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Payments Configuration

Manage Deposit Types

The Manage Deposit Types feature allows administrators to define and manage various categories of deposits, such as those required for permits, equipment, or specific services. Its primary purpose is to accurately track refundable amounts, provide clear financial oversight, and ensure proper accounting for deposited funds within the system. This article is intended for OPS-COM administrators responsible for financial configurations and managing user deposits.

Setup and Configuration

This feature is a core administrative tool used to establish financial deposit requirements within the system.

Admin Side: Administrators must have the appropriate system role permissions enabled to access the payments configuration menus and manage the list of deposit types.

Using this Feature

Administrators can use the following instructions to navigate the management interface to seamlessly add, edit, or delete various deposit types.

Accessing the Management Interface

  1. Hover over System Configuration, click Payments, then Manage Deposit Types.

Adding a Deposit Type

  1. Click the Add Deposit Type button.

  2. Enter a descriptive identifier in the Label field (e.g., Permit Deposit or Key Fob Deposit).

  3. Enter prompt instructions in the Placeholder Text field if desired. This optional text appears in the deposit information text field to guide administrators when creating a deposit record.

  4. Enable or disable the Flags toggle. This controls the ability to edit the Assignable Text field in the resulting active deposit record, which will appear in the user's profile associated with the deposit.

  5. Enter the required monetary value in the Amount field.

  6. Enable the Active checkbox to ensure the deposit is currently available to be assigned.

  7. Click the Save Changes button.

Editing a Deposit Type

  1. Locate the specific deposit type you wish to modify in the list.

  2. Click the Edit button next to the entry.

  3. Make any necessary changes to the configuration fields.

  4. Click the Save Changes button to apply your updates.

Deleting a Deposit Type

  1. Locate the specific deposit type you wish to remove from the list.

  2. Click the Delete button next to the entry.

A deposit type can only be deleted if there are absolutely no records currently associated with it in the system. The Delete button will not be visible if the deposit type is actively in use or linked to past transactions. This restriction prevents financial data inconsistencies.


Best Practices and Considerations

Managing Payment Types

The Managing Payment Types feature allows administrators to control which payment methods are available throughout the system. Its primary purpose is to enable organizations to define new payment options, assign them to specific user types (e.g., Staff, Students, Public), and configure their usage for subscriptions or guest payments, ensuring strict alignment with internal financial policies. This article is intended for OPS-COM administrators responsible for configuring financial workflows and checkout experiences.

Setup and Configuration

This feature is a core administrative tool used to establish the payment gateways and offline payment methods accepted by your organization.

Admin Side: Administrators must have the appropriate system role permissions enabled to access the payments configuration menus and manage the list of payment types.

User Side: End-users interact directly with these configurations during the checkout process on the parking portal. The specific payment options they see are dynamically determined by the configurations applied to their assigned user type.

Using this Feature

Administrators can use the following instructions to navigate the management interface to seamlessly add, configure, and review payment types.

Accessing the Management Interface

  1. Hover over System Configuration, click Payments, then $ Setup Payment Types.

Adding Payment Types

The following example outlines how to set up an offline payment type using the Always Successful provider. This configuration allows payments to be immediately flagged as fully processed with no admin intervention, which is ideal for scenarios like payroll deductions where the actual funds are handled outside of OPS-COM.

  1. Click the Add Type button.

  2. Select Always Successful from the Providers drop-down menu.

  3. Click the Next Step button.

  4. Enter a descriptive title into the Type Name field (e.g., Payroll Deduction).

  5. Select the specific User Types this payment method will be available to.

  6. Navigate to the Settings tab and enable the necessary checkboxes for your requirements.

  7. Review the Allowed Payment Types section to see active payment types listed first, followed by inactive ones.

  8. Click the Update Payment Type button to finalize the addition.

The list of Providers in the drop-down menu is hard-coded and securely controlled by Tomahawk. You cannot manually edit this picklist. Hover over the tooltip below the provider to view an explanation of what each provider entails.

