Sola (formerly Cardknox) Onboarding Process

AR Automation is available to all customers operating in US Dollars. To activate this feature, please send an email to licensing@accountingseed.com.

Overview

The information in this article provides an overview of the process for onboarding with Cardknox as your Payment Processor from the start to the point of using Accounting Seed's AR Automation process. Information in this article is listed in the order and process for customers to complete the necessary steps. 

Contents/Checklist

1. Send an email to learn more about this Process
2. Send Cardknox Merchant Application Form
3. Remove Debit Blocks
4. Create a Cardknox Merchant Account
5. Complete Cardknox and PaymentSITE Configurations
   • Select Payment Methods
   • Customize PaymentSITE Form with Branding/Colors
   • Customize PaymentSITE Sections and Fields
   • Pay in Full Configurations
   • Partial Pay Configurations
   • Optional Fields and Sections
   • Enable Convenience Fees in Cardknox
   • (Optional) Configure Columns on the Cardknox Transactions Page
6. Configure Settings in Accounting Seed
• Create new GL Accounts to track the Merchant Deposit, Fees and Convenience Fees
• Create a Payment Processor for Cardknox
• Enter Merchant Keys to Activate the Payment Processor and Connect to Cardknox
• Complete Setting up the PaymentSITE as Pay in Full
• Set up an Email Template for the PaymentSITE
• Add the Manage Cardknox Payment Methods button to the Account page layout
• Add the Payment Site URL onto the Billing page layout
• Enable the Global Automated Match Setting
• Schedule the Merchant Download Job as an Admin User
• Ensure the Cardknox Remote Site Settings are Active
7. Run a Test Micro-transaction
8. Migrate Stripe Payment Methods to Cardknox

Send an email to learn more about this Process

If you are interested in Payment Processing with Cardknox and the AR Automation process, the first step is to send an email to licensing@accountingseed.com.

Someone will respond to your email to schedule a meeting. In the initial meeting, we will provide:

• An overview of AR Automation and will discuss:
  
  • • The Cardknox Merchant application form and the information required
    • Your industry vertical/tier information. Does it fit any of these options: Business Services, Computer Software, Electrical, HVAC, Legal Services or Professional Services. If not, which tier would suit this best?
    • How you process payments: do you send out payment links for customers to directly pay or do you store customer payment methods to process payments from within Accounting Seed.
    • For emailed payment links/URLs (for customers to directly pay you), do you want to allow partial payments towards a Billing balance.
    • If you send out payment links for customers to pay directly, would you like to have Convenience Fees enabled?
• Recommend a plan for existing Stripe customers who would like to migrate to Cardknox:
  
  • • You may like to “test” with some micro-transactions before processing actual Billings.
    • As you onboard with Cardknox, we recommend that you begin processing payments through Cardknox with a new customer(s) first, then expand to include existing customers.
• Evaluate with the Product Consultant the plan for existing unpaid Billings.
• An overview of the onboarding steps in this article including Removing Debit Blocks, Cardknox setup and Accounting Seed configuration.
• Type of Bank Account you are planning to have the deposits sent to and fees withdrawn from. Typically, the deposit transaction happens first, and the fees are withdrawn the next day. Therefore, if you have a Zero Balance Account, you may need to ensure that there are sufficient funds so that your bank does not charge you an overdraft fee.

Send Cardknox Merchant Application Form 

During the initial overview call or subsequently, the Product Consultant will send you the Cardknox Merchant Application form.  Ensure cardknox.com and fidelitypayment.com are set as trusted on your email.

Use this checklist to gather the information needed to complete a merchant account application for Cardknox.

You will receive an email from Cardknox with the subject “Merchant Application for <Company Name>.”

When you click the Review Application link, Cardknox displays a secure form like below. Once the information is completed and the form is submitted, it is sent to Cardknox’s underwriting department. Most applications are processed with a quick turnaround of same day approval or 1-2 days. 

Please confirm to your Product Consultant that your form has been submitted.

