The Payment Acceptance Page

Note: All live credit card processing account information must be entered by Party Center Software support staff. Please contact us at 916-226-4062 or support@partycentersoftware.com and we can help with the setup process.

Overview

Payments information in Party Center Software is entered into payment modules that contain all of the information needed to process payments. Each of these modules can be enabled for different areas of the software. Because all of the information for live credit card processing is configured by Party Center Software support staff, the only payment information that can be edited or changed by facility staff is for "Record Only" payments or settings for the Tip on Device function. These "Record Only" modules are used to enable options for "Cash" or "Check" recording so that those methods of payments can be accepted within our software and these options can also be used to record that a credit card payment was taken outside of our software.

Table of Contents

• How to add payment options for "Record Only"
• Changing your Tip on Device Settings
• How payment options display in Party Center Software
• How to re-enable "Record Only Credit" payment options
• Payments Glossary

How to add payment options for "Record Only"

1. Navigate to Admin > Payment Acceptance.
   
2. Click on "New Payment Acceptance".
   
3. Click on "Record Only (Retail)"
   
4. Enter a description for the payment module, then select "Save Changes".
   
   
   • The description is the text that will display on the payments tab if more than one payment module exists for this payment method.
   • Commonly used descriptions are "Cash", "Check", "Record Only Credit", and "Record Only Debit" for each of the four payment methods available, respectively.
   • Note: It is recommended that the above descriptions are used and a new module is created for each payment method.
5. Click on "Cash", "Check", "Credit", or "Debit" to determine which payment method to enable.
   
6. Select the radio button for "Yes" to enable this payment method, then check the checkboxes for the payment types (Sale, Refund) and areas of the software (PCS Portal, Point of Sale) where you would like this payment method enabled, then select "Save Changes".
   
   • The actions allowed listed here will allow you to configure what payment options are available in different areas of the software.
   • For example: In my screenshot, un-checking the boxes for refund will not allow a cash refund to be processed. Likewise, un-checking the boxes for Point of Sale will not allow cash to be accepted in the Point of Sale.
7. When the changes save correctly, a green checkmark will appear next to the payment method on the left of the screen. Click on "Exit Setup" to continue.
   
8. When completed, the payment acceptance page will list the new payment module, along with the description, and each of the payment methods that the module is enabled for.
   
9. The new payment method will now appear in every area of the software where it has been enabled

Here is a screenshot of how the payments page will look after some commonly used payment modules have been entered:

• Note: Payment modules shown here for Party Center Pay will need to be entered by Party Center Software support staff. The column shown here for "Read Only" will display as "Yes" for live payment processing modules. This indicates that the information can be viewed but not modified. Please contact Party Center Software support staff to make changes to these payment modules.

Changing your Tip on Device Settings

1. As before, you would want to go to Admin > Payment Acceptance
   
2. From there, you select your Party Center Pay EMV payment module
   
3. The first page you see, the General page, has the option to set Tip on Device as enabled by default for EMV transaction or not. Keep in mind that this option can always be changed for each transaction, this just changes whether the option is already checked or not.
   
4. Next, you would go to the Tip on Chip Reader section to configure the Tip Amounts. You can have up to three options, with the device always allowing a custom amount to be entered. 
   Note: We always recommend that 0% is one of your three options, otherwise if the customer does not want to leave a tip they have to use the custom amount function and leave $0 or they will accidentally cancel the entire transaction.
   

How payment options display in Party Center Software

The ability to make a payment will display in Party Center Software in two primary places: The order information page, and the Point of Sale. 

On the order information page, you will first need to select the "Payments" tab which will then display each of the payment modules that have been enabled:

As you can see here, each of the payment modules will display with a tab. First, with a tab for the payment method (Credit, Cash, etc.), and then with a tab using the description from each module entered for that payment method. If there is only a single payment module for a given payment method then there will be no further tabs displayed.

Here is a screenshot of how payments display in the Point Of Sale, after clicking on "Pay":

You may notice that the Cash tab does not display extra tabs underneath. This is because there is currently only one payment module enabled for cash for this test facility.

How to re-enable "Record Only Credit" payment options

Many facilities may need to use "Record Only Credit" payment modules to record a credit card payment in Party Center Software, for a variety of reasons. For example, these payment modules can be used to record that there was a payment or refund processed through another live credit card payment system or to move a credit card payment from one order to another within Party Center Software. Frequently, these options can be enabled for a single transaction and then disabled so that employees do not accidentally use them instead of a live payment processing option. 

Follow these steps to re-enable a "Record Only Credit" payment module that has already been entered:

1. Navigate to Admin > Payment Acceptance.
   
2. Click on the module labeled "Record Only Credit".
   
3. Click on "Credit" on the left-hand side to select that payment method.
   
4. Select the radio button for "Yes" to enable this payment method, then check the checkboxes for the payment types (Sale, Refund) and areas of the software (PCS Portal, Point of Sale) where you need to record payments, then check the checkboxes for the type of credit cards you would like to be able to record. Lastly, click "Save Changes".
   
5. When the changes save correctly, a green checkmark will appear next to the payment method on the left of the screen. Click on "Exit Setup" to continue.
   
6. Now that it has been enabled, the payment method for "Credit" will now appear for the "Record Only Credit" module.
   
7. The "Record Only Credit" option will now appear as a tab in each area of the software where it has been enabled.
   
   
   • Note: The "Record Only Credit" module will always contain a warning message to remind you that this option will not process a live payment. It will instead only record a payment that has already been processed.
8. The payment module is now ready to be used to record a payment. Navigate to the order where you were looking to record a payment, enter the information that you have available for the payment, and then click "Submit".
9. After recording a payment, if you need/want to disable these payment options, navigate back to the Payment Acceptance page under Admin > Payment Acceptance.
10. Click on the module labeled "Record Only Credit".
    
11. Click on "Credit" on the left hand side to select that payment method.
    
12. Select the radio button for "No" to disable this payment method, then click "Save Changes".
    
13. When the changes are saved successfully, the green checkmark will show "(Not Enabled)" and the payment method column will show as blank on the Payment Acceptance page.
    

As a reminder, the credit card information that is required to be entered for "Record Only Credit" is not the same as live credit card payments. The "Record Only Credit" module will always display a warning message to make you aware that it is not processing, and it will only ask for the last 4 numbers of the credit card. Because this information is normally all that is retained from a live credit card transaction, these recorded transactions will retain all of the same information as a standard credit card transaction.

Payments Glossary

Payment Method: This refers to the different "methods" of payment that a guest can use. The payment methods that can be used in Party Center Software are "Cash", "Check", "Credit", "Debit", "Prepaid", and "E-Funds".

Payment Type: This refers to the action that the payment is performing. For credit payments, the payment type is selected from a drop-down list during the payment process. Payment types include "Sale", "Refund", "Void", "Adjustment", "Issue", "Reload", and "Balance Check".

Payment Modules: These contain all of the information needed to process payments. Payment modules can be enabled or disabled for different payment methods (Cash, Check, etc.), payment types (Sale, Refund, etc.), areas of the software (PCS Portal, Point of Sale, etc.), and types of credit card (VISA, Mastercard, etc.).

Payment Areas: Payment modules can be enabled for specific areas of the software. Payment information can be entered within Party Center Software to be used in the PCS Portal (Order Information page), Online Booking pages, Online Store pages, and Point of Sale pages.

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