Credit Cards and ACH Payments

At a Glance

Aptora 360 takes card and bank payments through your Authorize.net account, so a payment is recorded against the right invoices the moment it is approved. Card and bank numbers are typed into Authorize.net’s own secure form, shown inside Aptora 360; Aptora 360 itself keeps only the last four digits. With the customer’s permission you can keep a card or bank account on file and charge it later from Receive Payments, or charge many invoices at once with Batch EPay. Customers can also pay an invoice themselves from a payment link you text or email them. Every charge, void and refund is listed on the Electronic Transaction List, and voids and refunds correct the customer’s balance and your books. Aptora 360 also checks with Authorize.net every night and flags held charges, returned bank payments, and changes made outside Aptora 360.

Before You Begin

• An Authorize.net merchant account. You need its API Login ID and a Transaction Key. In Authorize.net’s Merchant Interface they are under Account > Settings > Security Settings > API Credentials and Keys.
• A Signature Key (recommended). It lets Authorize.net tell Aptora 360 straight away when a charge is held, voided or refunded. Without it, Aptora 360 finds out in its nightly check. Create it on the same API Credentials and Keys page.
• Authorize.net’s Transaction Details API turned on. Aptora 360 reads every payment back from Authorize.net to confirm it, and the nightly check needs it too. Turn it on in the Merchant Interface under Account > Settings > Security Settings > General Security Settings > Transaction Details API.
• Bank payments (ACH). Authorize.net calls these eChecks. Your Authorize.net account must have eCheck turned on before Aptora 360 can take or save a bank account.
• Permission to set up the gateway: Gateway List — Edit, on the User Security screen.
• Permission to charge: CC Processing — Add, and Payments — Add. Batch EPay needs both.
• Permission to void or refund a charge: CC Processing — Void.
• Permission to approve a held charge: CC Processing — Add. To decline one: CC Processing — Void. To dismiss a status: CC Processing — Edit.
• Permission to see the Electronic Transaction List and its notifications: Etransactions — View.
• Permission to save a customer’s card or bank account: Customer — Edit.
• A payment method of type Credit Card or ACH at Company > Lists > Payment Methods (see Set Up Payment Methods for Cards and Bank Accounts).

How It Works

Card numbers stay with Authorize.net

When you take a card or save a customer’s card, Aptora 360 opens Authorize.net’s own payment form inside its window. The numbers go straight from the form to Authorize.net. Aptora 360 receives the result and the last four digits, never the full number. This keeps your office out of most card security (PCI) rules.

Saved cards and bank accounts

A saved card or bank account is kept by Authorize.net, in a customer profile linked to the Aptora 360 customer. One saved card can be marked Default; E Pay and Batch EPay charge the default unless you pick another. Before you save one, you must confirm that the customer agreed to keep it on file. Aptora 360 records that confirmation in the customer’s Audit Trail.

Void before settlement, refund after

Authorize.net groups each day’s charges into a batch and settles them once a day. That is when the money starts moving to your bank. Until a charge settles, you can void it: the charge is cancelled and the customer is never charged. Once it has settled, it can only be refunded, which sends the money back. Aptora 360 asks Authorize.net which one applies and tells you if you chose the wrong one. A refund is made from a credit memo, the same way as in the desktop program.

Bank payments and the eCheck type

Every bank payment carries an eCheck type that tells the bank how the customer gave permission. The Default ECheck Type on the gateway is used for bank payments you take in the office: PPD for a personal account and CCD for a business account. Payments a customer makes on a payment link are always WEB, because they authorized it online. A bank payment can be refunded only when it was sent as PPD or CCD.

Test Mode

When Test Mode (use with caution) is ticked on the gateway, Aptora 360 sends every charge to Authorize.net’s practice system (the sandbox) instead of the real one. No real card is charged. Test Mode needs a sandbox login and key; your real login does not work there. Authorize.net also has its own test mode inside your account. That is a separate setting, and Check Account shows both.

What Authorize.net reports back

Some things happen at Authorize.net, not in Aptora 360. Its fraud filters can hold a charge for review, someone can void a charge on Authorize.net’s website, a bank can return a bank payment, or a sale can be keyed straight into Authorize.net. When the gateway has a Signature Key, Authorize.net tells Aptora 360 within minutes. Aptora 360 also checks the account every night at 10:00 UTC (early morning in the US) and catches anything it missed.

