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How to Reconcile with Bluefin: https://help.pm.leapevent.tech/a/829754
It's important to make sure the credit card transactions you're running in PatronManager match up with the money you're getting from Bluefin.
You'll need to both:
- Reconcile your credit card transactions either daily (recommended) or weekly
- Reconcile your monthly fees each month
Let's get started!
Daily Reconciliation with the Bluefin Settlement Report
Every day you transact using Bluefin, you'll get an email with a summary of your day's transactions. Then, you'll compare that email to one of two reports in PatronManager to make sure they match.
The daily Bluefin Settlement Report will be emailed each day to the person you designated on your merchant application. If you're not sure who these reports are going to, or you need to change the recipient, submit a case in the Client Community and we'll be happy to help!
For each day you transact using Bluefin, you'll get an email at around 12:05 AM EST with a summary of those transactions. That amount will be deposited in your bank account 3 business days after the transactions were run in PatronManager. Here's Bluefin's disbursement schedule in chart form - it's a little easier to see that way.
The subject line will be PayConex Batch Settlement Notification. Here's what the email will look like - let's go over the most important pieces of information:
- You'll use the Batch Date when you're running your reconciliation report in PatronManager, so take note of it now.
- The Net Settlement amount should match the amount on your PatronManager report, so also take note of that. You won't need to use the Gross, Debit, or Credit amounts, so you can disregard those numbers.
- Here's all the transactions you ran in PatronManager - note that date of the transactions is the day before the Batch Date.
Now we'll need to reconcile the information from the email with a report in PatronManager. For this you have two options: the Credit Card Reconciliation Report (simple, less detail) and the Reconciliation Report with Details (advanced, more detail).
Reconciling with the Credit Card Reconciliation Report
Using the Credit Card Reconciliation Report is the simplest way to reconcile daily, so we'll start there. The report shows your credit card transaction totals broken down by event and card type, but doesn't show individual transactions. If you need that information as well, the Reconciliation Report with Details may be a better choice.
1. Go to Financial Reports via the PatronTicket Hub
You can get to the PatronTicket Hub via the "waffle" in the upper lefthand corner if you don't see it in your header.
2. Click the Credit Card Reconciliation Report link
3. Select Bluefin as the processor, and enter the date from the Batch Settlement Report
4. Find the Transaction Gross on your report and make sure this number matches the Net Settlement amount from your Bluefin email
Your daily Bluefin Settlement Report won't list PM fees, because those are deducted separately by PatronManager each week. You'll receive an email from PatronManager to confirm when those fees are deducted, but the DRR is a handy tool to keep track of them day-to-day!
Where are my credit card and Bluefin fees?
The Credit Card Reconciliation Report and the Reconciliation Report with Details are both great tools for reconciliation, but they will not reflect your credit card and Bluefin fees. That's because Elavon (Bluefin's acquiring bank) treats these fees as a monthly expense. Check out the monthly reconciliation section to see your credit card and Bluefin fees.
Reconciling with the Reconciliation Report with Details
Matching the Bluefin Settlement Report to the Credit Card Reconciliation Report is all you need to do for daily reconciliation, but sometimes you may want to look at other transaction details (Patron Name, Number of Tickets Ordered, etc.). There's a report for that - the Reconciliation Report w/ Details!
1. Go to the Reports Tab in PatronManager, then search for the Reconciliation Report w/ Details.
You can also get there via the "waffle" in the upper lefthand corner if you don't see Reports in your header.
2. Click Edit
3. Click Filters, set your Batch Date to the desired date and click "Save and Run"
Your Batch Date will be set by default to "Today" for daily reconciliation, but you can change that date to review any day you like. Remember to use the Batch Date we found on your Bluefin Settlement Report.
4. Check out your report!
1. Each row displays an individual order with the patron's name, event details, and transaction totals
2. Keep track of your Leap Event Technology per-ticket fees, aka PM Fees (if applicable) in this column
3. Your transaction total should match the Net Total on your Bluefin Settlement Report and your Credit Card Reconciliation Report
Where are my credit card and Bluefin fees?
