Unknown Payment Status

When a card payment is settled at the terminal, the Sales Point expects a response from the payment provider confirming whether the payment succeeded. If that confirmation does not arrive, the payment receives the status "Unknown". In this case it is not certain whether the amount was actually charged to the customer. This page explains how to recognize an "Unknown" payment and how to check it with your provider and cancel it if necessary.

What "Unknown" means

The "Unknown" payment status is neither Accepted nor Declined. It occurs when the Sales Point does not receive a clear response from the payment provider after settling at the terminal — for example due to an interrupted connection, an abort during processing, or a timeout. The customer's card may have been charged, but not necessarily. This is exactly why a manual check with the provider is required.

How to recognize it

An "Unknown" payment shows up in several places.

No receipt and no dialog

If, after settling at the terminal, neither a receipt is printed nor the digital-receipt dialog is offered, this is a strong indication of an "Unknown" status.

If a receipt is printed, the footer indicates the state of the payment (the Sales Point prints these lines in German):

Receipt footer	Payment status
Betrag dankend erhalten! (Amount received, thank you!)	Accepted – payment confirmed
Warte auf Zahlungsbestätigung! (Waiting for payment confirmation!)	Unknown – not yet confirmed
Die Zahlung wurde abgelehnt! (The payment was declined!)	Declined – payment did not go through

Reports and daily closing

In the invoice overview the payment appears with the status "Unknown". In addition, "Unknown" payments are explicitly shown at the daily closing (Sales Point Closing) and in all reports — as a separate line with the payment method name and the postfix "(Unknown)", for example Card (Unknown). This keeps open cases visible during reconciliation so they are not overlooked.

What you should do

Do not re-charge an "Unknown" payment without checking first. If the card was already charged, a second attempt results in a double charge to the customer.

For an "Unknown" payment, proceed as follows:

Check with the provider. Open your payment provider's merchant portal or app and check whether the transaction is recorded there as completed.
Not charged. If no charge was made, charge the amount again through the Sales Point.
Charged, but without a receipt. If the amount was charged but no valid receipt was created in the Sales Point, cancel the transaction with the provider and then charge cleanly again, so that receipt and payment match.
Unclear. If the state cannot be clearly determined, contact your payment provider's support before charging again.

Once you know the outcome, resolve the "Unknown" status of the already-recorded invoice manually — see the next section.

Resolving the "Unknown" status

An "Unknown" payment initially remains visible as an open case in the reports. Once you have confirmed with the provider whether the amount was actually charged, you resolve the status manually. Which path is correct depends on the result of the check.

Payment was accepted

If the amount was actually charged, mark the invoice as paid in the bessa Manager:

Open Reports > Invoices and find the affected invoice.
In the Paid column, click the checkmark (✓) and confirm the payment date.

The payment then counts as completed. See Invoices.

Payment was not accepted

If the amount was not charged, cancel the invoice. The cancellation must be done on the Sales Point — not in the Manager: it creates its own fiscally signed cancellation receipt and thus remains part of the unbroken receipt chain.

On the Sales Point, open Menu → Invoices.
Tap the affected invoice and cancel it.

See Void an Invoice.

Once the payment has been marked as paid or cancelled, it is no longer shown as "Unknown" in the reports. After that, the case remains visible only on the individual receipt in the invoice overview and on an already-created Sales Point Closing that can no longer be changed.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Is the customer charged twice with "Unknown"?

Not automatically. "Unknown" only means that the Sales Point did not receive a confirmation. A double charge only arises if you re-charge without checking, even though the first payment was already charged. Always check with the provider first.

Do I need to cancel anything in the Sales Point?

It depends on the result of the check. Cancelling the pure card charge happens with the payment provider, not in the Sales Point. The invoice recorded in the Sales Point, on the other hand, is cancelled directly on the Sales Point (in the bessa POS app) — this is mandatory, because the cancellation must be fiscally signed. If the payment was accepted, no cancellation is needed; mark the invoice as paid in the Manager instead. See the section "Resolving the 'Unknown' status".