Most day to day transactions with Spektrix use methods of payment such as cash or credit/debit cards. However, there may be times when you need to use an alternative method of payment, such as a cheque, bank transfer, or other payment method to recognise income and refunds outside of Spektrix. You can set these up in Spektrix as a Custom Payment Type.
TIP: Custom Payment Types can only be used in the Sales Interface. They can’t be used online by Customers.
PayPal is not treated as a Custom Payment type. If you are planning to accept PayPal payments, please read PayPal and Spektrix.
For more information on the types of payment you can use with Spektrix, read our article on Methods of Payment.
When to create a Custom Payment Type
You’ll need to create a Custom Payment Type if you use methods of payment other than cash or credit/debit cards. This might include cheques or bank transfers (also known as wire transfers in North America and Canada) if you send invoices to Customers to request payment.
As these methods of payment are processed outside of Spektrix, you’ll need to account for these transactions in your Spektrix system.
Custom Payment Types can also be used for Internal Charge Codes, for example when a member of your team needs to sell tickets for Events they're running, without paying for them. Creating a Custom Payment Type called, for example, Internal Charge Payment, would let you process these transactions and account for them in Spektrix.
Creating Custom Payment Types
Whenever you create a Custom Payment Type, you should also create a corresponding refund type.
You can create both payment and refund Custom Payment Types in the Admin Interface. Once set up, Custom Payment Types will show in the Payments section of the basket under the Payments tab - refund types will show under the Refunds tab:
TIP: To create Custom Payment Types, you’ll need the General Administrator permission on your User Account. If you don’t have this, speak to the Administrator for your organisation.
To create a Custom Payment Type for payments or refunds, follow these steps:
- In Spektrix, click the Control Panel icon in the bottom left corner of your system.
- Click Admin.
- Click Other > Custom Payments.
- You'll see a list of active Custom Payment Types. To show inactive Custom Payment Types, tick the View inactive? checkbox:
- To add a new Custom Payment Type, click the Add button at the bottom of the list.
Next, you'll see the Add Custom Payment Type screen pop up with two tabs. The first tab, Basic Details, looks like this:
- Name: enter the new Custom Payment Type as you want it to appear in the Basket/Cart and on Reports.
- Is refund?: tick this box if you want to create a Refund Payment Type - leave unticked to create a Payment Type.
- Commission: if you need to include a Commission against your Payment Type, set it here in the same way you would for normal Payment Commissions. Since Custom Payment Types can't be used online, you can only set commissions for Counter and Phone channels.
- Tax Code: Click the drop down arrow to set a Tax Code. If no commission applies, choose E for Exempt, otherwise, choose the applicable Tax Code.
- Can be cancelled?: tick this box if you want Users to be able to cancel the payment type in the basket. Read Cancelling a Custom Payment Type for more information.
- Active?: this is ticked by default. Both payment and refund types can be made inactive when they are no longer in use, and reactivated when needed.
- Authorisation required?: this is unlocked by default, meaning all Sales Users can use this Custom Payment Type. You can restrict this to allow only Sales Administrators users to use it, by clicking the padlock to lock it.
Once you have completed the Basic Details tab, click Next to continue.
Adding Attributes
The next tab, Attribute Definitions, is optional. It allows you to add Attributes to the Custom Payment Type. These differ from Attributes you may already have created in the Settings Interface, and are specific to each Custom Payment Type.
An example of an Attribute you might want to create here is for recording a Cheque Number against a Cheque payment. In this example you would create a Text type Attribute so that the Cheque number can be entered:
- First, click Add to add a new Attribute definition:
- Next, enter an Attribute name, for example Cheque Number:
- From the Select type dropdown list, select Text:
- Next, tick your preferred options (these are all optional), then click Save:
- Click Ok.
TIP: Box Any time you create a new Custom Payment Type, remember to also create a matching refund type.
Creating a Custom Payment Type refund
Payments and Refunds in Spektrix are processed using different parts of the basket, so whenever you create a Custom Payment Type for a payment, you should always create a corresponding refund type.
WARNING: If you need to refund a Custom Payment and haven’t created a matching refund type, you'll have to refund to a different Method of Payment. This can cause problems for your finance team, so always create a matching Custom Payment Type refund when you create a Custom Payment Type.