Configuring Payment Types for Subscriptions and Guests

You can easily fine-tune how specific payment types are utilized for recurring subscriptions and guest checkout flows.

  1. Locate the specific payment type you wish to configure in the list.

  2. Click the Pencil icon next to the entry.

  3. Click the Settings tab.

  4. Enable the checkboxes for the items you wish to allow this payment type to be used for (e.g., enable the Text2ParkMe checkbox, the subscriptions to permit renewals checkbox, or the guest payments checkbox).

  5. Adjust the Prompt Information settings to define what data is collected. You can enable only an email address or mandate full address information.

  6. Click the Update Payment Type button to apply your changes.

Full address information is strictly required when the payment provider performs Address Verification using AVS, 3DS, or a similar security service. This configuration also controls what information fields appear on the QR Code reservations screen after the payment type is selected.

Hosted Payment Providers

Setting up a hosted payment provider requires specific credentials from your merchant account. Once you retrieve the required values from your provider of choice, save the credentials securely and contact OPS-COM Support for further configuration instructions.

The information obtained from your hosted payment provider serves as the critical security credentials that encrypt the financial information exchanged between OPS-COM and the provider. It is vital that these keys are stored properly and securely to ensure complete operational security for your organization.

Extended Payment Information

For each active payment type, you can view extended information directly on the main management screen. This includes:

There are also three columns on the far right that use an X or a checkmark to indicate specific permitted uses:

Processing as an Admin

When administrators are manually processing payments on the backend, the available payment types presented in the interface will be split into two distinct categories:

  1. The payment types the specific user is normally allowed to use based on their assigned User Type.

  2. The administrative payment types an admin can choose to override with, which often includes additional options not visible to the end-user.


Best Practices and Considerations

Managing Convenience Fees

The Managing Convenience Fees feature allows administrators to add an additional flat-rate charge directly to user payments, managed entirely within the system. Its primary purpose is to provide flexibility to offset processing costs, incentivize certain payment methods, or cover administrative burdens, distinct from any external transaction fees. This article is intended for OPS-COM administrators responsible for financial configurations and system pricing strategies.

Setup and Configuration

This feature is a core administrative tool used to establish additional charges applied to specific transactions or payment methods.

Admin Side: Administrators must have the appropriate system role permissions enabled to access the payments configuration menus and manage fee settings.

You can only use convenience fees if your system is currently configured to use Bambora or Worldline as your hosted payment provider.

User Side: End-users do not interact directly with the backend configuration of these fees. However, this fee amount is visible within the user portal and is added to their grand total before the final checkout screen.

Transaction Fees versus Convenience Fees

It is crucial to understand the distinction between these two types of fees before configuring your system:

Using this Feature

Administrators can use the following instructions to navigate the management interface to seamlessly add and configure various convenience fees.

Accessing the Management Interface

  1. Hover over System Configuration, click Payments, then Fees.

Setting Up Fees

  1. Click the Add Fee button.

  2. Configure the fee parameters based on your specific use case or scenario.

  3. Click the Update button to save the new convenience fee.

Fee Limitations: Applied Once Per Order: Fees are applied once per fee type, per order. If a fee is set for permits, only a single fee is applied to the entire order, regardless of whether it contains one permit or five permits. Flat Rate Only: Fees are currently restricted to a flat rate. There is no percentage-based fee option available at this time. Grand Total Sent: Fees are not sent to the payment provider as a secondary item. Only the grand total (item base price plus the convenience fee) is sent for processing.

Configuration Scenarios

Administrators can configure fees to accommodate a variety of operational scenarios:

Admin Collected Fee for Collecting Cash and Cheques

The administrator wants to encourage online payments. A fee is set up as a deterrent when users pay with cash or cheque to cover the increased administrative burden of manual processing.

