Summary
Preauthorisation is a feature of Bar Tabs in conjunction with the Tyro integration, that allows the user to hold an amount against the customers credit card. A bar tab is opened and an amount is preauthorised or 'held' from the customers credit card. When the bar tab is settled the amount due can be debited from the preauthorised transaction and the funds are transferred as a 'real' financial transaction.
Note: Preauthorisation's must first be enabled on the Tyro device, see Tyro's help guide https://help.tyro.com/s/article/How-do-I-use-Pre-authorisations
Enable Preauthorisation's in OrderMate
In OfficeMate, navigate to Setup>Devices>Terminals and double click on a terminal to edit it.
Select the Ordering Tab and tick 'Preauth Bartabs' then Ok.
Restart WaiterMate to enable the change.
Configure Permissions
The user must have the required level of permission to perform a preauthorisation. This can be enabled in the permission group screen, found under Maintenance > General> Users> Permission Group.
Create and Preauthorise a Bar Tab
In WaiterMate, create a bar tab by selecting 'New Bar Tab'.
A dialog will appear asking to set either a Credit Limit or Eftpos Preauthorisation.
Select 'Eftpos Preauthorised' and enter the name for the bar tab and then the amount to be preauthorised.
Then follow the prompts on the screen as directed by the eftpos integration.
If the preauthorisation is successful, the preauthorised amount will be set as the bar tab's credit limit.
The credit limit can be manually edited after a preauth (if the user has permission to do so).
Note: The preauthorised amount is not included in the system takings at this stage. Only finalised or settled preauth amounts are included.
Settle a Preauthorisation
To settle or use the preauthorisation amount, enter the bar tab and select into the payments screen. If the bar tab has a preauthorised transaction upon it, 'Preauth' will appear as the first payment option.
Select on 'Preauth' and choose to either Settle or Void.
If 'Void' is selected, this will cancel the allocation with the bank and the customer's funds will eventually be returned.
If Settle' is selected, this will prompt for an amount. The amount entered cannot be more than the pre authorised amount, or the due amount, whichever is smaller.
The preauthorised amount is now converted to a real finance transaction.
Other Scenarios
The Preauthorisation declines
If the preauthorisation is not accepted on the Tyro terminal, the bar tab will still be created, but with a $0 credit limit.
To place items onto the bar tab either another preauthorisation must be made, the credit limit changed from $0 or a payment made. To attempt another preauth, navigate to the pay screen and select 'Preauth'.
Voiding the preauthorisation
The customer may not want to actually use the preauth - perhaps they would like to pay with a different payment method ie with cash. To void the preauth, navigate to the pay screen and select Preauth, then select Void.
A dialog will appear, selecting ok will attempt to void the transaction.
A confirmation dialog will appear if the void is successful.
The credit limit on the bar tab will change to $0.
Expiry
Preauthorisation transactions have a lifespan dependent upon the bank and eftpos provider. If funds are not settled within that expiry period, the transactions may be voided by the bank. The period of time is typically six to nine days after which the preauthorised transaction cannot be voided or settled. In general it is recommended that preauthorisations are used and bar tabs closed within the same trading day.