Steps Required to Enable Recurring Billing with Authorize.net (along with Credit Cards and Echecks)

Click this link to sign up for Authorize.net.

BigSIS integrates with Authorize.net, which is a payment gateway service provider that allows merchants (such as yourself) to accept credit card and electronic check payments on their websites. Because of this reason, schools that wish to receive online payments through BigSIS must create an account with Authorize.net. Authorize.net is a third-party company that has its own costs to use. To find out pricing information for the use of Authorize.net, follow the link below.

Note: BigSIS does not have any kind of partnership with Authorize.net, we do not receive any compensation from Authorize.net. BigSIS just integrates with Authorize.net for the sole purpose of giving schools the ability to accept secure online payments and process them. BigSIS does charge a nominal fee for the integration and for some of our services (e.g., the use of our donation management tools) that may already be included in your BigSIS package (or can be added on if not). These fees are separate and unrelated to the fees that Authorize.net may charge you for the user of their proprietary services (e.g., the ability to process payments).

Click here to see special pricing information when you signup for Authorize.net through BigSIS 

Click here to send your API Login and Transaction Key information to BigSIS via our secure online form

Jump ahead to:

Configuring Authorize.net
Gather Keys from Authorize.net and Send to BigSIS
Configure Nightly Alerts in BigSIS
Odds & Ends

Configuring Authorize.net

How you configure Authorize.net depends on what features you wish to use. When you log in to your Authorize.net account, you may see a message that looks like this:

You may also see similar content from the home page of your Authorize.net account, like this:

The three items you will need to configure are: (1) turn off test mode, (2) activate the ability to accept eCheck payments and (3) activate the ability to use automated recurring billing. Authorize.net offers video demos if you need more assistance on setting these up. Below, are basic instructions to get you going but if you need further assistance on this, you may refer to Authorize.net's demo videos or contact Authorize.net directly

1. Go to your Authorize.net account.
2. To turn off test mode:
   
   
   • Go to your Authorize.net account page (locate the tab at the top labeled ACCOUNT).
   • Go to Security Settings and find the link for "Test Mode"
   • Turn off test mode.
     
     
3. To activate eCheck payments:
   
   
   • Go to your Authorize.net home page and find "Products & Services".
   • Click on eCheck.Net.
   • Follow the steps on that page to complete setup of the eCheck ability.
     
     
4. To activate Automated Recurring Billing:
   
   
   • Go to your Authorize.net home page and find "Products & Services".
   • Click on Automated Recurring Billing.
   • Follow the steps on that page to complete setup of Automated Recurring Billing.
     
     Note: it is very important that you do not create any subscriptions from this page. Doing so will result in the data in BigSIS being becoming out of sync with the data in Authorize.net. If you need custom support from BigSIS to resolve sync issues resulting from this user error, you will incur charges. To avoid these syncing issues, always create recurring payments directly in BigSIS.
     
     

Gather Keys from Authorize.net and Send to BigSIS

Once your Authorize.net account is properly configured, you will need to provide BigSIS with your API Login and Transaction Key. Below are instructions on how to retrieve them from Authorize.net if you are already logged in or use this link to log in and access your API Login and Transaction Key - API Login and Transaction Key

1. Go to your Authorize.net account page (locate the tab at the top labeled ACCOUNT). 
2. Go to Security Settings and find the link for "API Credentials & Keys"
   
3. Locate the API Login ID and make note it. Then, provide the information that Authorize.net requests to create a new Transaction Key and take note of it:
   
   
4. Supply both items to BigSIS. Please use this secure form to supply this information to BigSIS: API Credentials and Keys

Configure Nightly Alerts in BigSIS

BigSIS requests (and highly recommends) setting up nightly Authorize.net reconcile alerts. These alerts behave like other general alerts in BigSIS. You select a person (or group of people) to add to a distribution list and then you assign that distribution list to the Authorize.net Nightly Reconcile alert. Every evening, all users on that list will receive an email outlining all the recurring and pledge payments that were processed on that given day. This alert is extremely uself to ensure your transactions are all processed accurately. The alert will also notify you if a credit card or eCheck that was supposed to be billed and processed on a given day failed because it was expired or had insufficient funds. BigSIS believes that any school that decides to use our recurring billing features must be required to sign up for these nightly alerts.

1. Go to System > Settings > Alerts
2. Click on New.
3. In the "Alert On" field, select: "AuthNet Nightly Reconcile Email".
4. Then, complete the remaining fields as you would a normal alert by selecting (or creating) a distribution list, an output type, and a sending email account (this is the email account that will be used to send the alert to the distribution list).

Odds & Ends

The remaining items on this list act like a checklist to ensure that you have all your duscks in a row and are ready to present your new development tools to the world.

1. Activate & Configure Donor Portal:
   
   
   • Go to System > Settings > Portal Setup
   • Find the "Donors" portal tab and make sure it (along with all of its sub-tabs) are turned on by checking the "Show in Portal" checkbox.
2. Set up alerts for potential donor matches:
   
   
   • If a member of the public-at-large makes a donation, BigSIS can alert you that the person in question may match an existing donor profile in the system. This allows you to quickly and easily merge donor records when necessary (e.g., to avoid creating duplicate records for the same donor). To set up this alert, follow the instructions below.
   • Go to System > Settings > Alerts
   • Click on New.
   • In the "Alert On" field, select: "Donation with Matching Profile Submitted".
   • Then, complete the remaining fields as you would a normal alert by selecting (or creating) a distribution list, an output type, and a sending email account (this is the email account that will be used to send the alert to the distribution list).
   • To merge these potential matches, use the donor profile merge utility in BigSIS.
3. Finalize Client Settings for Donations:
   
   
   • Go to System > Settings > Client Settings
   • Locate the Donations tab.
   • Read over all the options and customize your donation settings as necessary.
4. Remind Yourself to Perform Daily AuthNet Reconcile Often:
   
   
   • Go to Donations > Recurring Gifts
   • Click the button at the top titled "Perform Daily AuthNet."
   • This will manually sync any daily activity for recurring payments that has occurred on Authorize.net
5. Turn on these Security Settings (Recommended)
   1.