Each finding shows in the Status column of the Electronic Transaction List, and users who can see that list get a notification under the bell. Only one finding changes your books by itself: a held charge that is approved is recorded as a payment. Everything else waits for you to act, using the tasks below.

Common Tasks

Set Up Authorize.net

1. Go to Company > Lists > Gateway List.
2. Select New Gateway, or open your existing Authorize.net gateway.
3. In Gateway, select Authorize.Net, and give the gateway a Name your staff will recognize.
4. Enter the Login ID and Transaction Key from Authorize.net. On a gateway that is already set up, these boxes show dots and say Saved; leave them as they are to keep the saved login.
5. Optional: enter the Signature Key from Authorize.net, so Authorize.net can tell Aptora 360 about changes straight away (see What Authorize.net reports back).
6. In Bank Account, select the account Authorize.net deposits into. To group card payments with your other deposits instead, tick Undeposited Funds.
7. If you take bank payments, select the Default ECheck Type (see Bank payments and the eCheck type).
8. Optional: tick Accept bank transfers (ACH) on payment links to let customers pay a payment link from their bank account.
9. Leave List transactions made outside Aptora 360 ticked, unless this Authorize.net account also takes payments for a web store or another company. Then untick it, so those sales are not listed.
10. Select Save & Close.

Saving checks the login with Authorize.net. With a Signature Key, it also sets up Authorize.net’s webhook, the link that reports changes to Aptora 360. If that cannot be done, a message after you save says why. The gateway is still saved, and the nightly check still runs.

Test the Gateway

1. Open the gateway from Company > Lists > Gateway List.
2. Select Check Account. Aptora 360 saves your changes, checks the login with Authorize.net, and opens the report in a new tab.
3. Read Login. “Authorize.net accepted the saved login.” means the Login ID and Transaction Key are right.
4. Read Transaction Details API. It should read On. Then read Webhook, which reads Active once a Signature Key is saved and working. If either says something else, it also says what to do.
5. Read Aptora 360 Sends To. It says whether charges go to live Authorize.net or to the sandbox.

The report also shows what Authorize.net reports about the account: the payment methods it accepts, its time zone, the last approved payment, and the reasons for any refused charges in the last 30 days. Select Copy Report to paste it into an email to Aptora Support.

Set Up Payment Methods for Cards and Bank Accounts

1. Go to Company > Lists > Payment Methods.
2. Select New Payment Method, or open the one your staff choose for card payments, and set Payment Method Type to Credit Card.
3. For bank payments, set up a second payment method with Payment Method Type set to ACH.
4. Save each one.

E Pay, Single Payment and Batch EPay work only with a payment method whose type is Credit Card or ACH. The type decides what is charged: a Credit Card method charges a card, and an ACH method charges a bank account.

Save a Customer’s Card or Bank Account

1. Open the customer from Customers > Lists > Customer:Jobs, and select the Payment Info tab.
2. In Payment Method, choose a Credit Card method for a card, or an ACH method for a bank account.
3. Select Manage Profiles. In Select Gateway, choose your Authorize.net gateway and select Select.
4. In Manage Customer Payment Profile, select Add Card (or Add Bank Account).
5. Tick The customer agreed to keep this card on file for future charges.
6. Select Continue to Authorize.net.
7. Enter the card or bank account and billing address in Authorize.net’s form, then save it there.

The card appears in the list with its last four digits and expiry date. To make it the one charged by default, select Make Default on its row.

Charge a Saved Card or Bank Account

1. Go to Customers > New > Receive Payments, and select the Customer:Job.
2. Choose a Payment Method of type Credit Card or ACH, and enter the Amount.
3. Make sure the invoices being paid are selected in the list below.
4. Select E Pay.
5. Choose the card or bank account to charge. The customer’s default is chosen for you.
6. Select Charge (the button shows the amount, for example Charge $250.00).

When Authorize.net approves the charge, the payment is saved with its authorization code and applied to the invoices. If it is declined, Aptora 360 shows the reason and asks whether to try again, pay another way, or delete the payment.

Take a One-Time Card Payment

1. Go to Customers > New > Receive Payments. Select the Customer:Job, a Credit Card Payment Method and the Amount, and select the invoices being paid.
2. Select Single Payment.
3. In Process Credit Card, enter the card in Authorize.net’s form and select Pay.