Admin Collected Fee for Permits

Permits are sent to a third party for enforcement, and that third party charges $0.50 per permit they enforce. The client wishes to pass this exact cost onto the user.

Admin Charges a Convenience Fee to Cover an OPS-COM Collected Transaction Fee

There is an agreement with the payment provider that all permits will incur a $2.95 transaction fee. The client still wants to receive the full $150 for a purchased permit, so they set up a convenience fee to offset this cost.

Admin Includes the Transaction Fee in the Price of the Item

An agreement exists where all permits incur a $2.95 transaction fee. However, the client chooses to absorb this fee by increasing the item's base price instead of adding a separate line item.


Best Practices and Considerations

Taxes

The Taxes feature allows administrators to define and manage the tax percentages applied to payments made within the system. Its primary purpose is to ensure accurate tax calculation during checkout, maintain compliance with local tax regulations, and provide transparency to users regarding applicable taxes. This article is intended for OPS-COM administrators responsible for financial configurations and system compliance.

Setup and Configuration

This feature is a core administrative tool used to establish the tax rates and rules applied to system transactions.

Admin Side: Administrators must possess the Primary Admin role with the Manage System Configuration permission enabled to edit system tax settings.

User Side: This feature is strictly a backend administrative configuration. End-users do not interact directly with tax configurations, but they will see the defined tax labels and calculated amounts displayed in their cart and on their receipts during the checkout process.

If you do not see the settings mentioned in this article, please contact support@ops-com.com to have them enabled for your environment. You will need to provide the written permission of your Primary Admin to request this access change.

Using this Feature

Administrators can use the following instructions to navigate the management interface to configure multiple settings for each tax type, ensuring accurate calculation and display.

Accessing the Management Interface

  1. Hover over System Configuration and click Payments then Taxes.

Editing a Tax Type

When editing an existing tax type, administrators will interact with the following fields and actions to apply changes:

  1. Locate the specific tax type you wish to modify on the configuration page.

  2. Enable the Enable checkbox to make the tax type active and apply it to transactions, or disable it to deactivate the tax.

  3. Enter the numerical percentage of tax to be calculated into the Percentage field (e.g., enter 13 for 13%).

  4. Enter the desired display name into the Tax Label & Translation field. This defines exactly how this tax will be displayed to users during the cart and checkout process (e.g., HST, Sales Tax, or VAT). Multiple languages are supported for translation.

  5. Enable the checkboxes under the Apply to the following items section to define the specific system modules or item types to which you want this tax to be applied (e.g., Permits, Violations, Lockers, or Access Cards).


Best Practices and Considerations

The Invoice Template

The Invoice Template feature allows administrators to fully customize the email and PDF invoices sent to companies for outstanding permits. Its primary purpose is to ensure that billing communications accurately reflect your organizational branding while dynamically generating all necessary financial details using shortcodes. This article is intended for OPS-COM administrators.

Setup and Configuration

Configuring the invoice template involves adjusting the meta data that dictates how the email is identified and formatted before it reaches the recipient.

Admin Side:

  1. Hover over System Config and click Email Templates.

  2. Click the Edit button next to Permit Invoice to access the template configuration form.

  3. Enter a descriptive name for internal reference in the Label field.

  4. Choose the appropriate language from the Language drop-down menu.

  5. Select the default layout from the Layout drop-down menu.

  6. Enter the text that will appear as the email subject line in the Subject field.

You can successfully use shortcodes in the Subject field to dynamically personalize the email. For example, inserting [invoice account="name"] will automatically call up and display the specific account name for the company being invoiced directly in the subject line.

User Side: End-users do not interact with the setup or configuration of administrative email templates.

Using this Feature

The template form interface contains four primary areas: Meta Data at the top, a list of available Short Codes on the left, the actual visual Template on the right, and a Text Content field at the bottom (used for configuring a plain text version of the invoice).

