Offline Payments (Cash or Check)

Offline Payments (Cash or Check)

There are two options for allowing contacts to submit orders and then pay for those orders offline.
  1. Turn on the option for all contacts.
  2. Turn on the option for individual contacts that need the flexibility of choosing to pay offline.

Video - Admin Payment Configuration


Allowing Offline Payments for All Contacts

Option #1 - Turn on the option for ALL contacts to pay offline
  1. Go to Admin / Payment Configuration / Offline Payments.
  2. Select "Yes" to allow offline payments for all contacts.
Once you select "Yes" to Allow Offline Payments? - you are presented with several options for customizing information such as:
  1. Button Label
  2. Help Text
  3. Checkout Preamble/Postamble
  4. Extra Receipt Text



Extra Receipt Text

The Extra Receipt Text for Manual Checkouts will only appear on receipts that were generated when a user selected to "Pay Later."

Below that is a setting for "Include extra receipt text on manual orders with zero balance?"

This feature allows you to turn off the offline (manual) receipt message when the order balance is zero. This is useful when an organization has a "free" item and doesn't want the extra information or instructions included on the receipt.

If you are also allowing Partial Payments, you might want to add a note to users in the "help text" to instruct them as to whether or not partial payments will also be accepted offline.  More Information on Partial Payments

Allowing Offline Payments for Individual Contacts

Option #2 - Allowing Individual Contacts to Pay Offline
If you choose to not allow all contacts the option of paying offline, you can still present this option to individual contacts that need this flexibility. 
  1. Go to People / Contacts.
  2. Select the Contact.
  3. On the Directory and Account tab, edit the Offline Payment option.


Once the order has been placed and payment has been made, you'll need to manually apply the payment to the order.

Recording Offline Payments


If you have allowed offline payments (cash/check payments) for orders placed in the system, you will need to manually record those payments on the order.
 
Once you have received payment for the order:
  1. Go to Store & Forms / Orders and select the Order Number.  To easily find the order, use the date range and drop down menu to only show "orders with a balance due."
  2. Select the Order Number that needs the payment applied.
  3. On the Order screen, click the blue "Payment" button next to the Total Payments.
  4. Enter the information about the payment and click "Apply Payment."  Be sure to make descriptive notes in the comments section for future reference.


Pros & Cons of Allowing Offline Payments


Pros

1. Those that do not have or like to use credit cards have another option.
2. No fees are taken when a check is written. Most organizations see the credit card fees as part of doing business and making life easier on the volunteers that do most of the work behind the scenes.

Cons

1. People that do not "need" to pay with a check but just do not feel like getting their credit card out will simply click this button to be done for the moment.
2. An Admin will need to track the order with a balance due and then follow up, much like a  "bill collector".
3. Checking out and saying the user will pay later still takes items out of inventory even though no payment has been made. This might mean a slot or item is reserved for someone that has not actually paid.
4. An Admin needs to know put together deposits which is more time on their part.


If you only have a few people that must pay with a check you might consider leaving offline payments set to no.
  1. Send out a message that if someone must pay by check they will need to place all items in their cart.
  2. They can then send in their check.
  3. Once the check has been received the Admin can push the order through and apply the payment.
  4. The order is not complete until it has been pushed through.
  5. This puts the action back on the person that wants to make the payment by check.

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