DotNetInvoice Forums

I'm currently developing a subscription based web application.  Members will be charged a monthly fee on a recurring basis until they cancel their membership.  I'm looking for a invoicing product to use and came across yours from discountasp.net where my application will be hosted.  So when a member joins, can I attach an autogenerated invoice to their account?  Or a generic invoice to their account?  Or can I create an invoice on the fly and populate the customer's information in it and assign it to them.

 I just want to make sure that the invoice creation for new subscribers can be an automated process.

Does the members credit card get charged automatically each recurring period(monthly in this case)?  or do they have to do something each month to get it charged, like click on a link contained within an email?

 Mark

 

Hi Mark,

If you are a .NET developer (or have access to one), automating the creation of a recurring invoice is as easy as calling a couple stored procedures. I have a document describing the calls you need to make to accomplish this.

Then each month, as long as the client has a valid credit card on file the invoice will be generated and immediately charged to that card, and the client will receive an email thanking them for payment (you could disable this).

The initial payment of the first invoice could be tricky; having the client log in and pay it manually would be one option. Another would be to use the Payment object within the DotNetInvoice code to post a payment, and then save their credit card info into the DB (using a stored procedure). There is code in the app that does this, but it's triggered from a web page. You could easily make these same calls from your code. Either way will ensure future generated invoices are paid immediately.

One other note - this recurring charge stuff only works with Authorize.NET. PayPal Website Payments Pro doesn't support it because they require CVV code, and per the Visa agreement we cannot store CVV in the application.

Let us know if you have any other questions,

 

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Rob
DotNetInvoice Support

Thanks for the quick response.  It sounds like a great product and what I'm looking for.  I'm an e-commerce web developer by trade and will be using asp.net 2.0 along with the built-in membership class and roles in my application.  Most of my application is finished.  I left this part for the end.  I'll have to tie this in the the app but since it is based off of the default membership class and roles it shouldn't be too difficult.  I'm not worried about the PayPal part.  The major credit cards is what I'm looking to support.

Authorize.NET doesn't require the CVV code?

 Thanks again.

One other quick question.  Can this be tested locally on my developement machine?  I like to do all developing/testing locally before I upload to the web server.

 Thanks.

Authorize.NET doesn't require CVV code, but if you start to get fraudulent charges they will require it. I also think if you're large volume you can get a discount if you collect CVV code. This is common - Paypal is the only processor I know of who requires CVV.

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Rob
DotNetInvoice Support

Definitely - this is how we develop. The app is set up as a VS 2005 website, so it's easiest to run using the web server built into VS 2005.

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Rob
DotNetInvoice Support

Great, thanks.

One other question:

Where does the money go?  Is there an account created on setup where the money is deposited after the credit card is processed, similar to I believe PayPal works?

Hi Mark,

Authorize.NET works like a standard merchant account; once a charge is made the funds are placed into your bank account. The difference between PayPal and other merchant accounts such as Authorize.NET is that PayPal has a separate virtual account where your money lives, and Authorize.NET deposits money directly into your bank account with no intermediary step.

Let me know if I misunderstood your question, 

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Rob
DotNetInvoice Support

That's what I was looking for. 

Would I be providing this account number during your software setup or is it a totally separate step that I would have to handle directly with Authorize.NET?

 

You set that up with Authorize.NET.

The only thing you enter into DotNetInvoice are your Authorize.NET API credentials.

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Rob
DotNetInvoice Support

So to be sure:

I'm signing up with Authorize.NET:
    1.) Payment Gateway for Credit Card Processing
    2.) Internet Merchant Account

Looks like I can't just do the internet merchant account without also doing the gateway. 

 They also have a Automated Recurring Billing option.  Would I need that inorder to use recurring billing on your software?

The payment gateway is not the same thing that I would get from your software?  Or does your software need that payment gateway inorder to work? 

Thanks for your help and patience.  Just want to be sure I get only what I need from Authorize.NET.

 

 

Hi Mark,

You are correct - those are the 2 things you need from Authorize.NET.

DotNetInvoice takes the place of their automated recurring billing, and saves you the monthly fee they charge for it.

The Authorize.NET payment gateway is what our software talks to in order to charge a credit card.

No problem on the questions. Let me know if you have any more.

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Rob
DotNetInvoice Support