Manage Ethos Transaction Failures

Last updated: August 28, 2026

Ethos is the integration layer that transfers financial transactions between Housing.Cloud and your student information system (SIS). Most transactions sync without issue. Sometimes Ethos returns an error or fails to respond. Understanding what these statuses mean and how to resolve them helps keep financial data accurate in both systems.

 

How Transaction Syncs Work

After a transaction is created in Housing.Cloud:

  • The system checks whether it should be sent to the SIS through Ethos.
  • If eligible, a request is sent.
  • Ethos may or may not respond. If it responds, it will either respond with a failure or success status code. If the request was successful, Ethos will return a GUID for the charge, that Housing.Cloud considers to be the External ID.

The External ID appears on the transaction record and shows the sync outcome. If you do not see the External ID column in your Finance table, you may need to enable it in the column settings.

 

Transaction External ID Statuses

The External ID value will fall into one of several categories:

  • Empty – The transaction is new and has not been processed by the integration framework.
  • Ethos GUID – A unique identifier confirming that the transaction was successfully created in the SIS.
  • NO_TRANSFER – The transaction is configured not to be sent to the SIS.
  • ETHOS_FAILURE – Ethos returned an error when the system attempted to send the transaction.
  • hold_[ID] – Ethos did not respond to the request within the expected time frame (15 minutes).
     

Why ETHOS_FAILURE and hold_[ID] Require Attention

Due to the high false negative rate of Ethos, a transaction can created in the SIS but Ethos did not respond to our request within 15 minutes or Ethos returned an error. This means that the system may treat the transaction as unsent even though it exists in the SIS. Resending without confirmation can result in duplicate charges.

To prevent this, use the Clean Up Failures action to verify the status of affected transactions before taking further action.

 

Resolve Failed or Held Transactions

Go to the Finance section in the admin portal and look for transactions with an External ID of ETHOS_FAILURE or hold_[ID].

 

Click Clean Up Ethos's Failures above the finance table. This checks directly with Ethos to confirm whether each transaction was created in the SIS.

If a valid Ethos GUID is found, it will be saved to the transaction record, marking it as complete. 

If no valid Ethos GUID is found, the transaction can be resent as needed. Always confirm in the SIS before resending to ensure no duplicate records are created.

 

Best Practices

Ethos failures and holds can happen periodically due to system behavior, timing, or connectivity. To manage them effectively:

  • Review the Finance section regularly for ETHOS_FAILURE and hold_[ID] statuses.
  • Always use the Clean Up Failures process before resending transactions.
  • Document any recurring patterns and share them with your IT team.
  • Avoid manually resending transactions until you have verified whether they exist in the SIS.