The card is charged once and is not saved. To keep it for next time, save it first (see Save a Customer’s Card or Bank Account) and use E Pay.

Send a Payment Link

1. Open the invoice.
2. Select Menu > Send Payment Link.
3. In Payment Link, select Email or Text to send it, or Copy to paste it somewhere yourself.

The customer opens the link, sees the amount due, and chooses Card or Bank Transfer. Bank Transfer appears only when the gateway allows it, and the customer must tick I accept this authorization. Authorize.net’s secure page takes the payment. When the customer comes back, Aptora 360 records the payment against the invoice by itself and marks it paid. You do not need to enter anything.

Charge Many Invoices at Once

1. Go to Customers > Lists > Invoices/Sales/Credits, and select the invoices to charge.
2. Right-click one of them and select Batch EPay Processing.
3. Select Amount = Balance to charge each invoice’s balance, or type an amount for each one.
4. Optional: tick Send Notification Email.
5. Select Process and Close, read the confirmation, and select Charge.

Batch EPay runs in the background and charges each customer’s default saved card or bank account, whichever the payment method calls for. When it finishes, a notification appears under the bell. Open it to see every invoice with the card or account it charged, the approval code, and the reason for any that were not charged. Select Print Results or Export Results to keep a copy.

Void a Charge

1. Open the payment from Customers > Lists > Payments.
2. Select Menu > Void Charge.
3. Read the confirmation and select Void Charge.

Authorize.net cancels the charge, the payment is set to $0.00, and it is taken off its invoices, so they show their balances again. You can also void from the Electronic Transaction List: right-click the charge and select Void.

Refund a Charge

1. Create a credit memo for the customer for the amount to refund, and save it.
2. On the credit memo, select Menu > E Pay > Refund to Card.
3. In Refund to Card, tick the charge to refund. Only settled charges from the last 180 days that still have money left to refund are listed.
4. Check the Amount to Refund. It cannot be more than what is left of the charge or of the credit memo.
5. Select Refund, read the confirmation, and select Refund.

Authorize.net sends the money back to the card or bank account. Aptora 360 records the refund on the Electronic Transaction List and marks the original charge Refunded with the amount. It also applies the credit memo and records the refund in your books.

Void a Returned Bank Payment

When a customer’s bank returns a bank payment, for example because the account is closed, Aptora 360 lists it as Returned, with the date and the bank’s reason, and sends a Bank payment returned notification. The invoice still shows paid until you void the payment.

1. Open the notification under the bell, or open the payment from Customers > Lists > Payments.
2. Select Menu > Void Charge.
3. Read the confirmation. It says the bank returned the payment, so nothing is sent to Authorize.net. Select Void Charge.

The payment is set to $0.00 and taken off its invoices, so they show their balances again and the customer owes the amount again. The Audit Trail records the bank’s reason, and the Status becomes Returned, Voided. You can also void from the Electronic Transaction List: right-click the transaction and select Void. To collect the money, charge the customer again or take another payment.

A payment that is already in a deposit must be taken out of the deposit before it can be voided. A payment reconciled with a bank statement cannot be voided.

Approve or Decline a Held Charge

When Authorize.net’s fraud filters hold a charge for review, Aptora 360 records no payment for it. It lists the charge as Held for Review and sends a Payment held for review notification.

1. Go to Customers > Lists > Electronic Transaction List.
2. Right-click the charge whose Status is Held for Review.
3. Select Approve Held Charge to take the money, or Decline Held Charge to cancel it.
4. Read the confirmation and select Approve or Decline.

Approving tells Authorize.net to complete the charge, and Aptora 360 records the payment on the invoice or payment it was for. If that record is gone, the payment is recorded as a credit for the customer, ready to apply. Declining cancels the charge, so the customer is not charged, and the Status becomes Declined After Review. A charge approved or declined on Authorize.net’s website is updated the same way.

If Authorize.net holds a charge you take with E Pay or Single Payment, Aptora 360 tells you and asks what to do with the payment you started. Delete This Payment deletes it, so the invoices show their balances while the charge is held. Keep This Payment leaves the invoices paid now, and approving the charge completes that payment.

Void a Charge That Was Voided at Authorize.net

When someone voids a charge on Authorize.net’s website, Aptora 360 lists it as Voided at Authorize.net and sends a Charge voided at Authorize.net notification. The payment is still recorded until you void it in Aptora 360.

