Q1: How can I view the Payment type for all Payments for a specific Event.
Create a view on the Payment detail page. From this page, you can add and filter on both the Payment type and Event Name fields.
 
Q2: A Product discount was accidentally applied at the time of registration and needs to be removed.
To make these adjustments, go to the Invoices page > Invoice Detail sub-page, clicking on the discount that they took but do not qualify for, clicking Edit, and changing the Line Total to $0. Then ensure everything looks correct by running the Selected Invoice Printout report from the Invoices page before sending the payment history link to the user to have them pay the balance.
 
Q3: Can I use the Add a Payment Tool to enter information that was intended to be gathered online through the custom form attached to the event?
If you open the Event record and put a person who pays cash into the event using the New button on the Participant sub-page, then they are available for the Add a Payment Tool. Then when you launch the Add a Payment tool on that open Event record, you can select that person you added. The middle section of the tool allows you to complete the associated form that was attached to the event, and that would have been filled out if the had done it online.

 

Q4: How are Invoice numbers generated? Do they mean anything?
Yes! 

For example, the invoice number MP1-052214085241 means it was the second recurring transaction in the donor's cart (MP1) and was set up May 21, 2014 (052114) at approximately 8:52am (085241).

 

Q4: What if I need to collect Sales Tax?
MinistryPlatform is not an accounting software

and is not designed to calculate or separate taxable amounts from payments. If you use Shelby General Ledger, here is one approach for making tracking of taxable income easier:

 

Q5: How do I assign Shelby v5 General Ledger project codes in MP?
The MinistryPlatform equivalent of a "Project Code" is an Event record. An Event has a field called Project Code. There you can put the corresponding Project Code number from Shelby v5 General Ledger. The rest of the income coding comes from the corresponding Program or the Product Option Group record.

 

Q6: What does the Total Price for an event represent?
The top Price is the Base Price of the Event. The price you "pay" no matter the options you choose. The bottom Total Price is your running total. The base price plus any options chosen.

 

Q7: Someone paid for an event registration, but the payment was returned. The person would still like to be registered for the event, and I'd like their balance due to show on the My Purchase History page. How can I accomplish that?
Do the typical reversal process, and set the negative amount Payment as Processed=True. This makes the invoice come up on their My Purchase History page as owing money.

 

Q8: After viewing the Process Selected Payments report and then clicking the Process Selected Payments, we don’t see a batch created on the Batches page. Should we be seeing one?
Payments don't follow the same process/flow as Donations. Processing the payments marks them as processed, allows you to assign a Merchant Batch value, and helps with reconciling to your bank deposits.

 

Q9: How would another individual make a final payment online for a someone if they didn't make the initial deposit? For example, a parent made the deposit but their child wants to pay the remaining balance.
This is not recommended as common practice, as you will lose the visibility of the original Purchases paying part of the invoice (you can still see at the Payment level, but not the Invoice level). Thus, it can make it difficult to unravel questions that might arise in the future like reports, receipts, etc. However, since they are a parent/child, you might decide the risk of confusion is lower. So, if you decide to change whose My Purchase History the balance shows up under:

Q10: What is a good way to communicate the need for a refund on a Payment?
One option is to have the staff that receives or initiates the request for refund to go to the Payment record and choose Tools > New Task and assign a task to the appropriate Accounting staff member for processing.

 

Q11: How can I manually register someone without access to the internet for an Event using a credit card?
Cash and check payments can be simply handled using the Add a Payment Tool. For credit payments, two possible option are:

Q12: Is credit or debit card number information stored in MinistryPlatform?
No, credit and debit card numbers are not stored by the MinistryPlatform system even if they were accidentally returned to the MinistryPlatform system by the payment processor. The MinistryPlatform system only stores transaction ID/confirmation information.

 

Q13: Is it possible to allow credit card payment for registrations, but to suppress the option for online giving?
No, this is currently not an option.

 

Q14: What is best practice for handling a check in which part of the amount is a donation, and the remaining amount of the check is a registration payment.
Donations are tax-deductible and registration payments are non-tax deductible. Best practice is to always keep tax deductible and non-tax deductible transactions separate. Programs can be assigned as non-tax deductible so, in theory, the check could be assigned to two different Programs (with different deductible settings) when it's processed, but this method is not recommended. Again, best practice is to always keep tax deductible and non-tax deductible transactions separate.

 

Q15: Where can I see more information on how the payments are hitting my bank?
We use Authorize.net to process all of the payments. You should be able to log into their system and view more reports. It is helpful to ensure that their batching time for your account is set to 11:59pm. 

 

Q16: Why can't I find a member's online payment for an event on a contribution statement?
Payments for event registration DO NOT show up on the contribution statement.

 

Q17: How can I manually add an Option Price to a Registrant's Event Registration invoice to be paid on their My Purchase History?
It is not recommended to make manual changes to an Invoice record, however in rare cases an individual needs to make an adjustment to their registration. Proceed with caution; if records are not added correctly, errors will occur when the participant attempts to pay their remaining balance in the Portal.

1. Open the Registrant's Invoice record, create a new Invoice Detail by clicking "New" on the Invoice Detail sub-page.
2. Update the Invoice Total on the Invoice record to reflect the addition of the Invoice Detail.
3. Update the Invoice Status to "Some Paid" or "None Paid" as needed.
4. Navigate to the Payment record associated with the Invoice (either by searching directly on the All Payments page or by navigating thru the sub-page records using the jump links).
5. Create a new Payment Detail for $0 on the Payment record and associate it with the new Invoice Detail. The participant will now have an outstanding balance on their Invoice record that can then be paid via their My Purchase History Portal page.

Note: every Invoice should have at least one Invoice Detail for the primary Product (even if that Product has a base price of $0). Each additional Option Price selected will have a corresponding Invoice Detail record. For example, if one Option Price is chosen, the Invoice record will have 2 Invoice Details - 1 for the primary Product and 1 for the chosen Option Price. Each Invoice Detail must also have an associated Payment Detail. For more information on how invoices and payments relate, take a look at the diagram in this article.

Q18: How can I use the Add a Payment Tool to manually create an Invoice when payment has not yet been received?

1. Add the Participant to the Event
2. Launch the Add a Payment Tool and select your Event Participant. Add a payment (even though you have not received funds yet). This will then create the correct Invoice and corresponding Payment Detail records that will allow for payments to be made via the My Purchase History.
3. Go to the Invoices page:
   1. Change the Invoice Status to "None Paid"
4. Go to the corresponding Payment record:
   1. Change the Payment Total to 0
   2. Change each Payment Detail Amount to 0

Q19: How can payments from a fundraiser be applied to multiple Event Participant balances?
Use the "Add a Payment Tool" to add the payment amount to each Participant. For example, if 10 Participants are splitting $1,000 of funds raised, each Participant would get a $100 payment added towards their balance owed. Using the Add a Payment Tool ensures the funds are credited towards their balance owed.