Understanding a payment
Before using the Payments module daily, it's useful to understand what a payment in Unisoft actually represents. This page explains the anatomy of a payment and the key concepts.
The five dimensions of a payment
Each payment is characterized by five complementary dimensions. Understanding these dimensions enables you to better classify, filter and analyze your collections.
1. The type (or payment reason)
The type indicates what the payment contributes to in your community. It is the most important dimension: it determines how the payment is accounted for and where it appears in other modules.
| Type | What it corresponds to | Concrete example |
|---|---|---|
| Main cash register | General cash inflow, no specific allocation | A free donation with no specific destination |
| Campaign | Contribution to a fundraising campaign | Donation for the annual gala or a year-end campaign |
| Fund | Participation in a community fund | Collection to renovate the prayer hall |
| Donation pledge | Payment honoring a donation commitment | Sarah Cohen had pledged 1,800 €, she pays 300 € this month |
| Form | Registration, membership fee or paid service (course, event, membership) | Event registration, membership fee payment |
| Booklet | Deposit on a dedicated savings booklet | Building budget, reserve fund |
2. The payment method
The method indicates how the donor paid. Unisoft supports six methods:
| Method | Description |
|---|---|
| Bank card | Card payment, online or via a terminal |
| Check | Paper check collected |
| Transfer | Bank transfer received (SEPA or international) |
| Direct debit | Automatic debit from the donor's account |
| Cash | Cash collected in person |
| In kind | Donation without money movement (equipment, time, goods) |
3. The platform
The platform is the technical gateway that processed the payment. This dimension is only set for online or automated payments.
| Platform | Typical geographic area | Supported methods |
|---|---|---|
| Stripe | International | Card, SEPA transfer |
| PayGreen | France | Card, SEPA direct debit |
| PayPal | International | Card via PayPal |
| GoCardless | Europe / United Kingdom | SEPA direct debit, Bacs |
| Authorize.net | United States, Canada | American cards |
| Cardcom | Israel | Israeli cards |
| Cardcom Bit | Israel | Bit transfer |
| Axepta | Germany, Europe | Card |
For a check entered by hand by an administrator, no platform is associated.
4. The source
The source indicates through which channel the payment arrived in Unisoft:
| Source | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Online | The donor paid from your public website (donation form, online payment) |
| Manual | An administrator entered the payment by hand in the backoffice |
| Donation kiosk | Payment made on a physical kiosk installed in your community |
| Tap-to-Pay | Contactless payment via an administrator's smartphone |
| Software | Automatic import (e.g. bank reconciliation) |
The source determines several behaviors:
- Online payments: bank fees are calculated automatically
- Manual payments: they can be deleted by an administrator (others cannot)
- Kiosk / Tap-to-Pay: can start without complete donor information — these will need to be completed afterwards to generate a tax receipt
5. The status
The status indicates the current state of the payment:
| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Validated | Payment successfully collected — this is the normal state |
| Refund in progress | A refund has been initiated, awaiting platform confirmation |
| Refunded | The refund is complete, the associated tax receipt is canceled |
Payment amounts
Each payment displays three amounts:
Gross amount Bank fees Net amount
100 € − 3 € = 97 €
- Gross amount: what the donor paid
- Bank fees: charged by the platform (Stripe, PayGreen, etc.) — usually between 1% and 3%
- Net amount: what is actually credited to your account
Automatic links with other modules
A payment is not isolated: it automatically feeds other Unisoft modules according to its type.
- The contact: the donor's payment history is updated
- The donation pledge: if the payment honors a pledge, its remaining balance is recalculated
- The tax receipt: automatically generated and sent by email to the donor
- Budget management: the payment is recorded in the corresponding booklet
- Statistics: campaign indicators are updated in real time
Complete life cycle of a payment
What's next?
Now that you understand the structure of a payment, you can: