Click here to watch the video
Standard Operating Procedures Reconciling Credit Card Transactions
Credit Card Terminals print out a receipt for the customer and a merchant copy with a signature line for the customer to sign. The merchant is encouraged to save every signed receipt. Most merchants put them in the cash drawer until the end of the shift or day.
At the end of the shift or the end of the day, the merchant can close the batch on the credit card terminal and print a detailed batch report. The detailed report contains one line for each transaction plus a total at the bottom. It also indicates if the batch was completed or settled, which means it is being sent to the merchant’s bank.
Here is what each line of the report contains:
- Transaction Number
- The type of transaction, such as Visa, MasterCard, Amex, or Discover
- The last 4 numbers of the customer’s card
- The transaction amount
- Whether the transaction was a sale, refund, or void
At the top of the batch report is the following:
- Name, address, and phone number of the merchant
- Date and time of the batch
- Terminal number
- Merchant identification (MID) number
- Batch number
- Status of the batch, i.e. whether the batch was settled or not
- The total of the batch being sent to the merchant’s bank account
After the terminal is batched and the batch report is printed, the standard operating procedure of most merchants is to check off each transaction that matches the merchant’s receipts; and then staple the batch report and the receipts together. They save these receipts and batch reports in a file cabinet in case there is a discrepancy that needs to be reconciled in the future.
At the end of the month when the merchant gets their bank statement, they should be able to check off each batch deposit total and match them to the batch reports that have been saved.
Stay up to date with our latest videos and merchant services tips, make sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel by clicking the link here: https://bit.ly/3oqnz7Z
