How to View and Understand Authorizations in Finix

Overview

This article provides information on finding authorizations and understanding the details available on the authorization page in the Finix dashboard.

Preconditions

The following conditions must be met before starting on the instructional steps below:

• Your facility must be using foreUP Payments as your integrated credit card processor
• You must have access to the Finix dashboard (if you do not have access, please contact the foreUP Payments Support Team at [e-mail])

Important Information

• All authorization ID's start with "AU" (e.g.: AU4Fda9PgdQAvbX5ya4DqKLH)
• The time stamp on an authorization in the Finix dashboard should match the time stamp on the foreUP sale transaction 
• Authorizations are the first step in the life cycle of a credit card transaction with foreUP Payments (see the following article to understand the full life cycle of credit card transactions: Understanding the Lifecycle of a Credit Card Sale with foreUP Payments)

How to Find Authorizations in Finix

Follow the below steps to find authorizations in Finix: 

1. Log into the Finix Dashboard
2. Once logged in, click on the Transactions dropdown on the left column and select Authorizations
3. 
4. You can adjust the date range and filters to fit your needs
5. Once you click on an authorization from the list, a side panel on the right will pop up, providing more details regarding the authorization. To view the authorization details in a separate tab, click View All Details in the top right of the side panel.

If you already have the authorization ID, you can paste that ID in the ID Search field at the top left of the Finix Dashboard and hit Enter to pull up that authorization.

Understanding the Authorization Details

The authorization details page in the Finix dashboard has a lot of great information. The below section will cover the following parts of this page: 

• Top Line Information
• Transaction Flow
• Payment Instrument
• Tags

Top Line Information

The information located at the top of the authorization details page provides the following information: 

• Amount: This will tell you the original authorization amount of the credit card 
• ID: If you hover over the ID box, it will show you the authorization ID. If you click on that box, it will copy the authorization ID to your clipboard
• Trace ID: If you hover over the Trace ID box, it will show you the trace ID number (all trace ID's start with "FNX"). If you click on that box, it will copy the trace ID to your clipboard. The trace ID can be a valuable ID for a couple of reasons: 
  • The trace ID is what links the authorization stage and transfer/payment stage together (see the following article to understand the full life cycle of credit card transactions: Understanding the Lifecycle of a Credit Card Sale with foreUP Payments)
  • If you copy and paste a trace ID in the ID Search field located at the top left of the Finix dashboard, you will get a dropdown that allows you to select either the Authorization or Transfer (see the screenshot below for an example)
    • 
  • The trace ID is what the Payments Support Team will use in the subject line of a dispute email informing you of a dispute a cardholder has filed against your facility (see the following article for more information regarding disputes: A Guide to Credit Card Disputes)
• State: The state will be "Succeeded" or "Failed." A failed authorization would correlate to a credit card decline. A successful authorization should correlate to a completed sale in foreUP
• Created On: The timestamp on an authorization will match the timestamp on the foreUP sales report
• Buyer Payment Instruments: This will provide the card details such as the last four and cardholder name (if available)
• Captured Transaction: This will show you what the authorization amount was eventually captured at. If the authorization and the captured transaction amounts are different, it will be for one of the following reasons: 
  • A tip was added to the foreUP sale after the credit card was originally charged (e.g.: the credit card was originally authorized for $20, and then a $5 tip was added. The authorization amount would show $20, but the captured transaction amount would show as $25)
  • A same-day partial refund was issued (e.g.: the credit card was originally charged for $20, but a partial same-day refund of $5 was issued. The authorization amount would show $20 but the captured transaction amount would show $15)
  • For more information on captured transactions (AKA: the transfers/payments stage of a transaction), see the following article: How to View and Understand Payments in Finix

Transaction Flow

The transaction flow section of the authorization page will tell you what stage the transaction is currently at, from authorization to settlement (see the following article to understand the full life cycle of credit card transactions: Understanding the Lifecycle of a Credit Card Sale with foreUP Payments)

Payment Instruments

The payment instrument section of the authorization page will provide the following information:

• Name: This will be the name of the cardholder, if available
• Type: This will show either "Card Present" or "Card Not Present"
• Card Brand: This will be Visa, Mastercard, Discover, American Express, etc.
• Card Type: This will be Credit, Debit, Prepaid, HSA/FSA, etc. 
• Mask Number: This will contain the credit card BIN number and last four
• Expiration Date: This will be the expiration of the credit card 

Tags

The tags section of the authorization page will contain the metadata from foreUP, such as the following: 

• Course ID: This is the number tied to your facility's foreUP account and is mostly used for internal foreUP purposes only
• Invoice ID: This is an internal ID number used in the master foreUP database to identify all sales and sale attempts that pass through the foreUP software. You can take this ID number and use it to search for the foreUP the authorization is linked to in your foreUP account by using the Credit Card Reconciliation report in new reporting. You can access this report by logging into your foreUP account and going Reports > New Reporting > Sales > Credit Card Reconciliation > Adjust your date range to fit your needs > paste the invoice ID in the search field and hit enter
• Employee ID: This is an ID number used in the master foreUP database to identify the specific employee that was logged into the software at the time the sale was processed

 

FAQ

Q: If I am looking at the date for an authorization in Finix, how do I correlate that to a sale in foreUP? 

A: Look at date and timestamp of the authorization in Finix. That date and timestamp should correlate to the sale in foreUP. You can go about this one of two ways:

1. Run the sales report in foreUP for the date found on the authorization in Finix, and scroll through the transactions until you find one that matches. You will know you have the right one as the last four of the credit card in foreUP will match the one you see on the authorization in Finix
2. On the authorization page in foreUP, scroll down until you find the invoice_id number in the Tags section. Copy that ID to your clipboard. Log into foreUP and go Reports > New Reporting > Sales > Credit Card Reconciliation > Adjust your date range to fit your needs > paste the invoice ID in the search field and hit enter. The report should return a single sale. You can copy the sales number from the Sales Number column in that report and then use that sales number to pull up the report in the classic Sales report in foreUP.