This article describes the financial process flow in Eventsforce for some typical scenarios:
Free of charge registration
If the registration has no price (or payments are not configured for the event):
Registration contact completes registration
No payment information is shown during the registration process
A registration is created in Eventsforce with a zero amount due
No invoice is created
In the admin portal these registrations will show 0.00 for the amount due and amount paid. They will be shown as paid (as the amount due equals the amount paid).
Registration paid by card
If the registration is paid by card:
Registration contact completes registration
Registration contact chooses to pay by card
A registration is created in Eventsforce with a non-zero amount due and a zero amount paid
An invoice is created in Eventsforce
Eventsforce redirects the user’s browser to the payment gateway to take payment (unless using Stripe)
If payment is successful:
The payment gateway will notify Eventsforce
Eventsforce posts a payment against the registration
Registration confirmation email is sent to the registration contact and event manager
If payment is unsuccessful, or Eventsforce does not receive a reply from the payment gateway within 20 minutes:
Payment failure email is sent to the registration contact and event manager
The registration is complete, but unpaid (as it has a zero amount paid)
The registration contact can try to pay again or cancel the registration
The event manager can choose to cancel the registration or chase for payment
Registration paid by invoice
If the registration is paid by invoice:
Registration contact completes registration
Registration contact chooses to pay by invoice
A registration is created in Eventsforce with a non-zero amount due and a zero amount paid
An invoice is created in Eventsforce
Registration confirmation email is sent to the registration contact, along with an invoice (if configured in the email)
The registration is complete, but unpaid (as it has a zero amount paid)
When payment is received, it must be posted against the registration in Eventsforce using the API or the admin portal. If payment is not posted, Eventsforce will show an outstanding amount due, and the event will not reconcile.
The API requires that payments are posted against an invoice. In practice, payments can be posted against any invoice for the registration - behind the scenes the payment is stored against the registration, not a particular invoice or credit note.
Changes and amendments
This section covers changes and amendments to registrations, and how the invoices and credit notes change as registrations change.
In all of the examples the registration price is £50, and we assume there are no cancellation charges configured. We also assume the registration contact is paying by invoice - the flow for card payments is similar, the only difference is that the card payment will automatically be posted to the registration.
Registration contact registers and cancels without paying
In this example, the registration contact registers, but cancels before paying. We assume there is no cancellation charge.
Registration contact registers - invoice for £50, amount due is £50
Registration contact cancels - credit note for £50, amount due is £0
Registration contact registers, pays and then cancels
In this example, the registration contact registers, pays and then cancels. We assume there is no cancellation charge.
Registration contact registers - invoice for £50, amount due is £50
Registration contact pays £50 - payment posted to booking, amount due is £0
Registration contact cancels - credit note for £50, amount due is -£50
Registration contact is refunded £50, payment of -£50 posted to booking, amount due is £0
Registration contact registers, pays and then amends
In this example, the registration contact registers, pays and then amends their registration so that the amount due changes.
Registration contact registers - invoice for £50, amount due is £50
Registration contact pays £50 - payment posted to booking, amount due is £0
Registration contact adds a £10 celebratory hat to their booking
Credit note for £50
Invoice for £60
Amount due is £10
Registration contact pays £10 - payment posted to booking, amount due is £0
Registration contact registers, amends and then pays
In this example, the registration contact registers, amends their registration so that the amount due changes and then pays.
Attendee registers - invoice for £50, amount due is £50
Attendee adds a £10 celebratory hat to their booking
Credit note for £50
Invoice for £60
Amount due is £60
Attendee pays £60 - payment posted to booking, amount due is £0