This post will try to explain post processing workflow in more detail and outline some differences in regards to direct processing.
Campaign Processing Workflow
The post processing workflow offers several advantages over direct processing. However there are always cases when either post or direct processing workflows make more sense. KiA campaigns can certainly benefit from Direct Processing and AoN campaigns are better suited for Post Processing. That is why these are the sensible defaults.
Imagine the following scenario. You had AoN campaign that had 100 contributors running in direct processing mode. If project ended and did not reach it’s goal or reached it’s goal but creator decided to back out, then project creator would need to refund those 100 backers manually.
However if post processing mode was used then creator would not need to handle the refunds manually due to how post processing and credit cards work.
In post processing workflow what happens is as follows:
- Campaign ends at a certain date
- If the campaign is successful(AoN) or under KiA mode, it moves into the special 5 day post processing phase
- Backend will try then to pre-authorize all credit cards to determine success rate and put fund holds
- If there is a 100% success rate, it will automatically put campaign into capture phase (that occurs at end of 5 days), if not project creator or admin has to explicitly accept the campaign for capture by following the link sent in email or by changing campaign status manually to “Accepted for Capture” in administration panel (if administration account is used)
- If there is less then 100% success rate for pre-authorizations, project creator will get notified and also backers will get notified so they can re-try their pledges with new credit cards
- At any point project creator can back out of the campaign, however backers are not allowed to back out once they contributed, only project creator can back out
- On the fifth day all pre-authorizations will get automatically processed as captures if the campaign has entered capture state as per #4
- If the campaign is canceled, project creator backed out, etc. then all pre-authorizations will automatically fall off after 6 days, so there is no need for manual refunds to be performed
- The 5 day period gives enough time to project creators to determine the fate of campaign and also allows the backers to re-submit credit card information to ensure higher success rates
- Post processing mode is always recommended mode for AoN campaigns
Note that 5 day time period is a default time period and can be adjust to lower value if desired in the administration panel for the website.
The post processing workflow can always be tested immediately without waiting for 5 days by using the approach described in the following blog post:
https://www.thrinacia.com/blog/post/testing-pre-authorization-and-capturing-funds/165
Campaign Processing States
Once the campaign leaves the Approved / Running state ( campaign run time is finished ), the campaign is then going to enter final states as described below.
| State | Description | Outcomes |
| Finished – Processing Pre Authorization | This is when backend pledge processor will try to pre-authorize the pledges | Campaign will either be Accepted for Capture or Declined depending on 100% success of Pre-Authorization, Campaign Manager is notified |
| Finished – Accepted For Processing Capture | This is when backend pledge processor has pre-authorized the cards with 100% success rate | Pledge Processor will begin capture on all cards in 5 day period, Campaign Manager is notified and has option to cancel during this time |
| Finished – Declined For Processing Capture | This is when backend pledge processor has not been able to pre-authorize all cards with 100% success rate | Campaign Manager is notified and has option to cancel during this time or proceed with collection of whatever pledges are available in 5 day period |
| Finished – Processing Capture | This state is entered when pledges are ready to be captured, normally it occurs after 5 days of campaign being accepted for capture | Campaign Manager is notified that capture has started and status of campaign has changed accordingly |
| Finished – Capture Processing Complete | This is the final state of pledge processing which indicates that pledge capture phase is finished | Campaign Manager is notified that capture has finished and status of the campaign has changed accordingly |