To add a new Custom Payment Type for refunds, follow the steps above for creating a Custom Payment Type, and when completing the Basic Details screen, tick the Is refund? checkbox:
Then continue with the steps for Creating Custom Payment Types to create a matching refund type.
Processing a transaction with a Custom Payment Type
To Perform a Sale using a Custom Payment Type, in the Sales Interface, add any items to your Basket/Cart as usual. Then, follow these steps:
- Make sure you have a delivery type selected:
- Complete any required Pre Payment Options, in the top right section of the Basket/Cart:
- Click the Payments tab to see all possible payment types. Any Custom Payment Types that you set up will be available here:
- Select the Custom Payment Type you wish to use. In this example we’ve selected Cheque. This will open a Payment Options box:
- The Amount to Pay will auto-complete based on the value of items in the Basket/Cart. Commissions and Custom Payment Type Attributes will also appear here if these were included as part of the setup of this Custom Payment Type. In this example, you might have received a Cheque from a Customer - when the Customer makes payment, you can enter the Cheque number:
- Click Ok, and the amount paid using this Custom Payment Type will appear at the top of the Payments section:
- Click Confirm & Print as normal to complete the sale:
Cancelling a Custom Payment Type
When performing a transaction in Spektrix, some Methods of Payment can be cancelled before the order has been confirmed. This is represented by a small red cross icon against the payment, like this:
When you're creating a Custom Payment Type, you can choose whether or not to let a User cancel a payment before the Order is Confirmed. If you don't allow a Custom Payment Type to be cancelled, you'll need to Confirm the order and then perform a Refund. For this reason, when creating Custom Payment Types, it’s advisable to always tick ‘Can be cancelled?’.
If a Payment Type has been set up without the option to cancel, you’ll see the following Error message if you try to cancel the Order before clicking Confirm & Print:
If you see Error message above, first, check with your finance team as to whether you can make this payment type cancellable. If not, follow these steps:
- Click Ok
- Create a new Custom Payment type for a refund
- Refund the Order using your newly created Custom Payment refund type
Custom Payment Types through the API
Custom Payment Types can be used in the Spektrix API by Authenticated Users. The API (Application Programming Interface) is software which allows two platforms to communicate. This means data can be extracted and shared between two Organisations. It is used when working with a partner that integrates with Spektrix but processes sales outside your Spektrix system (such as EPOS or quick donations). By using a Custom Payment Type, the partner’s platform can create a record of the transaction in Spektrix.
The partner you're working with will need to supply you with any setup information required for the integration. You should then create a Custom Payment Type and corresponding Custom Payment Type refund for each partner, uniquely named to help identify, view and report on these transactions.
Editing Custom Payment Types
If you need to edit a Custom Payment Type, or to activate/deactivate it, follow these steps:
- In Spektrix, click the Control Panel icon in the bottom left corner of your system.
- Click Admin.
- Click Other > Custom Payments.
- Click on the blue pencil icon next to the relevant Custom Payment to make changes.
- Click Edit and make any changes needed in the Basic details tab. Click Save.
- Select the Attribute Definitions tab, then Add or Edit to make changes to the Attribute definitions as needed (for example adding a text field to enter a Cheque number). Click Save to save any changes.
- When you have Added or Edited any Attribute definitions required, click Close.
Custom Payments in Reports
You’ll find information on Custom Payments in the Payments and Activities report in Spektrix.
TIP: You’ll need the Insights & Mailings User Role on your User Account before you can access Reports. If you don’t have this, ask the Administrator in your organisation.
To use Reports in Spektrix, follow these steps:
- Click the Control Panel in the bottom left of your Spektrix system:
- Click on Insights & Mailings:
- In Report Explorer, use the search box to find the Report you need:
Payments and Activities Report
You can run a Payments and Activities report by Date, to report on Custom Payment types:
The Payment and Activities Report breaks down all payment types (including Custom Payments).
You can also use the following reports to report on Custom Payments in more detail:
REMINDER: In Spektrix, it’s possible to use multiple Methods of Payment in a single Order. A single Order may also contain multiple Events and items. You won’t be able to split this out in reports, since each payment is not made specifically for a particular item, but rather to pay for all items in the basket/cart.
You now have everything you need to be able to create, use and edit Custom Payment Types in Spektrix.