How to Process Customer Credit Cards with the Batch E-Pay Utility
The E-Pay (EPay) utility will allow you to select one or more unpaid invoices and process customer credit cards in a batch mode. This help topic covers where to find that feature and how to use it.
Using the Batch E-Pay System
If you want to process multiple Customer payments at the same time, you can easily use this form. This is also helpful if you have customers setup on a monthly payment plan to charge their credit card or checking account (ACH).
Accessing the Batch E-Pay Form
- Open the Invoice/Sale/Credit/Estimate List.
- Select one or more invoices that have a balance.
- In the upper left-hand side of the list, click Actions > Batch EPay
Step-by-Step Instructions for Processing Customer Credit Cards with Batch E-Pay
- From the main menu, click Customers | Invoice/Sale/Credit/Estimate List.
- To process multiple payment transactions for both Sales Receipts and Invoices, right click to select all or manually highlight the Transactions to process.
- Go to Actions | Batch EPay. A new form will appear. This form will show you all customer Accounts with the Balances to be processed.
- Sale Receipts will be processed for the full amount of the Sale, this cannot be changed.
- Invoices will have a field to enter the amount to process. The Amount must be entered the first time or a warning message will be received preventing the Transactions from being processed. Once the amount is entered for the first time, the form will remember the last payment amount by Invoice and suggest this for the next time Batch E-Pay Transactions are processed. To process Invoices for the full amount, click the grey box next to the item listed to select the Customer Invoice and then click the button that says, “Amount = Balance”. This will load the full balance due. Important: Please verify that the amounts are correct before clicking the Process button!
- Click the red X to delete any listed Transactions you do not want to process through Batch E-Pay.
- Once the Process button is clicked, a Report will appear to display what Transactions were approved and which were declined.
- Each Sale and Invoice selected to be processed will be displayed on this Report.
- The Customer:Job on the Transaction, the Transaction Date, the Transaction Amount, the Gateway response, the Authorization Code and the Encrypted Credit Card Number or Bank Account Number will also be displayed on this Report.
- The Report will display the total number of Transactions approved, not approved, total Transaction amount approved and not approved.
- If the Transaction being processed is a Transaction type of Invoice, and an approval is received, a Receive Payment will automatically be created and applied to the Invoice, reducing the Invoice balance.
Important Notes on Batch E-Pay
- Batch E-Pay Processing uses normal Security Settings for Invoices, Sales, Receive Payments, E-transactions and Credit Card Processing within the User List Security Settings. (All located within the Customer section of Security)
- Make sure the Credit Card Gateway is setup by going to Customers | Electronic Transactions | Gateway List. The default Deposit to Account set within the Gateway will be used for Batch E-Pay Processing.
- Set the default Gateway to be used for Batch E-Pay Processing within Edit | Preferences | Company | Company Preferences Tab | Default Gateway. The Administrator user will need to set this preference.
- If you are using E-Check to electronically charge a Customer’s Checking Account, then you will need to set a default E-Check Type within the Gateway. To verify this, go to Customers| Electronic Transaction| Gateway List. Edit the Gateway and select a proper default E-Check Type (Typically PPD or WEB).
- When using Batch E-Pay to process payment types of Credit Card and Check you should have the Customer:Job Payment Method setup within the Customer’s account. Customers that pay using a Credit Card should have a Payment Method of Credit Card (Authorize CC, or Visa, MasterCard, etc.) with the Credit Card Number, Expiration Date, Name on Card and Billing Zip Code. Customers that pay using a Check to be processed electronically should have a Payment Method of Check with the Bank Routing Number, Account Number, Bank Account Type and Bank Name. The Preferred Payment Method on the Customer:Job Account is used when processing payments through Batch E-Pay. To verify this information, go to Customers | Customer:Job List. Double Click to edit the Customer and click the Payment Info tab.
Tips Related to Batch E-Pay
Create a New Customer Payment Term
To easily access Sales Receipts and Invoices for processing through Batch E-Pay, you can create Terms specifically for Payment Methods you accept and charge on a reoccurring basis. You can then assign these Terms to each Sale or Invoice. When the Sale or Invoice has the new Terms you can then create a User Filter in the Invoice/Sale/Credit/Estimate List to filter by Invoices and Sales with the specific Terms you created. This condenses the Invoice/Sales List to only Invoices and Sales that need to be processed through Batch E-Pay.
To create a new Terms, go to Company| Lists| Terms List, right click and select New Terms.
- For recurring Credit Card Payments enter Auto CC, Batch CC or Reoccurring CC. Leave the Standard option selected and click Save and Close. Assign this Term to a Customer:Job that has recurring Credit Card Payments or assign the Terms to the Customer’s Invoice/Sale. Do not use this Terms on anything other than Invoices/Sales.
- For recurring Electronic Check Payments enter ACH, Batch ECheck or Reoccurring ACH. Leave the Standard option selected and click Save and Close. Assign this Term to a Customer:Job that has recurring Credit Card Payments or assign the Terms to the Customer’s Invoice/Sale. Do not use this Term on anything other than Invoices/Sales.
- To create a Filter that lists Invoices and Sales with these Terms go to Customers| Invoice/Sales/Credit/Estimate List. Within the List click the New Filter option beneath Filter Options within the Default Filters Panel to the left. When the New Filter form loads, put a filter name within the Name field such as Batch E-Pay, select Terms within the Field, Select Equal within the Condition and type the exact Terms Name within the Criteria field. If there are multiple Terms, select “And” within the And/Or field then continue to enter in the additional Terms as noted above. The Criteria field must contain the Terms name exactly as the Terms name is listed. Click OK to save.
E-Pay Form Field & Button Definitions
Buttons
Send Notification Email: This will send an email notification to the user whose credit card is being processed. The software will use the customer’s default (main) email address. The email will be sent from the Gateway to the email address provided within the Customer:Job account. The contents of this email vary by the gateway or processor. Aptora has no control over the content.
Amount = Balance: This button will populate the “Amount” field with the amount shown in the “Balance” field. You must select the rows that you want to affect. You can right-click for Select All.
Process: This will send the amounts in the form to your Gateway to charge Credit Cards (Authorize and Settle or Authorize Only depending on your gateway settings)
Exit: Closes the form and does nothing.
Print List: This prints the list of transactions found in the grid.
Export: This exports the list of transactions found in the grid. You will have a chance to select a delimiter and enter a file name.
Fields
Date: Invoice or Sale Date
Number: Invoice or Sale Number
Type: Transaction Type (Sale or Invoice)
Cust:Job: Customer:Job name on Transaction
Total: Invoice or Sale Amount
Balance Remaining: The amount due on the Invoice or Sale
Amount: The amount to be charged to Credit Card. This field can be edited.
Cust:Job Balance: The total balance (money owed to you) for that customer.
Last Payment Date: The date of the most recent payment that customer has on record.
Last Payment Amount: The amount of the last payment (mentioned above).
Additional E-Pay Tips
- Within the Invoice/Sale/Credit/Estimate List you can create a filter for Invoices with a balance or sort transactions by date. If you are only displaying the Transactions to be processed you can simply right-click within the List and Select All.
- If all Transactions are displayed, manually highlight the specific Transactions to process by holding down the Shift key and highlighting the Transactions with the mouse.