1. Open the notification under the bell, or open the payment from Customers > Lists > Payments.
2. Select Menu > Void Charge, read the confirmation, and select Void Charge.

Aptora 360 does not void the charge a second time. It sets the payment to $0.00 and takes it off its invoices, and the Status becomes Voided.

Record or Dismiss a Transaction Made Outside Aptora 360

A sale keyed into Authorize.net’s own Virtual Terminal, or a refund made on Authorize.net’s website, is listed as Outside Aptora 360. A Transactions made outside Aptora 360 notification describes what was found.

1. Go to Customers > Lists > Electronic Transaction List, and type Outside Aptora 360 in the search box.
2. For each one that belongs to a customer, record it in Aptora 360, for example on Customers > New > Receive Payments.
3. Right-click the transaction and select Dismiss Status.
4. Read the confirmation and select Dismiss.

The Status changes to Outside Aptora 360, Dismissed, so the list stops showing it as something to act on. Dismissing changes nothing at Authorize.net or in your books. You can dismiss a Voided at Authorize.net or Returned status the same way when you have dealt with it another way.

Move Card Data Kept by the Desktop Program

If your company used the Total Office Manager desktop program, it may have kept full card and bank numbers in your company file. Aptora 360 can move them into Authorize.net as saved cards and then erase them.

1. Open your Authorize.net gateway from Company > Lists > Gateway List.
2. Select Move Stored Card Data. This button appears only while card data from the desktop program remains.
3. Read What the Move Will Do.
4. Tick This company no longer uses the desktop product.
5. Select Move and Erase, then confirm.

When the move ends, the page lists how many cards and bank accounts reached Authorize.net, and every one that could not be moved, with the reason. Select Copy Report to keep the result.

Buttons, Fields and Commands

Edit Credit Card Gateway

Receive Payments

Electronic Transaction List

Important Rules and What Happens Next

• A charge records a payment with Authorize.net’s authorization code and applies it to the invoices you selected. The payment goes to the gateway’s Bank Account, or to Undeposited Funds if that box is ticked.
• A charged payment cannot be deleted. Void it before it settles, or refund it from a credit memo after.
• Voiding sets the payment to $0.00 and takes it off its invoices. A payment in a deposit cannot be voided until it is taken out of the deposit, and a payment reconciled with a bank statement cannot be voided.
• Refunding records a refund on the Electronic Transaction List, applies the credit memo, and records a CC Refund journal entry. That entry lowers the gateway’s bank account and puts the amount back on the customer’s balance, where the credit memo uses it.
• Only charges settled in the last 180 days can be refunded. A bank payment sent as WEB cannot be refunded.
• Saving a card records the customer’s consent in the Audit Trail. A void or refund is also recorded there.
• Aptora 360 checks with Authorize.net every night at 10:00 UTC, and within minutes of a change when the gateway has a working Signature Key. What it finds is flagged on the Electronic Transaction List and under the bell. Only an approved held charge changes your books by itself: it is recorded as a payment.
• A held charge records no payment until it is approved. A declined one records nothing.
• Voiding a returned bank payment sends nothing to Authorize.net. Voiding a charge already voided at Authorize.net does not void it again. Both set the payment to $0.00 and take it off its invoices, and the Audit Trail says why.
• Dismissing a status changes nothing at Authorize.net or in your books, and is recorded in the Audit Trail.
• If two Aptora 360 companies share one Authorize.net account, each one sees the other’s transactions as Outside Aptora 360, because Authorize.net reports the whole account. Dismiss them, or untick List transactions made outside Aptora 360 on the gateway.
• Important: Voids, refunds, Batch EPay charges, approving or declining a held charge, and Move Stored Card Data cannot be undone.

Troubleshooting and Questions

“Authorize.net has already settled this charge, so it can no longer be voided.”

The charge has been settled, so the money is already on its way to your bank. Refund it instead: create a credit memo and select Menu > E Pay > Refund to Card.

“Authorize.net has not settled this charge yet, so it cannot be refunded.”

The charge has not settled, so it can still be cancelled. Void it from the payment (Menu > Void Charge). Authorize.net settles once a day, so a charge made today can usually be refunded tomorrow.

“This payment was charged through the payment gateway, so Aptora 360 cannot delete it.”

Use Void Charge in the payment’s menu while the charge has not settled. Once it has settled, refund it from a credit memo.

