You can start a new rental from either the Units tab or the Customers tab. If you are adding many tenants at once for the first time, using the Units tab is usually faster.
You need to create unit types and create units before you can rent them to a customer.
Adding Customers to Units
From the Units Tab:1. Hover over the Units tab and select List View.
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From the Customers Tab:1. Hover over the Customer Tab and click All Customers.
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2. Click the unit number from the list. If you will be renting multiple units, we recommend right-clicking the unit number to open it in a new tab, so you can leave this page open to rent the next unit.
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2. Find and select the customer you are renting the unit to.
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3. Select the customer from the New Customer dropdown menu. Then, click Rent to Customer.
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3. Click Rent a Unit at the top of the page.
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4. The unit type and number will already be selected on this screen.
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4. Select the Unit Size and Number. |
The following steps will be applicable whether you started from the Units tab or the Customers tab.
Setting up the billing cycle
The "Start Date" is when the customer’s billing cycle begins. This must be a future date. The date you enter here will be the date your customer is due for rent, and the software will invoice based on that due date and your billing period. If you want everyone to pay on the first of the month, set this date to the upcoming 1st.
If you are entering your tenants for the first time, you will want to set the due date out to the month you actually plan to start using the software. If you set it too early, the system might create invoices that you’ll have to void manually, one by one.
Setting the Rate Plan
The Plan field is the monthly price your customer will pay. The system will automatically show the standard price for the unit.
If you need to change it, select Custom from the menu.
If you want to charge the customer a different rate, enter the price in the Monthly Price before Discount field, leave the Discount at 0.0, and set the Billing Cycle to 1 month. This will not change the unit's price for anyone else, only for this specific customer.
If you want to give the customer a percentage discount, enter the unit's full price in the Monthly Price Before Discount field, and enter the discount in the Discount field.
If the customer wants to pay once a year or a few months at a time, select the number of months the tenant is paying for from the Billing Cycle dropdown menu. For example, yearly payments would be a "12-month" billing cycle. Every six months would be a "6-month" billing cycle.
If you want to rent a unit to someone at no charge, enter any amount in the Monthly Price before Discount field (it cannot be zero), then give a 100% discount.
Adding insurance and fees
Insurance: If the customer has an insurance plan, you can select it here.
Before options appear in this box, you must add the insurance plans under Setup > Insurance > Add.
Charge Deposit: If you do not charge a deposit, make sure the box is unchecked. If you do, check the box.
After checking Charge Deposit, you can enter the deposit amount. If a customer has already paid their deposit, check the Mark as previously paid box.
Charge Setup Fee: If you do not charge a setup fee, make sure the box is unchecked. If you do, check the box.
After checking Charge Setup Fee, you can enter the fee amount and apply tax.
If you need to charge tax but don't see the option in the dropdown, you first need to add tax options.
The deposit amount can be refunded when a customer moves out. The setup fee is not typically refunded. Tax is not charged on the deposit. If you charge tax, you need to reflect that in the deposit amount.
Add a fee: If the customer has an outstanding balance, select Balance Forward from the Add a fee dropdown.
You can name the fee whatever you like, such as "Unpaid June Rent." When you finish the rental process, this amount will show as outstanding on the customer's balance.
Finishing the rental
Pro-Rating Options: You can select your preferred proration option from the Pro-Rating Options dropdown box. The most commonly used are "Prorate this month and bill full cycle starting next month" and "Prorate this month and bill now for the first billing cycle."
Move-in Date: The move-in date can be any time in the past. If your customer moved in June 2014, simply type in the date in the box or select it from the calendar.
Tax rate: If you have a state tax, you can select it from the Tax rate dropdown.
If you need to charge tax but don't see the option in the dropdown, you first need to add tax options.
Double-check the final cost and then click Rent Now. The deposit will show as a charge even if you clicked the Mark as previously paid button. The system will mark it as paid after you click the Rent Now button.
The Rentals section of the customer's page will show all the information you input. If you marked the deposit as previously paid, it will show that here as well.