Remove Debit Blocks

Most bank accounts are set up to prevent automatic withdrawals. However, Cardknox sends their payments to your bank in the form of two transactions per batch:

• The first is the total of all the payments that have been processed (gross).
• The second transaction is a withdrawal from your bank for the calculated processing fees.

Important:

Debit blocks must be removed before transactions can be processed through Cardknox. Without performing this step, neither the deposit, nor the withdrawal transactions will be processed. Therefore, the removal of debit blocks on your bank account should be performed prior to processing any payments using Cardknox.

Be on the lookout for an email from Cardknox with the list of company IDs for which debit blocks must be removed, as well as an email to add ACHQ's debit block ID for ACH payments. Below is a sample email from Cardknox with the subject line of “Important Information Regarding Debit Blocks.”

Below is the sample email for ACH payments with the ACHQ's debit block ID.

If you have not received this email, use the company IDs in the table below to remove debit blocks on your bank account.

The Product Consultant will confirm that this step has been completed.

Create a Cardknox Merchant Account

Prerequisite: Cardknox approves your Merchant Account application. You have received the Welcome email with the subject line of “New Cardknox Setup For (company name).” A sample email display below.

After Cardknox approves your Merchant Account application, they will send you a “Welcome” email with the subject line as “New Cardknox Setup For (company name).” Follow the steps in the Registration Instructions section of the email to set up your Cardknox Merchant Account.

Note: Save this email. It will be used later to Generate the Cardknox Keys. 

Return to top

Complete Cardknox and PaymentSITE Configurations

Cardknox configurations are mainly for customers who send out payment links (PaymentSITE URL) for direct payment. Broadly the steps are:

1. Customize PaymentSITE branding/colors
2. Customize PaymentSITE sections and fields depending upon full or partial payments
3. Configure Convenience Fees for PaymentSITE payments

The PaymentSITE URL will be included in a Cardknox email that has the subject line of “Your PaymentSITE is Active!” The sample screen below provides an example of how the email will look.

You will need to decide on the following:

• Would you like to have Convenience Fees enabled for PaymentSITE payments?
  
  Important: Currently, Convenience Fees are only supported for payments that are made using the PaymentSITE URL. When payments are initiated from within Accounting Seed (i.e., Receive Payments/Create Payments), these fees will not automatically be added. Therefore, if you are currently using customizations to add Convenience Fees when processing payments in Accounting Seed, you should continue this process.
  
  
• Would you like your customers to only pay in full?

The PaymentSITE URL will be included in a Cardknox email that has the subject line of “Your PaymentSITE is Active!” The sample screen below provides an example of how the email will look.

1. Log into your Cardknox Merchant Account.
2. From the left panel, click Accounting Settings. Then, click PaymentSITE.
3. Click the Pencil icon that displays to the right of the URL.
   
   

Select Payment Methods

You will need to ensure that the appropriate Payment Methods have been selected in your Cardknox portal. This includes each type of credit card that you accept, as well as selecting the option for ACH payments, if applicable. 

1. Access your Cardknox portal, and then select Accounting Settings.
2. Select PaymentSITE, and click the Pencil icon that displays on the right.
3. Click the General Settings tab.
4. From Payment Methods, click the right arrow to expand the drop-down list.
5. Click each checkbox to select the appropriate Payment Methods.
   
   
   
   
6. Click Publish to save your Payment Method selections.

Customize PaymentSITE Form with Branding/Colors

You can add branding/colors to customize the PaymentSite Payment Form.

1. To add branding/your company logo, from PaymentSITE, expand the PaymentSITE Logo section and then add your logo.
   
   
   
   

2. To change the background color,click the General Settings tab then expand the Themes section. Cardknox provides two themes: Grey, which allows you to set the background color and Green, which offers no customization. Select Grey, and then click Select background color to set the color.
   
   
   

Customize PaymentSITE Sections and Fields

You can organize the main PaymentSITE sections to display in a format that will be suitable for your customers when they click the link to make a payment. The available customizations include three main sections (Transaction Details, Billing and Shipping). You can drag and drop each section from the left to the right, and reorder, if necessary.

