Before You Begin:
- You need staff access to billing settings under Finance.
- Trade/External Payment Types is an optional setting — it is not required to set up. When enabled, the system provides two default types. If you do not create specific types, the options available will simply be Trade or External Payment, which might be fine for most users.
- Decide which Default Trade Deposit Account these payments should be directed to (or be ready to create one).
Payment types allow you to have more detailed reporting on what types of trades or external payments you are accepting. For example, you might enter Advertising trade, Giftcard trade, etc. for your Trade Payment Types. Or, if you are using an outside credit card processor, you may have an external type called Square. To use these payment types, you must enable Trade or External at Finance > Billing > Settings > General Billing Settings.
Step-by-Step Instructions
Setting your Trade & External Payment Types is a two-step process: first create your payment types, then enable them.
Part 1: Create your Trade & External Payment Types
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Go to Finance, Billing section, click Settings and select Trade/External Payment Types. A list of payment types you have currently set up for your organization will be displayed.
- Trade Types are usually for things like advertising credits or other type of trade or barter used to offset the balance of an invoice.
- External Payment Types are generally used for payments applied through a third-party vendor like PayPal, Square, or another processor not integrated through GrowthZone.
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Click the
icon for the desired payment type.
- Enter a Name for the payment type. This is the name that will be available to you for selection when accepting payments.
- Click Done.
You may add as many payment types as needed to support your business processes.
Part 2: Enable Trade & External Payment Types
- Go to Finance, Billing section, click Settings and select General Billing Settings, then scroll down to the Trade and External Payments section toward the bottom of the page.
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Select the appropriate Default Trade Deposit Account. When processing a payment, the system must understand which account should be debited. This will be used by the system as the default if an alternate account is not specified when processing the goods/service. You may select an existing account or create a new account if needed.
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Select the Optional Payment Types you wish to enable in your system from the dropdown.
- Click Save.
Using Trade or External Payments as a Payment Option
Once you have created your trade/external payment options they are available to select anywhere you can make a payment.
The trade/external payment displays just like any other payment type, and the invoice will reflect the payment and if there is a remaining balance to be paid.
Common Pitfalls
- Creating types but never enabling them: Creating a payment type is only half the process. Until you enable the Optional Payment Types under General Billing Settings and click Save, your new types will not appear when applying a payment.
- No Default Trade Deposit Account set: The system needs to know which account to debit. Set the Default Trade Deposit Account before enabling, or payments may not post correctly.