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Running the administration — content, users, e-shop, invoicing and settings
Payments / How payments work

How payments work#

The payments module is shared. The e-shop, adverts, the company catalogue and the discussion all use it — each merely asks for a payment and waits for the outcome.

What a payment is#

One attempt to pay a given amount. A payment carries:

Field Note
Amount and currency
Payment code your designation; used to find it
Variable symbol for matching against the bank
Gateway how it is paid
User and email who is paying
Status where the payment stands
Created and paid dates
Description what is being paid for

Payment statuses#

Status Key Meaning
Unknown UNKNOWN the status could not be determined
New NEW created, the customer has not paid yet
Started START they went off to the gateway
Pending PENDING the gateway will confirm later — a bank transfer, say
Paid COMPLETED the money arrived
Cancelled CANCELED the customer clicked out of it
Voided by the gateway VOIDED the gateway cancelled it, not the customer
Refunded REFUNDED the money went back
Failed FAILED the gateway refused it
Expired EXPIRED the customer did not finish in time
Wrong amount BAD_PRICE the gateway confirmed a different amount than expected
Invalid INVALID the gateway returned details that make no sense

"Cancelled" and "Voided by the gateway" are not the same

The first was the customer, the second the gateway — typically over suspicion or a timeout on its side. When disputing a payment it helps to know which side stopped it.

"Wrong amount" and "Invalid" are two different statuses

With the first the payment went through, just for a different amount. With the second the details themselves do not add up. They are handled differently, so do not conflate them.

A pending payment is not a paid one

With transfers and deferred payments, "pending" can last several days. Do not release goods or a service against this status.

A wrong amount means the payment matches but the money does not

The gateway confirmed a different amount from the one expected. It is rarely the customer's fault — more often a price change between creating the payment and paying it. It is resolved by hand and does need looking at.

Who changes the status#

The gateway changes it, not the administrator. It arrives as a message from the gateway to the address the system handed over when the payment started.

A customer returning to the shop is not payment confirmation

They may come back before the gateway confirms, or close the window despite having paid. The gateway's message decides. That is why a status can change long after the customer has walked away from the computer.

What happens after payment#

The payment itself activates nothing. It calls a callback — a handler belonging to whichever module asked for the payment.

Module What it does
E-shop moves the order on
Adverts pays for the advert or its promotion
Company catalogue extends the listing
Membership extends the tariff validity

See Regions and callbacks.

The gateway fee#

The fee is recorded on the payment — a fixed amount, a percentage, or both. It is stored with the payment, so it stays visible what the gateway cost.

A paid payment can ask for a document. Which statuses and which document type is set in the invoicing settings.

One payment may have two documents

A regular invoice and a credit note. Nothing on the payment limits it.

Where to find payments#

Systém → Platby — an overview of all of them. Besides the status and the amount, a payment shows its communication with the gateway, which is the first place to look when something does not add up.