In the sample screen below, the Transaction Details and Billing Information sections have been selected. How they display is shown on the on the right (using the fictitious company of Larkspur Security).

Pay in Full Configurations

If you would like your customers to pay full amounts, follow the steps below to add the required and any optional fields.

1. From the PaymentSITE Manage Layout tab click the + icon to add following fields:
   1. Add the Amount field to the Transaction Details section. You can rename the field to Amount to Pay or another appropriate label by clicking the Pencil icon that displays next to the out of the box field name.
   2. Add Invoice to show the Billing Number from Accounting Seed.
   3. Important: Add Custom19 to the Billing section. This will map the Billing ID in Accounting Seed and is necessary for successful processing. This field should be hidden by hovering over it and clicking the Hide icon.
2. Optional fields:
   
   1. Add a Description to show the Billing comment (header), if populated.
   2. PO Number maps to the same field on the Billing

Important: Before you can start to process payments, there are additional setups in Accounting Seed that will need to be performed for full payments.

Partial Payments Configurations

If you would like your customers to be able to pay partial amounts, follow the steps below.

1. From the PaymentSITE Manage Layout tab click the + icon to add following fields:
   
   1. Add the Custom18 field to the top of the Transactions Detail section. This maps to the Billing Balance. Rename this field as Billing Balance or another appropriate name.
   2. Next, add the Amount field below the Custom18 field to the Transaction Details section.  You can rename the field to Enter Amount to Pay or another appropriate label by clicking the Pencil icon that displays next to the out of the box field name.
   3. Add Invoice to show the Billing Number from Accounting Seed.
   4. Important: Add Custom19 to the Billing section. This will map the Billing ID in Accounting Seed and is necessary for successful processing. This field should be hidden by hovering over it and clicking the Hide icon.
2. Optional fields:
   
   1. Add a Description to show the Billing comment (header), if populated.
   2. PO Number maps to the same field on the Billing

Optional Fields and Sections

The Billing Information and the Shipping Information sections and fields can be customized in a similar way. You can add the fields that you would like your customers to see. Refer to the field mapping in the table below.

Cardknox Field	Salesforce Field (Object)
Billing Information section
First Name	Billing Contact (Billing)
Last Name	Billing Contact (Billing)
Company	Customer (Billing)
Phone Number	Phone (Account)
Cell Phone	Mobile (Contact)
Email	Email (Contact)
Address	Billing Street (Billing) / Billing Address (Account)
City, State, Zip required	Billing City, Billing State, Billing Postal Code (Billing)
Country	Billing Country (Billing)
Shipping Information section
First Name	Shipping Contact (Billing)
Last Name	Shipping Contact (Billing)
Company	Customer (Billing)
Phone Number	Phone (Account)
Cell Phone	Mobile (Contact)
Email	Email (Contact)
Address	Shipping Street (Billing)/ Shipping Address (Account)
City, State, Zip required	Shipping City, Shipping State, Shipping Postal Code (Billing)
Country	Shipping Country

Return to top

Enable Convenience Fees in Cardknox

Cardknox refers to Convenience Fees as Electronic Transfer Fees. They can automatically be charged on PaymentSITE URLs that are sent for the customer to pay directly. Use the steps below to configure Convenience Fess in Cardknox.

1. 1. In Cardknox on the left panel click, Account Settings. Then, expand the Electronic Transfer Fee section.
   2. Check the CC Percent field. Then, enter the percentage of fees that you would like to offset fees from Cardknox. The recommended percentage is 3%.
   3. In the Custom field for Electronic Transfer Fee amount, select Custom09. In the Custom field for original amount, select Custom10.
   4. In the Allow customer option to include/exclude Electronic Transfer Fee? field, click NO.
   5. Save this setting and ensure that the same settings display on the PaymentSITE | Electronic Transfer Fees section.
      
