This article explains how Vega automatically generates recurring payments, how payment statuses are assigned, and what happens when payments are successful or fail.

Understanding this process helps ensure recurring payments are reconciled correctly and managed efficiently.

• Overview
• How Auto-Generated Recurring Payments Work
• When Will a Recurring Payment Be Generated?
• Choosing the Default Payment Status
• Reconciling Auto-Generated Payments
• Failed Payment Processing
• What Happens After the Final Retry?
• Frequently Asked Questions

Overview

Recurring payments allow donations or membership payments to be created automatically on a scheduled basis, such as:

• Weekly
• Fortnightly
• Monthly
• Quarterly
• Annually

For payment methods processed outside of Vega (for example, direct debits or automatic bank payments), Vega can automatically generate payment records to simplify reconciliation and reporting.

The status assigned to each generated payment is controlled by:

Admin > Financial Settings > Recurring Payment Settings > Recurring Payment Auto Payment Default Status

The selected default status determines how the payment will be created and what reconciliation process will be required.

How Auto-Generated Recurring Payments Work

The Vega Finance Server regularly checks for recurring payments that are due for processing.

When a valid recurring payment is found, Vega:

• Creates a new payment using the configured default status (Recurring Financial Settings).
• Links the payment to the recurring payment record.
• Updates the recurring payment to its next scheduled Due Date and Next Take Date (where applicable).
• Applies any failed payment rules if the payment is created or updated as declined.

When multiple recurring payment settings exist for the same Pay Type Subtype, Vega first looks for a matching payment frequency before applying any setting configured for All frequencies.

When Will a Recurring Payment Be Generated?

A recurring payment will only be generated when all of the following conditions are met:

• The recurring payment status is Payment Open.
• The Next Take Date and Time has been reached.
• The contact account status is Active.

One of the following applies:

• Until Further Notice is selected.
  • The End Date is blank.
  • The End Date is later than today's date.
  • The recurring payment amount is less than or equal to the Total Amount Left.
• The Next Take Date falls within the previous two months.

Choosing the Default Payment Status

The Recurring Payment Auto Payment Default Status determines the status assigned to each generated payment.

Payment Successful / Posted

Use this option when payments have already been received outside of Vega and should immediately be treated as completed.

When this option is selected:

• Payments are created as Payment Successful / Posted.
• Payments are linked to the recurring payment.
• The recurring payment advances to its next scheduled payment date.
• Imported Xero, MYOB or bank transactions can be matched against these payments.
• ANZ Dishonour imports or manual updates can change payments to Payment Declined if required.

Important: Payments that remain unreconciled should be investigated to confirm whether they were successfully received.

Transaction Pending (Recommended)

This is the recommended option for organisations that reconcile recurring payments after importing bank transactions.

When this option is selected:

• Payments are created with a status of Transaction Pending.
• Pending payments are not treated as received.
• Payments are linked to the recurring payment.
• The recurring payment advances to its next scheduled payment date.
• Imported transactions can update the payment to Successful.
• Payments can also be manually updated to Successful or Declined.

Recommended: Using Transaction Pending provides the clearest reconciliation process because payments are only recognised as received after they have been matched against your bank, Xero or MYOB import.

Payment Declined

Use this option when recurring payments should immediately follow Vega's failed payment process.

When this option is selected:

• Payments are created as Payment Declined.
• Payments are linked to the recurring payment.
• The configured failed payment process begins immediately.
• Imported transactions or manual updates can later change the payment to Successful if payment is subsequently received.

Reconciling Auto-Generated Payments

Depending on your payment process, recurring payments can be reconciled using:

• Xero imports
• MYOB imports
• Bank Transaction imports
• ANZ Dishonour imports
• Manual payment updates

Imported transactions can update payment statuses to either Successful or Declined, depending on the reconciliation outcome.

Failed Payment Processing

Whenever a recurring payment is declined, Vega checks the settings configured under:

Admin > Financial Settings > Recurring Payment Settings > On Payment Failure

These settings determine what happens after each failed payment attempt.

Option 1 – Continue on Schedule

The recurring payment remains active.

Vega skips the failed payment and schedules the next payment based on the normal recurring frequency.

Option 2 – Set Retry Schedule

Vega attempts to collect the payment again before returning to the normal payment schedule.

The retry behaviour is controlled by:

• Number of Payment Failures
• Days Before Retry

After each unsuccessful attempt:

• A retry payment is created.
• The retry count is increased.
• The Next Take Date is updated based on the configured retry interval.

Retry attempts continue until either:

• A payment is successful, or
• The maximum number of retries is reached.

Note: Retry attempts are recorded separately and are reported in Insights > Recurring Management > Failed Recurring Payments.

What Happens After the Final Retry?

Once the maximum number of retries has been reached, Vega checks the On Retry Failure setting.

Suspend Recurrence

The recurring payment status changes to Payment Suspended.

If recurring payment workflows have been configured for suspension notifications, they will automatically be triggered.

Suspended recurring payments can be viewed under:

Money > Recurring Payments > Suspended

The recurring payment will not process again until it has been reactivated.

Close Recurrence

The recurring payment status changes to Payment Closed.

Closed recurring payments can be viewed under:

Money > Recurring Payments > Closed

The recurring payment will remain inactive until it has been manually reopened.

Continue on Schedule

The recurring payment remains active.

The next Due Date and Next Take Date are recalculated using the original recurring schedule rather than the retry dates.

For example:

• Original due date: 20 January
• Retry attempts: 21, 22 and 23 January
• Monthly frequency

The next payment will still be scheduled for 20 February, maintaining the original payment cycle.

Flowchart

The following flowchart illustrates the recurring payment generation and failed payment process.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I find unreconciled pending payments?

Yes. Use the Custom Query tool to search for payments with a status of Transaction Pending over a selected date range.