“This payment is in deposit … Take it out of the deposit before voiding the charge.”

Open the deposit named in the message, remove the payment, save, and then void the charge.

E Pay says the customer has no saved card

Save a card first (see Save a Customer’s Card or Bank Account), or use Single Payment to charge a card once. Saving a card needs the Customer — Edit right.

Batch EPay skipped some invoices

The results page gives the reason for each one. The most common are: the customer has no saved card or bank account of the kind the payment method calls for, or has several and none is the default. The fix for both is in the customer’s Payment Info. Batch EPay also never charges an invoice twice for the same amount.

“A bank payment can be refunded only when the gateway’s Default ECheck Type is PPD or CCD …”

Bank payments sent as WEB, including every payment made on a payment link, cannot be refunded through Authorize.net. Return the money another way, such as a check, and record it in Aptora 360.

“Authorize.net’s Transaction Details API is turned off”

Aptora 360 confirms each payment by reading it back from Authorize.net, and the account does not allow that yet. Nothing was charged. Turn on Transaction Details API in Authorize.net’s Merchant Interface (see Before You Begin), then try again.

Check Account says Authorize.net refused the saved login

The Login ID or Transaction Key is wrong, or Test Mode (use with caution) is ticked with your real login. Untick Test Mode for a real account, or copy a new Transaction Key from Authorize.net and type it into Transaction Key, then select Check Account again.

“The gateway was saved, but its webhook is not set up …”

Aptora 360 could not set up Authorize.net’s webhook, so changes at Authorize.net reach it only through the nightly check. The rest of the message says why. If it says Authorize.net did not accept the webhook, check that the Signature Key was created in Authorize.net’s Merchant Interface and typed into Signature Key exactly. If you no longer have it, create a new one there, type it in, and save. If it says no secure public address is set, call Aptora Support.

Check Account says the webhook was switched off by Authorize.net

Authorize.net turns a webhook off after its messages fail to arrive several times. A Signature Key typed wrongly on the gateway causes this too, because Aptora 360 then refuses every message. Type the Signature Key again (create a new one at Authorize.net if you no longer have it), save the gateway to switch the webhook back on, then select Check Account. The nightly check catches up on anything missed meanwhile.

Why are Approve Held Charge, Decline Held Charge and Dismiss Status grey?

Each one works only on a transaction whose Status it applies to. Approve Held Charge and Decline Held Charge need Held for Review. Dismiss Status needs Voided at Authorize.net, Returned or Outside Aptora 360. Select one transaction with that Status, then right-click it. If a command is missing from the menu, you do not have the right for it (see Before You Begin).

Transactions I do not recognize are listed as Outside Aptora 360

Authorize.net reports every transaction on the account. Anything not made in Aptora 360 is listed, such as a sale keyed into Authorize.net’s Virtual Terminal or a charge made by another program that uses the same account. If two Aptora 360 companies share the account, each sees the other’s transactions this way. Check the transaction ID in Authorize.net’s Merchant Interface, record any that belong to your customers, and dismiss the rest. If the account also takes payments for a web store or another company, untick List transactions made outside Aptora 360 on the gateway. Aptora 360 then stops listing them but still checks voids, returns and held charges.

If You Used Total Office Manager

• In the desktop program you typed card numbers into Total Office Manager. In Aptora 360 you type them into Authorize.net’s own form, inside the Aptora 360 window, and only the last four digits are kept.
• In the desktop program, card numbers could be stored in your company file. In Aptora 360 a saved card is kept by Authorize.net, and Move Stored Card Data moves the desktop program’s numbers there.
• Aptora 360 has no Authorize Only charge type and no Settle command. A card is charged and settled in one step, and the payment method decides whether a card or bank account is charged.
• Refunds are made from a credit memo, as in the desktop program: Menu > E Pay > Refund to Card.
• New in Aptora 360: payment links that customers pay themselves, Batch EPay results you can print and export, and Check Account.
• Also new: Aptora 360 hears back from Authorize.net. Held charges, returned bank payments, voids made on Authorize.net’s website and transactions made outside Aptora 360 are flagged on the Electronic Transaction List, and you can approve or decline a held charge without leaving Aptora 360.

Related Topics

• Electronic Transactions List
• Batch E-Pay Credit Card Processing
• The Purpose of Undeposited Funds
• Handling Job Deposits or Down Payments