A cashier rings up two adult admissions, the guest hands over a twenty, and the cashier taps “Check” instead of “Cash.” The order completes, the guest walks in, and nobody notices until the drawer comes up short on cash and long on a check that doesn’t exist. Now someone has to change the payment method on a sales order that’s already done.
The honest answer: in Altru, a completed sales order isn’t really meant to be edited after the fact. The payment is attached to revenue that flows into reconciliation, deposits, and eventually your general ledger, so the system leans toward reversing and redoing rather than editing in place. What you can actually do depends on what kind of mistake it was, whether the money has already been reconciled or deposited, and what security rights your account has.
First, figure out which mistake you have
Not every “wrong payment method” problem is the same. Sort it into one of these before you touch anything.
Wrong label, same money
Cash recorded as check, check recorded as cash, or one “other” payment type recorded as another. No card was charged and no money moved through a processor. This is the most fixable case because the only thing wrong is the record.
A card was charged, but the guest wanted to pay differently
The card went through the processor. You can’t relabel a real card charge as cash, because the processor will settle that money to your merchant account regardless of what Altru says. This one needs a refund to the card and a new payment.
The guest paid with a different card than recorded
Usually this means the wrong card was swiped or keyed. Again, a real charge exists on the first card, so the fix is a refund and a new charge, not an edit.
What Altru generally lets you do
Depending on your setup and rights, some organizations are able to adjust payment details on revenue that hasn’t yet been reconciled or posted. Others can’t, and their only path is a return or refund. Because this varies, don’t take any single forum answer as gospel. Before you train staff on a method, try it in your sandbox (or on a low-value test order you then clean up) and confirm with Blackbaud support how it affects reconciliation and posting in your environment.
What is consistent across most setups:
- Once revenue has been posted to the general ledger, treat it as locked. Corrections after that point should be reversing entries, not edits.
- Card payments processed through your gateway can’t be relabeled. The processor record and the Altru record have to agree, so refund through the same path the charge took.
- Daily sales reconciliation is where most of these get caught. Fixing the problem before the drawer is reconciled is far easier than fixing it after a deposit has been created.
The fallback that always works: refund and resell
When in doubt, reverse the order and ring it up again with the right payment. It’s more clicks, but it leaves a clean audit trail and keeps the processor, the drawer, and Altru in agreement.
- Refund or return the original order to the original payment method. For a card, that sends money back to the card. For a mislabeled cash or check payment, the refund comes out of the same mislabeled type, which cancels the error.
- Create a new order for the same items, at the same price, for the same constituent if one was attached.
- Take payment with the correct method. If the guest is already gone, a cash-for-check swap can usually be done by the supervisor without the guest present, since no real money changes hands.
- Add a note on both orders explaining the correction and who made it.
- Check that tickets still work. A return may void the original tickets. If the guest is in the building or has a timed entry later, make sure the new order’s tickets are the ones they have, or reprint/resend them.
For timed admissions, watch capacity. Returning the first order should release the slots, and the new order should take them back, but confirm the time slot still shows the right count afterward.
Things that make the cleanup harder
- Memberships on the order. Returning a membership sale can affect the membership record itself (dates, status, history). Check the membership after the redo, and fix dates by hand if needed.
- Donations on the order. A refund can trigger a changed or reversed acknowledgment. Make sure the donor doesn’t receive a confusing second receipt, or that the corrected one is clearly correct.
- Discounts and promo codes. Reapply the same discount on the new order so the totals match exactly. A one-dollar difference will show up in reconciliation.
- Already-deposited batches. If the revenue is already in a deposit or a posted batch, loop in finance before you do anything. They may prefer a journal adjustment over a refund-and-resell.
Preventing the next one
Most payment-method errors are cashier slips during fast transactions. A few habits cut them down:
- Limit the payment methods available at each sales station to the ones that station actually takes. If the front desk never accepts checks, don’t offer the option.
- Have cashiers review the payment summary screen out loud on cash transactions before completing.
- Reconcile drawers the same day, every day. A mismatch found at close is a five-minute fix; one found at month end is an investigation.
- Decide who is allowed to process refunds and corrections, and give only those staff the rights. A short written procedure next to the supervisor’s station saves guesswork.
Quick answers
Can I just edit the payment method on a finished order?
Sometimes, before reconciliation or posting, if your rights allow it. Test in a sandbox to see what your environment permits. If it isn’t available, refund and resell.
Can a credit card payment be changed to cash?
Not by editing. The card was really charged, so refund the card and take cash on a new order.
Does refunding and reselling mess up attendance or sales reports?
Both orders will appear, but the return offsets the original. Your net sales and net attendance should come out correct; gross figures may show the extra transaction.
