Understanding the Payments Summary Dashboard in Gladstone Reporting
Problem
You want to understand what information is available within the Gladstone Reporting Payments Summary Dashboard and how it can be used to analyse payment value, payment volume, payment methods, tax, refunds and payment trends.
Resolution
What does the Payments Summary Dashboard show?
The Payments Summary Dashboard provides an at-a-glance view of payments received, helping you understand the value, volume and composition of payment activity across your organisation.
The Dashboard contains reports covering areas such as:
- Total payment value;
- Number of Payments processed;
- Payment Method;
- Tax Code;
- Refunds and Refund Rate;
- Payments by hour;
- Payments by Status Site;
- Payments by Department;
- Products generating payment value;
- Longer-term payment trends.
The Dashboard also provides controls for selecting the reporting period and viewing applicable payment values as either Gross or Net.
Where supported, select a Widget to access its Drill Down for additional information.
Which date is used by the Payments Summary Dashboard?
Payments are reported according to Received Date.
Received Date represents when the Payment was received.
Use the Date Range filter to select the period you want to analyse.
The selected Date Range applies to the Dashboard Widgets unless otherwise stated.
The active reporting period is displayed at the top of the Dashboard so that the selected period remains visible even when the filter panel is hidden.
What is the difference between Gross and Net payment value?
The Gross / Net selector allows applicable Dashboard Widgets to display payment value either including or excluding applicable tax.
- Gross represents payment value including applicable tax.
- Net represents payment value excluding applicable tax.
Changing the Gross / Net selection updates applicable Dashboard Widgets while retaining the selected Date Range.
Drill Down reports continue to provide Gross, Tax and Net values regardless of the Gross / Net selection made on the summary Dashboard.
Which Payments Summary reports are available?
The Payments Summary Dashboard includes reports such as:
- Total Payments Processed — shows the total value of Payments received during the selected Date Range together with the number of Payments processed.
- Payment Method Summary — analyses payment value according to Payment Method.
- Tax Code Summary — analyses Gross payment value according to Tax Code.
- Refund Summary — reports refunded payment value and Refund Rate.
- Payments by Hour — analyses payment value according to the hour in which Payments were received.
- Payments by Status Site — analyses payment value according to Status Site.
- Payments by Department — analyses payment value according to Department.
- Top Products by Payment Value — identifies Products generating the greatest payment value.
- Payments by Month (Last 36 Months) — provides a longer-term monthly payment trend.
The reporting content and filters available vary according to the individual Widget.
What does Total Payments Processed show?
Total Payments Processed shows both the value of Payments received and the number of Payments processed during the selected Date Range.
Payment value changes according to the selected Gross / Net option.
The payment count provides a distinct count of payment transactions, allowing payment value to be considered alongside transaction volume.
For example, a high payment value generated from relatively few Payments represents a different pattern of activity from a similar value generated from many smaller Payments.
How can I analyse Payment Methods?
Use Payment Method Summary to understand how payment value is distributed across the Payment Methods used by your organisation.
Depending on configuration, these can include methods such as:
- Cash;
- Customer card payments;
- Recurring Card Payment;
- Direct Debit;
- Gladstone Pay;
- Other configured Payment Methods.
The displayed payment value changes according to the Gross / Net selection.
How can I analyse Tax?
Use Tax Code Summary to understand how Gross payment value is distributed across the configured Tax Codes.
Depending on configuration, Tax Codes can represent treatments such as:
- Standard Rate;
- Exempt;
- Zero Rated;
- Other configured Tax Codes.
Tax Code Summary is based on Gross payment value and does not change when the Dashboard is switched between Gross and Net.
This allows the Tax Code values to reconcile with the Gross payment value represented during the selected reporting period.
How are refunds reported?
Refund Summary shows the value of refunded Payments processed during the selected Date Range together with the associated Refund Rate.
Refund Rate is calculated as:
Refund Rate % = (Refunded Payment Value / Total Payment Value) x 100
For example, if £20.00 of refunds are processed during a period containing £5,761.71 of Payments:
Refund Rate = (£20.00 / £5,761.71) x 100 = 0.35%
The displayed payment values change according to the selected Gross / Net option.
Refunds are reported according to when the refund was processed. A refund recorded during the selected Date Range can therefore relate to a Payment originally received outside that period.
Refund Rate should consequently be interpreted as refunded value processed relative to payment value processed during the selected period, rather than the percentage of Payments originally received during that period that were subsequently refunded.
How can I understand when Payments are being received?
Use Payments by Hour to analyse payment value according to the hour in which Payments were received.
This can help identify periods of higher and lower payment activity.
When analysing multiple days, each hour represents Payment activity occurring during that hour across the selected reporting period.
How can I analyse Payments by Site?
Use Payments by Status Site to analyse payment value according to the Status Site associated with each Payment.
This can help compare payment activity across different Sites and identify which locations account for the greatest proportion of payment value.
The displayed payment value changes according to the Gross / Net selection.
How can I understand what is generating payment value?
Use Payments by Department to identify Departments generating payment value during the selected period.
Use Top Products by Payment Value to identify the individual Products contributing the greatest payment value.
These reports can be used together to move from a higher-level Department view into the Products contributing to that activity.
The displayed payment value changes according to the Gross / Net selection.
Why doesn't Payments by Month follow my selected Date Range?
Payments by Month (Last 36 Months) uses its own 36-month reporting period and operates independently of the Dashboard Date Range.
For example, selecting Yesterday updates the operational payment Widgets to show yesterday's activity, while Payments by Month continues to show the longer-term 36-month trend.
This allows short-term payment activity to be viewed alongside longer-term historical context.
Notes
- Payments Summary reporting is based on Received Date.
- Gross payment value includes applicable tax, while Net payment value excludes applicable tax.
- Applicable Dashboard Widgets respond to the Gross / Net selection, while Drill Downs continue to provide Gross, Tax and Net values.
- Tax Code Summary remains based on Gross payment value regardless of the Gross / Net selection.
- Refunds are reported according to when the refund is processed and can relate to Payments received during an earlier period.
- Payments by Month uses its own 36-month reporting period and does not follow the Dashboard Date Range.
- Dashboard and Drill Down results can be affected by active filters.
- Available reporting content may vary according to customer configuration and user permissions.