the system does not automatically authorize the credit card as the order is saved.  Instead, the system puts a "1" hold on the sales order when it is saved.  The 1 hold allows the system to route the order to the credit department so the credit card can be authorized or charged, and it also prevents the order from being shipped before a credit card authorization or payment is received.

The credit card or 1 hold is released manually when the authorization number and authorization amount for the order is entered into the order using the Sales Order Holds Management program.

Once a credit card order has been authorized, the system blocks you from editing the order (to prevent the order amount changing between the time the order is authorized and invoiced.  If an order must be edited after it has been authorized and before it is invoiced, you may clear the authorization information from the order (which will put it back on 1 hold), or  you may use an override option – which will allow you to edit the order even if it has been authorized.

When manual credit card processing is being used, the credit card number, authorization code, amount, and other credit card information is carried from the sales order to the invoice.  It is the responsibility of the site to Handle all issued related to partial shipments, multi-location shipments, edits, capturing the sale external to the system and manually applying the payment against the invoice.

Manual Credit Card Processing is primarily used during system implementations (to handle partially completed transactions from the system being converted from) and to allow current customers who are manually processing credit cards to implement the automated credit card processing supported in the current StreamV application.  Manual Credit Card processing support is limited in StreamV.  In most cases, it is much more efficient to go directly to automated credit card processing.  Manual processing of credit cards is not recommended. 

Manual Credit Card Processing Overview

The steps that are required in order to manually process a credit card order in StreamV are

•      Start the order entry process by selecting the customer.  Set the payment terms in the order being processed to Credit Card Terms if required..  The credit card terms record should be set up  the Terms Table with an Automated Processing code of 1 to indicate that the terms code is being used for manual credit card processing.  You will only be able to access the credit card information fields in the order when a credit card terms record is selected.  If you change the terms to a non-credit card terms code, the system will clear the information in the credit card fields and block access to the credit card fields in order entry/

•      Enter the credit card information (credit card number, expiration date and cardholder name) into the credit card order during order entry.  The credit card information can be manually input or the credit card information can be selected from a list of the credit card numbers that have been entered into the system for the customer.  If the name on the credit card is not the same as the name of the company for whom the order is being processed, a credit card contact should also be specified for the order. so that the cardholder name is available in the system.  The credit card contact can be selected from a list of the contacts for the company, or it can be created “on the fly”  during order entry.

•      Save the sales order.  As the sales order is saved, the system places a credit card hold on the sales order.  The credit card hold has a hold code of 1, based on the Processing code in the credit card terms record being used.  The system will block you from printing a pick list for an order that is on hold for any reason.

•      Authorize the credit card.  As the credit card sales order is saved, the system checks the schedule dates and order fulfillment method being used for the order, and it allocates any required and available inventory to the order.  Once all or a portion of the order can be shipped, the Sales Order Hold Management program can be used to pre-authorize the credit card for the amount of the shipment to be processed.  The amount that is authorized should include the extended total of any items to be shipped, plus any applicable sales taxes, and estimated or actual shipping charges.  Any authorization amount that is greater than the actual amount of the invoice, should be cleared when you capture the sale for the authorization.  The authorization information is obtained using 3^rd party software (cc processor gateway) or a hardware device (credit card terminal provided by the bank or your cc processor).

•      Enter the authorization information (authorization number and amount), into the order.  Once you have received an authorization code and an authorization amount for the order, the information should be entered into the order.  This can be done using the Order Review Panel – which is accessed from the Sales Order Hold Management program.

•      Release the credit card hold from the order.  Once the authorization number and amount have been entered into the appropriate fields in the Order Review Panel, the operator releases the 1 hold from the order (they can also release any other holds at this time).  Once the credit card authorization information has been entered into the order, the system will block you (warn you and allow override) if you attempt to edit the order.  There are two options for editing an order that has been authorized.  You may clear the authorization information using an option that is available in the Sales Order Management program (which will put the order back on hold), or you can use the override option which is available in the order entry program.  Note:  The override option in Order Entry should be used with care, since it allows you to increase the amount to be shipped against the order above the amount that has been authorized for the order.

•      Complete the sales order.  Once the credit card order has been authorized and the credit card and any other holds placed on the order have been released, the order can be completed.  If the order is for items shipping from the warehouse, a pick list is printed for the items to be shipped and the Order Completion program is used to invoice the sales order.  If the order is for items shipping directly from the vendor to the customer, the PO Management program is used to select the vendor purchase order associated with the shipment and to invoice  the customer for the  items that were shipped to your customer by the vendor (this step also closes out the portion of the po that was completed by the vendor.   Both of these actions (creating a warehouse shipment or a vendor shipment invoice) will create an accounts receivable invoice for the items shipped to the customer.  The invoices are saved as open, and no credit card payment is applied automatically.

•      Capture Sales Transactions for the credit card orders that have been invoiced.  Once the credit card orders for the day have been shipped, a report or invoice copies are used to identify the unpaid credit card invoices in the system.  The report or the invoice copies show the invoice total, and the authorization information for each invoice.  The authorization info and the invoice amounts are used to capture a sales transaction for each invoice.  This sales transaction clears the prior authorization and is used to charge the card for the amount of the invoice.  The capture or sales transactions are processed using the 3^rd party software or hardware you are using for your credit card processor.

•      Apply the credit card payments  to the customer invoices.  Once you have processed the Capture transactions for the pre-authorized credit card orders, the Cash Application program can be used to apply the credit card payments to the credit card invoices.  A unique batch is normally used for the credit card payments, to allow operators to reconcile the credit card activity in the system to the activity shown by the credit card processor you are using. 

•      Verify the credit card deposit total in the Deposit Management program.  Once you have applied the credit card payments to the invoices, the Deposit Management program is used to verify the credit card deposit totals, and to deposit them into the Bank Account they were or will be received into.

•      Record the credit card processing fee.  In most cases, your credit card processor will charge you a fee for processing credit card transactions.  This fee is usually applied to the whole amount of the credit card transactions being processed (it is not specified for each individual transaction).  Once you have processed the credit card deposit, you may record the credit card fee in one of two ways.  You may use the Bank Management program to enter a Miscellaneous Charge transaction – which is posted to a credit card processing fee account (and the bank account the fee was deducted from), or you may make a journal entry to record the fee.  The Bank Management approach is the recommended approach since this method creates a Bank record that can be used for Bank Reconciliation purposes.

The following sections provide more detailed information about each step in the manual credit card process.

More:

Manual Credit Card Processing - Credit Card Terms

Manual Credit Card Processing - Order Entry

Manual Credit Card Processing - Hold Release

Manual Credit Card Processing - Order Editing

Manual Credit Card Processing - Order Completion/Invoicing

Manual Credit Card Processing - Payment Processing

Manual Credit Card Processing - Deposit Processing

Manual Credit Card Processing - Credit and Refund Processing