[asterisk-biz] OT: Correlation of Paypal transactions

[Steve Totaro]

On Fri, Nov 12, 2010 at 8:16 PM, Alex Balashov <abalashov at evaristesys.com>wrote:

> Greetings,
>
> I apologise in advance that this is a bit off-topic.  However, I know
> that many of you who run service providers take a high volume of
> individual Paypal payments, many of them recurring.
>
> My question is this:  When withdrawing Paypal payments into a bank
> account, how do you correlate them on the bank statement to the relevant
> Paypal payment activity, and therefore the right customer/invoice/etc,
> from an accounting perspective?
>
> When there is a manageably small number of payments involved, it can be
> done chronologically.  And likewise, if the amounts are highly specific
> to each customer, that is also useful as a correlator.  However, I have
> found nothing embedded in the transaction ID or other identifiers that
> show up in the online banking interface from which a reference to an
> original Paypal transaction can be reconstructed.  It seems to me that
> the process of withdrawing money to a bank is a separate transaction
> from receiving payment via Paypal anyway, since Paypal gives you the
> ability to specify how much of your balance in its account you want to
> withdraw.
>
> I suppose the easiest thing to do - and I imagine, the norm - is to just
> record the incoming payments against open invoices at the moment they
> are received, and put them in an asset account, less the transaction
> fees.  When Paypal payments clear into the bank, just move the funds
> from one asset account to the other and be done with it, without
> attempting to establish whose payment it was that cleared.  The invoices
> are paid either way, and the ultimate deposit destination of that money
> is just an asset transfer technicality.
>
> Still, I am curious if there are any more advanced options available or
> other handy tricks of the trade that anyone would be willing to share on
> how to reconcile high volumes of individual Paypal transactions.
>
> Thanks!
>
> -- Alex
>
> P.S.  I am referring to plain old Paypal here, not Paypal web payments,
>       merchant account services, etc.
>
> --
> Alex Balashov - Principal
> Evariste Systems LLC
> 1170 Peachtree Street NE
> 12th Floor, Suite 1200
> Atlanta, GA 30309
> Tel: +1-678-954-0670
> Fax: +1-404-961-1892
> Web: http://www.evaristesys.com/
>
>
 I am confused what you are trying to do or why?

Shift your thinking to the fact that even though it is electronic or
whatever, it is still a cash transaction on your end.

Payments are cash which you collect in your PayPal account (cash
register/vault) and then deposit in the bank.  In the old days, when I used
to take the cash bank drops to the bank, there was no information from the
bank except the total deposit.

When a customer sends payment via PayPal, credit the payment that customer's
accounts receivable in your CRM or accounting package, like any business, do
it immediately, and at the end of the day, transfer the that day's batch
over to your bank.

It takes about three days and you can simply cross reference the day that
the you withdrew from PayPal with the day your accounting package shows as
paid, but again, I see no point.

All the data you need should be in PayPal history and the place that really
matters, your accounting package.

The bank doesn't show you any information except the batch money transfer,
but what do you need it for?  You have already done the accounting on a cash
deal and credited the correct account.

One of my business checking accounts actually charges me a fee to be able to
view scanned checks (considered cash as well) which is really a rip-off.

If you are worried about PayPal stiffing you, just compare the batch PayPal
withdraws with the deposit amount on your bank statement.

Did I misinterpret what you are trying to with your bank account?

Steve T
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