Are you getting “Authorization only” or “Authorized/Pending Capture” messages from your authorize.net receipts or reports?

(Last Updated On: November 7, 2016)

Whenever Authorize.net sends a receipt that has an Authorization only or Authorized/Pending capture message,  the sale may not be recorded in Wintix. 

pending capture

The reason is  Authorization Only or Authorized/Pending capture means the sale has not been paid.  

To catch these random transactions that don’t get captured,  log into Authorize.net  and click on Unsettled transactions (see below). When you log into Authorize.net to manually capture the transaction, payment is received but the manual capturing of the sale does not automatically get recorded in Wintix.

To manually capture the transaction, click on the Capture button.   If the sale was not recorded originally in Wintix, and you have manually captured the transaction in Authorize.net, this manually captured transaction will not appear in Wintix. You will then have to go into Wintix and manually input the sale into Wintix.

If the sale has already been captured from a later date and the sale does show up in Wintix, then click on the Void button in Authorize.net.

NOTE: Any pending transaction will be listed in Unsettled transactions for 30 days in Authorize.net. If these transactions are not either voided or captured within 30 days, Authorize.net will automatically void these transactions in 30 days and you will receive an automated email notifying you of this.

Center Stage Software  has been in touch with Authorize.net as to why these random Authorization only  transactions occur.  Authorize.net tells its customers that this is a ticketing software problem and the reason why these transactions occur is because our software has an Authorization only setting.  We wish it was that simple, as we do have the credit card setting as Authorize and capture. Most of our clients’ online transactions do get authorized and captured. However, on rare occasions, some transactions appear as Authorized only.  We recommend you check your unsettled transactions on a daily basis to find any transaction that shows Authorization only. This shouldn’t take more than a couple of minutes.

This is another reason why it’s extremely important to run Daily sales reports in Wintix and  check Authorize.net on a daily basis. What happens regularly is that patrons will start a sale and get to the Authorize.net payment page, but by the time they submit, the Webtix shopping cart has already expired. Authorize.net has received their credit card information, but Authorize.net cannot complete the transaction.

Your patrons think they have paid for tickets, but in reality they have not.  If there are transactions that are labeled Pending capture, you will have to notify your patron that the sale was NOT charged.  Since the sale is not in Wintix, you will be able to get the information from Authorize.net and enter it into Wintix.  Authorize.net will have the number of tickets with pricing, as well as seat numbers.  Once you have this in Wintix and have informed your patron, you can click on the Capture button in Authorize.net.  Remember, if you don’t do this on a daily basis, you will have 30 days to complete this procedure before Authorize.net deletes these uncaptured transactions.

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