Using Wire Transfer payment method to mimic invoicing…
When we first launched eCommerce, we found that there was no option that would allow us to BILL our customers. We had a look at the Wire Transfer method and found that with a little tweaking, we could use this to mimic the invoicing process.
when a user checks out and selects the WT option, the transactions and access to the course remains in a “pending” status until the admin marks it as PAID. We use the eCommerce Transaction report to export our transactions and send them over to accounting system via ftp (this part is optional and requires an accounting system that allows this type of connection or some kind of import tool).
The Tweaks:
- added some Additional Fields to the user profiles to capture information needed by the accounting system
- updated WT labels in Localization with language that better fits and invoice method
- created an internal process to regularly manage pending transactions and mark them as PAID
- Using the WT notifications to alert users of their transaction status; same for admins (they are alerted that a new transaction is pending). This also provides the user with a temporary invoice until the actual one is sent from the accounting system
The Pro’s:
- able to give users the same general feel of buying on “credit” without having to implement a whole new external. manual payment/charge system or using the Shopify integration provided by Docebo (this licks you into only using Shopify unfortunately so it becomes another site to manage and cannot be undone)
- has created a smooth process that users like overall
- eCommerce report is quite complete and has lots of details
The Con’s:
- you need someone to stay on top of pending transactions and these can only mark as PAID manually (there may be an API for that??)
- it is not a true billing system so you need a place to send the data (whether using an automated or manual solution)
- There is no ability to charge sales tax; not an issue for us as we are a non-profit. depending on what and how you are selling content, you local government may not require you to charge tax on learning materials
Overall, it has been quite successful so far.
If you’d like to know more or have questions, please feel free to reach out.
Thank you.