      

Important: Before you can start using Convenience Fees as part of payment processing, there is an additional setup in Accounting Seed that will need to be performed. To learn more, refer to the Enable Convenience Fees information in the Payment Processors article.

Important: After you enable Convenience Fees in Cardknox and in Accounting Seed, if you later decide that you no longer want to include these fees, you will need to de-select the options that you selected above to disable Electronic Transfer Fees in Cardknox, as well as disable Convenience Fees in Accounting Seed (de-select the option) at the same time. This information is in the Enable Convenience Fees section of the Payment Processors article.

(Optional) Configure Columns on the Cardknox Transactions Page

1. Log into the Cardknox portal.
2. From the left panel, click User Settings.
3. Click Transaction History. Then, expand the Manage Columns section.
4. From the bottom of the list of fields, click the Add Custom Field link a few times until the Original Amount and Electronic Transfer Fee fields display.
   
   
   
   
5. Arrange the order of the fields/columns similarly to the way they are ordered in the screen capture below.
   
   

Cardknox Merchant Onboarding Form Fields

Use this checklist to gather the information needed to complete a merchant account application for Cardknox.

Return to top

Configure Settings in Accounting Seed

Create new GL Accounts to track the Merchant Deposit, Fees and Convenience Fees

1. Create a Merchant GL Account – This represents the bank account into which Cardknox payments are initially deposited. This GL Account must be a Balance Sheet type and the Bank or Credit Card Account checkbox must be selected.
   Important: This GL Account cannot be the same GL Account as your Bank GL Account.
   
2. If you have a GL Account that is currently being used for Merchant Fees that are related to Stripe, and you would like to use this same GL Account for both Stripe and Cardknox, rename it to include Cardknox. Otherwise, create a Merchant Fees GL Account – This GL Account is for all related fees from payments. This GL Account must be an Expense GL Account.
3. (Optional) Create a Convenience Fee GL Account – This GL Account is to offset the fees that will be charged by Cardknox and included in the Merchant Fees GL Account. This GL Account can be an Expense or Revenue GL Account. 
   
   Important: This GL Account CANNOT be the same as the Merchant Fees GL Account.
   
   Note: This GL Account is only required if you enabled Convenience Fees/Electronic Transfer Fees when the PaymentSITE was configured.
   
   If you are using custom permission sets and want to view the fields that are related to Convenience Fees, refer to the Convenience Fee Changes (with Custom Permission Sets) section of the Spring ’24 Configuration Changes article.
   

Note: If you are using the Accounting Seed Lightning record page for the Payment Processor screen, the Convenience Fee fields will automatically display on the Payment Processor page. However, if you are using a custom version of the Lightning record page or the default Salesforce version of the Lightning record page, you will need to manually add the Convenience Fee fields unto the Payment Processor page layout.

Create a Payment Processor record for Cardknox

The Payment Processors screen provides the ability to have more than one Payment Processor account connected to your organization (org). This screen also includes the ability to search for and select the new GL Accounts that you created. For more information and step instructions to create a Payment Processor, refer to the Payment Processors article.

Important: Do not set Cardknox as the Global Default Payment Processor until all previous Billings have been received. Otherwise, any Stripe Payment Links will no longer function.

Enter Merchant Keys to Activate the Payment Processor and Connect to Cardknox

The welcome email from Cardknox will include a “Generate Cardknox Keys” section. This section in the email includes steps to log into your Cardknox Merchant Account and generate the two keys, which are similar to passwords. For information about generating the two keys and about adding them in Accounting Seed, refer to the Generate Cardknox Keys article. Entering the Keys on the Payment Processor activates it and establishes the connection between the Payment Processor in Accounting Seed and Cardknox. 

Important: The Keys are unique to each Payment Processor. Therefore the Keys that are entered for one Payment Processor cannot be entered on a different Payment Processor.

Complete Setting up the PaymentSITE as Pay in Full

Follow the steps below if you do not want your customers to make partial payments, but only make full payments

1. Navigate to Accounting Home and click the Setup tab. Then, under the Utilities menu, click Payment Processors.
2. Select the Payment Processor that you created earlier.
3. Click the Gear icon and select Edit Page.
4. From the left panel, click the Fields drop-down list and drag and drop the Enable PaymentSite Partial Payment onto the page.
   