The Credit Card Reconciliation Report and the Reconciliation Report with Details are both great tools for reconciliation, but they will not reflect your credit card and Bluefin fees. That's because Elavon (Bluefin's acquiring bank) treats these fees as a monthly expense. Check out the monthly reconciliation section to see your credit card and Bluefin fees.
Weekly or Multi-Day Reconciliation
Bluefin disburses daily, so the easiest way to reconcile is day-by-day. However, if you want to reconcile weekly (or by any other time frame) you can!
You'll need to run a quick report in Bluefin's PayConex portal; then, you'll compare that to one of two reports in PatronManager.
1. Log into PayConex
If you've never done that before, check out Logging in to PayConex for the First Time.
2. Go to the Reports tab and click Custom Reports
3. Click Create New Report
4. Fill out the Custom Report form and click Create
- Give your report a Title and Description.
- Select which data fields should be exported in your report - you can add other fields if you like, but we recommend at least these fields to keep your report organized:
- name
- last4
- batch_id
- batch_date
- Check the Output sub-totals in report box so your report will show totals by day and for the period.
- Select the Report Period. If you don't see the time frame you want, don't worry, we'll fix that in the next step.
- Schedule the report to run and be sent to your email regularly. Otherwise, you'll need to log into PayConex each time you want to run it.
5. Make sure your report is set for the period you want
If you need to change the period of your report, click the Override link, select the time frame you would like and click Apply.
If your time period looks fine, you can skip to the next step.
In this example, we need to run the report for June 9-15:
6. Click Run; your report will be downloaded as an Excel file
7. Check out your report and grab your Grand Total!
When you first download your report, it may look a little funky because some of the data is too long for the cell width. Widen your columns and it should look much better! You can also play around with border lines, colors, and spacing.
It's your report, so feel free to customize it to work for you!
Your report breaks down each individual transaction and subtotal by Batch Date, then lists the Grand Total for the period. This Grand Total is the number you'll reconcile with your PatronManager report.
You've got two options: the Credit Card Reconciliation Report (simple, less detail) and the Reconciliation Report with Details (advanced, more detail).
Credit Card Reconciliation Report
To run the Credit Card Reconciliation Report, follow the same steps you would for daily reconciliation, but change the Batch Date Range:
Heads up!
Because Bluefin batches each night at exactly 11:59pm EST, the Batch Date in PatronManager will be one day later than what is listed on your PayConex report.
In this example, we looked at the week of 6/9 through 6/15. To reconcile with the Credit Card Reconciliation Report, we'll select 6/10 through 6/16.
Reconciliation Report with Details
To run the Reconciliation Report with Details, follow the same steps you would for daily reconciliation, but change the Batch Date Range:
Heads up!
Because Bluefin batches each night at exactly 11:59pm EST, the Batch Date in PatronManager will be one day later than what is listed on your PayConex report.
In this example, we looked at the week of 6/9 through 6/15. To reconcile with the Reconciliation Report with Details, we'll select 6/10 through 6/16.
Where are my credit card and Bluefin fees?
The Credit Card Reconciliation Report and the Reconciliation Report with Details are both great tools for reconciliation, but they will not reflect your credit card and Bluefin fees. That's because Elavon (Bluefin's acquiring bank) treats these fees as a monthly expense. Check out the monthly reconciliation section to see your credit card and Bluefin fees.
Reconciling Credit Card Fees and Bluefin Fees using your Monthly Statement
Elavon (Bluefin's acquiring bank) will provide you with an End-of-Month report through their online portal, Payments Insider. This is where you'll go each month to reconcile your credit card fees for the month and your monthly Bluefin fees.
Not sure how to get your monthly statement? Check out our Payments Insider article.
Here's an example of what that monthly statement looks like, and some important fields on it:
- Total Sales lists your total sales for the month. Check the Statement Date to make sure you're looking at the correct month.
- Your monthly credit card fees will be listed in the Fees/Charges category field.
- The Bluefin monthly fees outlined in your merchant application are listed under Other Fees.
Each month, make sure your fees match up to what's on your bank statement.