Process Transactions via Online and Offline Entry in Lighthouse Transaction Manager

Description: In the event that you lose the ability to process transactions via your interface solution or regular processing solution, Lighthouse Transaction Manager (LTM) can be used as an alternative processing solution while your system's connectivity is being researched. 

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To do this you need a PC terminal with an external internet connection and a user with the privileges of 'Add Sales' on their account. Then log into your LTM user account and navigate to the top left to the Transactions tab and select either Online or Offline Entry from this menu. Anything relating to the requesting of additional funds from the guest should use the option Online Edit and anything not relating to requesting additional funds from the guest should use the option Offline Edit. 

• Online Entry: Used to issue a new charge against the input customer transaction details.
• Offline Entry: Used to edit or place an existing transaction with previous approval codes in LTM directly (Used for Voice Referral Processing or Tip Adjusting).

Online Entry

The only required information to process a new sale in Lighthouse is the Customer's Full Card Number or TrueToken, the Card's Expiration Date, and the Amount to be charged. All other information is optional and may be entered at your discretion.

Note: If only one merchant is assigned to your user account, start at step 4 because your merchant is automatically selected. In addition, if you are currently auditing a batch to be closed and have selected a business date, then any transactions you enter will appear in that batch with the same business date.

1. From the menu, select Transactions > Select Merchant.
2. Select the merchant the transaction is for.
3. Select Submit.
4. From the menu, select Transactions > Online Entry.
5. On the Online Entry page, complete the fields (required fields are notated in bold text).
   Requirement: If the transaction is an authorization only, select Auth Only. If the transaction is a sale, verify that Auth Only is not selected.
6. Select Submit.
7. (If applicable) If a voice referral is required, on the Voice Referral page, follow the instructions to obtain an authorization code from the voice authorization center. Once received, enter the code into the Approval Code field, and select Approve. If the voice center declines the transaction, select Delete/Void to void the transaction.
8. (Optional) If a printed record of the transaction is needed, select Print from the side menu.

• The Invoice, if left blank, is assigned its own unique invoice numbers that are not in sequence with your processing Interface system.
• • Lighthouse invoices always start at '0000000001' and increment by one for every transaction processed directly in LTM for as long as the account is active.
  • You can manually assign one, but if your interface or Lighthouse previously used the invoice, you may overwrite the previous transaction record even if it was not tendered to the same guest.
• The Auth Only checkbox allows you to approve but not finalize a transaction. If needed later, the Invoice Recall option can be used to place another incremental charge on the transaction by updating the primary amount to the new total amount and selecting Submit.
  • This is considered an Incremental Authorization.
  • To close or finalize the sale, unselect the Auth Only option and select Submit.
• A Transaction Receipt is generated every time a transaction is submitted. If connected to a local printer, this receipt can be printed via browser print options.

Note: Depending on your Merchant Category Code (MCC) or Standard Industrial Classification (SIC), the displayed fields may change to account for processing special data for your industry classification. Below is a standard screen for food and beverage merchants.

Offline Entry

Offline Entry is used to recreate or edit transaction records that could have been lost or were not updated/reported to LTM due to an offline event such as a Voice Referral Request. 

The only required information to enter a transaction record in Lighthouse is the Customer's Full Card Number or TrueToken, the Card's Expiration Date, the Amount to be charged, and the Transaction Approval Code that was previously received.

Offline Entry allows the user to swipe or manually enter a transaction for which an authorization code has already been obtained. To enter a transaction with a merchant selected, complete the following steps:

1. From the menu, select Transactions > Offline Entry.
2. On the Offline Entry page, complete the fields (required fields are notated in bold text).
3. Select Submit.
4. (Optional) If a printed record of the transaction is needed, select Print from the side menu.
   Tip: You can quickly edit or void an unsettled transaction by entering the Invoice number in the Invoice field and selecting the Recall button.

• The Invoice, if left blank, is assigned its own unique invoice numbers that are not in sequence with your processing Interface system.
  • Lighthouse invoices start at '0000000001' and increment by one for every transaction processed directly in LTM for as long as the account is active.
  • You can manually assign one but there is a chance that if the invoice was previously used by your interface or Lighthouse you will overwrite the previous transaction record even if it was not tendered to the same guest.
• The Invoice Recall option can be used to pull up a previous invoice number and place a Tip Amount on the transaction if needed.
• The Auth Code field allows you to place the previously received approval code on the transaction so that it can be settled with the customer's bank as approved when settled.
• The Auth Only checkbox changes the transaction state from Authorization Only (open) when enabled to a Sale (closed\finalized) when disabled.
• A Transaction Receipt is generated every time a transaction is submitted. This can be printed via your print options in your browser if connected to a local printer.