   
   Note: Click here to view the above image in full screen. 
   
   
5. Click Save.
6. From the top left section of the screen, click the left arrow (Back) to return to the Payment Processor screen.
7. Click Edit.
8. De-select the Enable PaymentSite Partial Payment checkbox.
   
   Note: Your customers will not be able to pay partial pay amounts and can only pay in full.
   
   
9. Click Save.

Return to top

Set up an Email Template for the PaymentSITE

Accounting Seed provides a standard email template that can be associated with a PDF format so that the PaymentSITE URL that is associated with a Billing will auto-populate on the email that is sent to a Customer. You can use the standard email template or customize it, if necessary. New and existing users can follow the steps below to set the email template for the Cardknox PaymentSITE payment form on the Billing PDF.

1. Click the Gear icon and select Setup.
2. From the Quick Find textbox, enter Email Templates. Then select Classic Email Templates.
3. From the Accounting Seed Email Templates folder, click the Billing Payment Site URL Email Template link.
4. Review the standard email template, as necessary.
5. Optional) If you want to make changes, click Clone. Make changes to the clone version, as necessary and click Save.
6. On the standard template (or the clone version, if you created one), copy the Template Unique Name: Billing_Payment_Site_URL_Email_Template.
7. Navigate to Accounting Home and click the Setup tab. Then, under the Configurations menu, click PDF Formats.
8. Select a list view (other than the Recently Viewed list view).
9. Select the Billing PDF format that is used for your Stripe Billings (such as Default Billing Product).
10. Clone the PDF Format and rename it to identify that this is related to Cardknox. For example, you might rename it to Cardknox PaymentSITE Billing PDF.
11. In the Default Email Template field, paste the Template Unique Name: Billing_Payment_Site_URL_Email_Template (or the cloned Template Unique Name), which you copied from Salesforce.
12. Click Save.

Add the Manage Cardknox Payment Methods button to the Account page layout

If you are an existing Accounting Seed customer, you will need to add the Manage Cardknox Payment Methods button onto the Account page layout using the steps below.

1. Click the Gear icon and select Setup.
2. In the Quick Find textbox search for and then, select the Account object.
3. Select the Account (Accounting) Layout. 
4. Select Mobile & Lightning Actions.
5. Drag and drop the Manage Cardknox Payment Methods button onto the page layout in the Salesforce Mobile and Lightning Experience Actions section.
6. If you are not using Stripe, drag and drop the Manage Stripe Payment Methods button from the page layout to remove it.
7. Click Save.

Add the Payment Site URL onto the Billing page layout

If you are an existing Accounting Seed customer, you will need to add the Payment Site URL onto the Billing page layout.

1. Click the Gear icon and select Setup.
2. In the Quick Find textbox search for and then, select the Billing object.
3. Select the Billing page layout. 
4. From the Fields option, drag and drop the Payment Site URL field onto the page layout in the Payment Link section.
5. Repeat this to drag and drop the Payment Processor field onto the page layout in the Payment Link section.
6. If you are not using Stripe, drag and drop the Payment Link field out of the Payment Link section to remove it from the page layout.
7. Click Save.

Enable Global Automated Match Setting

Prior to running the Merchant Download job, on the Bank Direct Connect – Bank Settings screen, you will want to select the checkbox to Enable Global Automated Match. With this setting enabled, when Bank Transactions flow into Bank Direct Connect, this will allow the auto-matching of the transactions to the respective Journal Entry Lines that will be created from the Merchant Download job.

If this setting is not enabled, you will need to manually match the deposit and withdrawal bank transactions to the respective Journal Entry Lines.

Schedule the Merchant Download Job as an Admin User

Important: The Merchant Download job must be set up so that specific source documents can be created in Accounting Seed and processing fees can be imported. 