Administrators interact with the visual template editor to place static branding and dynamic shortcodes.

Available Shortcodes

The template allows the use of special tokens, or shortcodes, to accurately pull live information from the database and populate the invoice when sent. These function similarly to a standard mail merge.

Customizing the Template Sections

There are several key areas on the template that should be actively edited by the admin to ensure proper branding and data delivery:


Best Practices and Considerations

Setup payments with Flex Dollars

The Flex Dollar and Payroll Deduction feature allows administrators to offer a specialized payment method for handling partial permit payments with internal credits. Its primary purpose is to enable users to apply a pre-defined amount of flex dollars towards a permit purchase, automatically notifying administrators of the remaining balance to be processed via internal payroll. This article is intended for OPS-COM administrators responsible for financial configurations and custom payment workflows.

Setup and Configuration

This feature requires both a system-level activation and specific internal configurations to function properly.

Admin Side: Administrators must have the appropriate system role permissions enabled to access the system settings, payments, and user configuration menus.

User Side: Eligible end-users interact with this feature directly on the checkout page of the user portal, provided their cart meets the specific criteria for flex dollar usage.

The Flex Dollar Payment feature is a custom development tailored specifically for limited use cases. It is enabled by a system-level setting that is typically configured by OPS-COM Support upon request. Please contact support to have this feature activated for your environment before proceeding with the configuration steps below.

Enabling the Feature

  1. Hover over System Configuration and click System Settings.

  2. Click Permits.

  3. Enable the Enable Flex Dollars checkbox.

Configuring Email Notifications

An email address must be configured to receive internal notifications with the details of the transaction each time this payment method is used. This email address must be actively monitored for any changes or updates to student flex dollar balances.

  1. Hover over System Configuration, click Payments, then Manage Flex Dollars.

  2. Enter an actively monitored email address into the Flex Dollars Alert Email text box.

Defining Flex Dollar Amounts

You must create the specific flex dollar values that users are permitted to select during checkout.

  1. Hover over System Configuration, click Payments, then Manage Flex Dollars.

  2. Click the Add New button.

  3. Enter the descriptive text the user will see in the drop-down menu into the Label field (e.g., Apply $100 of Flex Credit).

  4. Enter the corresponding numeric amount into the Value field (e.g., 100.00).

  5. Click the Save button.

  6. Repeat this process for all the pre-determined flex dollar amounts your organization offers.

Assigning the Payment Method

This payment method must be explicitly enabled for the specific user types permitted to use it.

  1. Hover over System Configuration, click Users, then User Types.

  2. Select the specific user type you wish to grant access to (e.g., Staff).

  3. Assign the Flex Dollars/Payroll Deduction payment option in the user type settings. Detailed instructions can be found on the User Types page.

Using this Feature

Once configured, this feature provides a streamlined purchasing workflow for users and a clear notification process for your administrative or payroll teams.

User Purchase Workflow

  1. Add a standard term permit to the shopping cart on the user portal.

  2. Select Flex Dollars/Payroll Deduction as the payment method on the checkout page.

  3. Select the desired credit amount from the populated drop-down menu of configured flex dollar labels.

  4. Complete the transaction. The permit is considered valid and is issued immediately upon checkout.

Administrator Workflow (Post-Purchase)

  1. Receive the automated transaction email sent to the address configured in the Flex Dollars Alert Email field. This notification contains the user's name, contact information, permit details, flex dollar amount applied, and the remaining balance due.

  2. Utilize this emailed information to independently confirm the user's flex dollar balances and process the remaining balance via your organization's internal payroll system.

For auditing purposes, a note detailing the applied flex dollar amount is automatically added to the user's transaction payment record. However, the payroll deduction component and the updating of actual flex dollar balances are not automated processes. The system's primary function is to simply calculate and report the remaining payroll deduction balance to administrators for manual processing.


