Both Sage 100 and Sage 100cloud natively support integrated credit card and ACH processing.
Before you start processing credit cards you’ll need to select a credit card processing company who provides the back-end access to a merchant account as well as their secure processing vault which holds the credit card data of your customers.
Sage 100cloud can receive pre-authorizations on credit cards prior to processing a shipment which ensures that funds are available prior to the order being placed in the hands of your shippers. If you know the total of the order in advance you can also process a charge as a deposit which charges the full amount of the order immediately.
Note: Refer to your processing agreements with the credit card company for information on how long these pre-authorization holds are good for. In many cases, you can adjust the length of time that the hold is placed on a customer card by contacting your credit card processor.
Credit card processing within Sage 100 can occur in these areas:
- Sales Order Processing (most common to get a pre-authorization prior to sending an order to pick)
- Sales Order Invoice Processing (once shipped the pre-authorization hold is removed and the card is charged for the final total)
- Accounts Receivable Cash Receipts Processing (when a customer wants to pay a balance by credit card)
- Click2Pay is a free feature offered by American Payment Solutions where you can add a link to the existing Sage 100cloud paperless office invoice so your customer can click the link and pay directly from the invoice.
- Accounts Receivable Invoice Data Entry
Note: Processing multiple credit cards against one sales order within Sage 100 is not possible without a third-party add-on.
In most cases, when you select an integrated credit card processor you will also need to use whatever merchant they offer as an integrated solution. While there can be instances where you bring your own merchant account those rates are typically higher than what you’ll receive by using the credit card providers own merchant.
Initial activation of the credit card feature happens within your Sage 100 company maintenance panel as shown. This screen also shows the activation of Click2Pay which will allow the company to include a link on all emailed invoices so the customer can click and pay directly.
As you add credit card information to individual customers, you’ll notice that a pop-up box intercepts the information. This takes the financial information and stores it securely in an encrypted payment vault away from your Sage 100cloud data files. This use of an encrypted vault allows Sage 100cloud to maintain compliance with PCI processing standards.
The Submit Card button is available only if the Credit Card Processing module is registered, the Enable Credit Card Processing check box is selected in Company Maintenance, and the payment type has a valid processor connection established in Payment Type Maintenance.
When you are ready to use a credit card from a customer to pay for an order, you’ll always navigate to the payment tab as shown below. Payments may be entered as deposits (charged immediately) or Authorization which places a hold on the customer’s card until you ship the order and charge the final amount to their credit card.
In some cases, you may be able to save additional money by taking advantage of Level 3 credit card processing in Sage 100cloud.
Level 2 and Level 3 are for business to business (B2B), not business to consumer (B2C) transactions. A qualifying business switching to Level 3 can save thousands of dollars per year! Not all credit card processors and not all cards networks offer Level 3. To realize these savings, merchants must seek out a Level 3 processor. For example, APS is a Level 3 processor and gateway that seamlessly integrates with multiple ERP systems and eCommerce solutions. Mastercard and Visa are two card networks that offer Level 3 but not all networks do.
Level 3 is ideal for business to business (B2B) and business to government (B2G) transactions. Standard B2C cards do not qualify for Level 3 discounted rates. Only corporate or purchasing cards (P-Cards) are accepted for Level 3 transactions where the issuer allows. Qualifying for Level 3 has the most comprehensive data requirements, as illustrated below.
If your company is accepting B2B or P-Cards then you should ensure that whatever processor you are using is also submitting those cards for Level 3 processing. Not all transactions may qualify but it’s worth looking into even if only a few higher volume customers meet the requirements.
A more detailed setup guide for Sage 100cloud credit card processing can be found here:
Credit Card Processing Setup Instructions for Sage 100 – APS Payments User Guide
