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Payments and Transaction Flow

The OPS-COM system utilizes a standardized three-step transaction flow to manage the lifecycle of user purchases, such as parking permits. Understanding this workflow helps administrators accurately track financial commitments and manage inventory status from the initial reservation to final payment. This guide is intended for OPS-COM administrators responsible for financial processing and user account management.

Setup and Configuration

The payment transaction flow is an inherent system process within OPS-COM and does not require specific module configuration to function. However, administrators should ensure their payment methods and gateways are correctly configured before users attempt to make purchases.

Using this Feature

The lifecycle of an item purchase consists of three primary stages: linking the item, making a payment promise, and processing the payment.

Step 1: Linking the Item to a User

A user or an administrator links an item, such as a permit, to a user's account.

  • The item is placed in an Awaiting Payment status because a payment method has not yet been selected.

  • The specific item is temporarily reserved and is no longer accessible to other users in the system.

The system utilizes an automated midnight clearing list. If a user reserves an item but does not proceed to the next step to establish a promise of payment, the system will automatically release the permit back into the available inventory at midnight.

Step 2: Making a Promise of Payment

The user or administrator selects a specific payment type (e.g., cash, cheque, or payroll deduction) to finalize the reservation.

  • This action constitutes a "promise to pay."

  • The user's transaction is automatically added to the Unprocessed Payments list.

  • This step provides users the flexibility to mail a cheque or visit the parking office in person to finalize their transaction at a later time.

Step 3: Processing the Payment

Once the physical payment (cash, cheque, etc.) is received by the office, the administrator must finalize the transaction in the system.

  • Access the Unprocessed Payments list.

  • Mark the specific transaction as processed.

  • The item is now fully linked to the user's account, and the financial transaction is complete.

Best Practices and Considerations

  • Monitor Unprocessed Payments: Regularly check the Unprocessed Payments list to ensure pending transactions are finalized in a timely manner.

  • Manage Inventory: Organizations should develop a business rule to drop payments and release permits after a set period, such as two weeks. This ensures that valuable inventory is not tied up indefinitely by unfulfilled payment promises.

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