Parties and offer
Name the seller, customer type, service or product, fulfilment route, contract owner and any marketplace or reseller. Do not infer these from the website copy.
Decision worksheet / 04
Payment software begins with the accounting truth.
Before a checkout or billing flow is built, record who sells what to whom, which party takes payment, which records must reconcile and who decides the UK tax treatment.
Commerce file / required entries
Resolve the transaction model before selecting the interface.
Currency and display
State whether prices are held and charged in GBP, how conversions are handled and which amount appears on receipts, refunds, exports and internal reports.
VAT decisions
Record the organisation's confirmed treatment, evidence and adviser. HMRC guidance distinguishes place-of-supply situations; the software should implement an approved rule, not invent one.
Payment states
Define pending, authorised, paid, failed, cancelled, partially refunded, refunded, disputed and written-off states, plus who may move a transaction between them.
Records and receipts
List invoice fields, tax evidence, consent or order records, processor identifiers, customer notices and retention requirements supplied by the organisation.
Reconciliation
Define the comparison between orders, processor settlements, fees, refunds, disputes and accounting records, including a visible exception queue and owner.
Commerce file / release evidence
Test the awkward states, not only the successful purchase.
- A duplicate submission cannot create an unexplained duplicate charge.
- A delayed provider message can be replayed without corrupting the order.
- A partial refund and a full refund reconcile to the provider records.
- A failed payment leaves a clear customer and staff recovery route.
- Secrets, privileged actions and payment-provider access have named owners.
- Exports preserve the identifiers needed to investigate and migrate records.
Boundary note: Faith Forge Labs can implement a confirmed transaction design and its controls. The UK organisation and appropriately qualified advisers remain responsible for tax, accounting, consumer and sector decisions.