Important: A user with the AS Full Admin permission set + System Administrator profile should schedule this job.

1. Navigate to Accounting Home and click the Setup tab. Then, under the Automations menu, click Automated Jobs. The Automated Jobs screen displays.
2. From the Add/Edit a Scheduled Job section of the screen, click the Select Job drop-down list, and select the Merchant Download job.
   
   
   
   
3. Cardknox batches are settled at 9.30 PM EST, so as a best practice, set up the Merchant Download to start at a Preferred Start Time after that and before the normal working hours begin. For example, 11:00 PM or 3:00 AM. From the drop-down list select the time that you want this scheduled job to run.
   
   In addition to being able to select a Preferred Start Time, you also have the option to start the Merchant Download job immediately, by clicking the Run Now button in the Run an On Demand Job section of the Automated Jobs screen. This provides a quick and easy way to instantly download all available PaymentSITE transactions. Additionally, the Payment Processor screen includes a Run Merchant Download button, which can be used in the same way as the Run Now button to instantly download all available PaymentSITE transactions.
   
   
4. Click Add Scheduled Job. The new automated job displays on a row in the Scheduled Jobs data grid.

After you schedule the Merchant Download job, for a completely touchless process, two additional Automated Jobs should be scheduled (and in the order that is listed below):

• Set the Scheduled Post job to include Journal Entries 
• Scheduled Bank Download job

Ensure Cardknox Remote Site Settings are Active

1. Click the Gear icon and select Setup. 
2. From the Quick Find search textbox, enter Remote. Then, select Remote Site Settings. 
3. Ensure that the Active checkbox is selected for Cardknox, CardknoxBoarding and CardknoxReporting.
   
   
   Note: Click here to view the above image in full screen. 

Run a Test Micro-transaction

After all of the setups have been completed, you can run a micro-transaction to see how the transaction is shown in Cardknox. This will also allow you to see how the records are created in Accounting Seed, including the Bank Transactions coming into Bank Direct Connect. 

1. Create a test Account record, and set yourself up as the Contact with your Email address. 
2. In the Default PDF Format information, set the PDF Format with the updated Email template in the Billing Format field. This will allow your test Billing to automatically have this PDF Format. 
3. Create a test Billing for a small amount like $1.00.
4. Ensure that the Payment Processor on the Billing is set to Cardknox. 
5. To emulate your customer's experience, send the email. When you receive the email, click the link to access the PaymentSITE Payment form. 
6. Pay the $1.00 Billing with your credit card.
   Note: The Billing will show a $1.00 balance in Accounting Seed until the Merchant Download job has run. 
7. Ensure that the Merchant Download job has been set up to run after 9:30 PM EST.
8. The next day (once the Merchant Download job has run), navigate to the Bank Deposits screen. Then, select the Merchant Download Job list view. You should see the Bank Deposit that was created by the job. 

Migrate Stripe Payment Methods to Cardknox

Prerequisite: You have created a Cardknox Merchant Account.

This step can be done at any point once the Cardknox Merchant Account is set up. Existing Accounting Seed users who are currently using Stripe, but would like to use Cardknox to process payments can migrate payment information for your customers from Stripe to Cardknox. The process to do this will begin when Stripe receives your request to move payment information for your customers. Stripe can take a few weeks to complete this request during which they will communicate with you to confirm the export. 

Important: All your payment methods and customer information will remain in Stripe, and you can continue to pay with them until you are ready to switch to Cardknox.

When this process is complete, Stripe will send a link to a secure FTP site where the encrypted information is stored as a .CSV file. The information will also be sent directly to Cardknox for processing.  Once complete, you will receive a notification and the customers and payment methods will be available in the Cardknox merchant portal.  For additional information, refer to the Migrate your Stripe Payment Methods to Cardknox article.

Note: In the meantime, if you add new customers to Accounting Seed, you can either add their payment methods or send your customers the PaymentSITE link.

Return to top

____________________

Summer '23 Release

Release Notes and Schedule

This article was new with the Summer '23 release.