Best Practices and Considerations

Stripe Payment Provider Setup

The Stripe Payment Provider Setup feature allows administrators to integrate with Stripe to process credit card payments directly within the system. Its primary purpose is to provide a secure and seamless checkout experience for users while simplifying financial reconciliation for your operations. This article is intended for OPS-COM administrators responsible for financial setup and payment gateways.

Setup and Configuration

This feature requires configuration within the OPS-COM administration portal as well as the external Stripe developer dashboard.

Admin Side: Administrators must have the appropriate system role permissions enabled to access the payments configuration menus and establish external integrations.

User Side: End-users interact with this feature seamlessly during the checkout process on the web portal or when interacting with field staff using handheld devices.

Admin Portal Configuration

  1. Hover over System Configuration, click Payments, then Setup Payment Types.

  2. Click the Add Type button.

  3. Click the Payment Provider drop-down menu and choose Stripe.js.

  4. Name the payment type, select the applicable user types, and click the Settings tab.

  5. Enter your Stripe public key into the Publishable Key field.

  6. Enter your Stripe secret key into the Secret Key field.

  7. Verify that the Currency setting is correct for your region (the default is US dollars).

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Only enter testing credentials into the configuration fields until you are completely ready for your users to have live access to this payment method.

Stripe Web hook Configuration

Webhooks are absolutely essential for Stripe to notify OPS-COM regarding payment successes or refund completions. Without these webhooks correctly configured, the system will not communicate any transaction information back to OPS-COM.

Register Your Endpoint

To begin receiving notifications, you must define exactly where Stripe should send the transaction data.

  1. Navigate to your Stripe Dashboard, click Developers, and select Webhooks.

  2. Click the Add Destination button to open the configuration window.

  3. Select the specific event types the system needs to process (payment_intent.succeeded, payment_intent.payment_failed, and payment_intent.canceled).

  4. Click the Continue button.

  5. Select Webhook endpoint and click the Continue button.

  6. Enter a descriptive name for the webhook.

  7. Enter the specific URL provided by OPS-COM into the Endpoint URL field (e.g., https://[CLIENTID].ops-com.com/api/system/payments/stripe/callback).

Retrieve Your Signing Secret

Once the endpoint is created, Stripe generates a unique security key to verify that the data sent to your server is authentic.

  1. Locate the Signing secret section on the summary page for your newly created webhook.

  2. Click the Reveal button to display the string (which typically begins with the prefix whsec_).

  3. Copy this entire string and navigate back to your OPS-COM payment settings.

  4. Paste the copied secret into the Webhook Secret field.

  5. Copy the Destination ID provided by Stripe.

  6. Paste the ID into the Webhook ID field to ensure all incoming data is securely verified.

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Ensure that your Webhook Secret is correctly matched between Stripe and OPS-COM to prevent pending status errors on completed payments.

Using this Feature

The checkout process is optimized for both web portal users and administrators using handheld devices in the field.

Web Portal Transactions

  1. Click the Pay with Credit Card button when you reach the final stage of a transaction to open the secure payment form.

  2. Enter the required credit card details into the form.

  3. Click the Submit Payment button to complete the purchase.

Handheld App Transactions

  1. Tap Checkout to open the payment summary within the OPS-COM for Android app.

  2. Tap Select Payment Method and choose Stripe.

  3. Tap and Hold the Process Payment button to finalize the transaction.

Managing Transactions and Reports

Administrators can seamlessly review all processed payments and manage financial returns through the standard reporting interfaces.

  1. Hover over Financial Management, click Transaction Reports, then Recent Payments.

  2. Review the Status column to determine the current state of each payment, and the Payment Date column to see exactly when the transaction occurred.

  3. Click the View Details icon next to a specific transaction to see the full Stripe receipt.

  4. Click the Refund Payment button to initiate a return of funds.

  5. Click the Confirm Refund drop-down menu and choose Full Refund to finalize the reversal.


Best Practices and Considerations