Methods and systems are provided for client controlled transaction processing. The method may be carried out at a transaction server, and include: receiving a transaction request from a transaction initiator and allocating a transaction identifier to the transaction; receiving notification of the number of jobs to be completed in the transaction; maintaining a transaction status indicating the current status of the transaction; receiving job status updates from one or more participants processing the jobs included in the transaction and updating a transaction record reflecting the status of each of the jobs included in the transaction; updating the transaction status when required based on the job status updates of the jobs included in the transaction; and receiving and responding to transaction status polling to provide a current transaction status, where the transaction status polling originates from the transaction initiator and the participants processing the jobs.