Cloudy Business Ops 3600 Knowledge Bases

Payment Method

The Payment Method object in Cloudy Business Ops 360 represents the stored financial instruments (such as credit cards, ACH accounts, or digital wallets) that customers or vendors use to make payments through a configured Payment Gateway.

This object ensures that each account has valid, reusable, and secure payment information for processing invoices, bills, or sales orders. It also helps enforce compliance by associating payment methods with legal entities and tracking their operational status.

Key Purpose of Payment Method

1. Reusable Payment Information
   Allows storing customer or vendor payment details (e.g., card details, ACH accounts) for future transactions.
   
2. Gateway Integration
   Links payment methods with a Payment Gateway to process transactions securely.
   
3. Compliance and Entity Mapping
   Associates payment methods with the correct Legal Entity for compliance, taxation, and reporting.
   
4. Customer & Contact Linking
   Connects payment methods directly to Accounts and Contacts, ensuring traceability and ease of use.
   
5. Operational Control
   Active/Inactive status ensures only valid and approved payment methods are available during transactions.

Use Cases in Cloudy Business Ops 360

1. Customer Stored Payment Method:
   A customer’s credit card is stored as a Payment Method, linked to Stripe via the Payment Gateway, and reused for monthly subscription billing.
   
2. Vendor ACH Details:
   A vendor provides their bank account for ACH transfers. This is stored under their Account with the Bank Account Name field.
   
3. Multi-Currency Operations:
   The Currency field ensures payment methods are valid for specific currencies, especially when operating across multiple regions.
   
4. External Gateway Tracking:
   Using External Customer Id and External Payment Method Id, Cloudy Business Ops 360 ensures cross-system tracking with Stripe, Authorize.Net, or other gateways.
   
5. Access Control via Status:
   An expired or blocked card can be set to Inactive, preventing accidental use during invoicing or sales order processing.

Example Scenario

• Customer Account: ABC Corp.
• Payment Gateway: Stripe
• Payment Method Type: Credit Card ending 1234
• Currency: USD
• Status: Active

• Process:
  
  • Linked to ABC Corp’s account and billing contact.
  • The card details are tokenized by Stripe (External Payment Method Id stored).
  • During invoice payment, the system auto-selects this Active Payment Method for faster checkout.