Collecting fees by pre-authorized debit

Pre-authorized debit lets your property collect what an account holder owes directly from their bank account on the day it is due. The account holder signs an agreement once; after that, URBI sends each collection to the bank on your behalf and the money arrives in the property's account.

It differs from a card payment in one important way. A card is accepted or declined on the spot. A bank debit is taken from the account holder's account on the due date, and one that cannot be honoured comes back a few business days later as a return. This article explains what to expect at each step.

How an account holder is enrolled

An account holder enrols through the Portal: they provide their banking details, review the pre-authorized debit agreement, and sign it. The signed agreement is kept on file as a PDF and is the property's evidence that the debits were authorised. The account holder receives a confirmation by email. Someone responsible for more than one location can apply one agreement to each of them.

Staff can also start an enrolment on an account holder's behalf by entering their banking details. The account holder then receives an email asking them to verify the details and sign. Nothing is collected until they do, and a request that is not signed before it expires lapses without collecting anything.

If your property already holds signed paper agreements, staff can declare them in a bulk upload instead of sending anyone a request. Staff record the date account holders were told and the first debit date, then confirm by typing their full name, which takes responsibility for those debits. The first debit date needs at least 10 days of notice. When the upload is committed, URBI creates the bank debit agreement and the first bill, due on the first debit date. No invoice email goes out for that first bill. Instead, each account holder gets one setup email automatically, with the bank, the monthly amount, the debit day and the first debit date, and nothing for them to sign.

Before any collection can run, the property needs a National Bank bank account connected in URBI's accounting settings (Property Settings > Accounting > Bank & payments). Collections only appears there once that account exists - you pick it from a list of the property's National Bank accounts. Staff then enter the issuer number National Bank assigned for collections; it is never prefilled, since it is different from the issuer number used for payouts. For a new connection, National Bank must also accept a test file before collections can be turned on. Choose Run connectivity test, and the drawer waits for the bank's reply, which we check every 30 minutes on business days. Once the bank has accepted it, tick that National Bank has approved the property for production files, then choose Turn on collections. URBI can also allow a one-time exception. Until then, the settings screen shows the connection as not configured or pending test, and no debits are sent.

What happens on a collection day

URBI builds the collection file at 7:00 a.m. Toronto time on the debit day itself, Monday to Friday. Weekends and Canadian bank holidays are skipped, so a charge due on a Saturday or a holiday is collected on the next business day. Invoices are created on their due date, early in the morning, before the 7:00 a.m. build.

On the business day before, at 1:00 p.m. Toronto time, URBI runs a Ready to collect check on the next build, and checks again right after the 7:00 a.m. build. A failed check never stops the file being built.

The sequence is:

1. URBI finds every unpaid invoice that is due, belongs to an account holder with an active enrolment, and is not already being paid another way. The account holder's due charges are combined into one debit.
2. Each debit is recorded as a pending payment against the account holder's invoices and posted to your ledger.
3. URBI builds the collection file and sends it to the bank, which acknowledges it as accepted or rejected. The bank's cutoff is 4:30 p.m. Toronto time that same day. A file that has not left URBI by then is closed automatically, and its debits go into the next business day's file.
4. When the bank accepts the file, the payments stay pending. The invoices are marked paid the next morning, when URBI settles the file, and the payment is recorded as cleared on the debit date. A bank acceptance alone never marks an invoice paid. If the bank rejects the file, nothing is marked paid. If the file number was already used, URBI rebuilds the file with a new number automatically, with no action needed. For any other reason, URBI rebuilds and resends it once. If that is rejected too, the file shows Needs manual resubmit, URBI is alerted, and staff are told that URBI is following up.
5. The debit is taken from the account holder's bank account on the debit date. The property is credited for the full amount of the file. The batch detail screen in accounting shows the date the funds are expected, two business days after the file date.

A debit above the property's per-collection limit is left out of the file and recorded, so a account holder with an unusually large balance is not silently skipped.

When a charge differs from the amount the account holder agreed to, URBI notifies them in advance, using the notice period recorded on their signed agreement. A charge that needed a notice and did not get one is not collected until it has.

When a debit is returned

A returned debit means the account holder's bank sent the money back, or never released it. Returns usually arrive within one to two business days of the due date, occasionally up to five. A dispute raised through the account holder's bank can arrive much later than that.

The common reasons, in plain language:

• The account holder did not have enough money in the account.
• The account has been closed.
• The account details are wrong, or no account matches them.
• The account holder asked their bank to stop this payment.
• The account holder disputed the debit with their bank.
• The bank refused the debit for another reason, such as an account that cannot be debited or a question about the authorisation itself.

When a return arrives, URBI does the following automatically:

• Records the return against the original payment, with the reason.
• Reverses the payment in your ledger with an offsetting entry. The original entry stays, so the history shows both the collection and the return.
• Puts the invoice back to unpaid, or overdue if its due date has passed, and restores the amount to the account holder's balance.
• For insufficient funds only, adds a returned-payment fee to the account holder's account, at the amount set in your property's accounting settings. If no amount is set, no fee is charged.
• Emails the account holder when the reason is insufficient funds, a closed account, or wrong account details. For a stop payment, a dispute, or any other reason, the account holder is not emailed; staff are alerted instead.

Once the invoice is outstanding again it is treated like any other unpaid invoice. For a closed account or wrong details, the account holder needs to update their banking information before another collection can succeed.

What staff see in URBI

On the account's accounting tab, the pre-authorized debit section shows the account holder's enrolment status, the upcoming debits for the next 30 days, and recent debits with their outcome, including the reason for any return.

Under Accounting > Transactions, the Payment files tab lists each day's collection file. It appears only once National Bank is set up for the property. Each file shows one status: Generating, Submitted, Acknowledged, Delivered, Submit failed, Rejected, Needs manual resubmit or Abandoned. The list can be filtered by status. Opening a file shows its progress from generated, to transmitted, to acknowledged by the bank, to delivered, and then the return window, along with the number of debits, the total, and any returns received.

The accounting dashboard has a matching PAD Batches widget. It also shows whether the property is ready to collect: Ready to collect, Not ready, Not live yet, Collections off or Not checked yet. Anyone can choose View checks, and members with the payments permission can choose Run check now.

When a file fails to upload, the file shows why. If the upload never started, staff can choose Resend file, and no debit can be taken twice. If the upload stopped part way, the bank may already have it, so only URBI can resend it, and the file says so. A member with the payments permission can choose Resubmit on a file that shows Needs manual resubmit. Abandon file marks that file's debits failed and voids their journal entries. An abandoned file shows the date it was abandoned, and needs no action.

Staff alerts go to property members whose payments permission is not turned off. For problems URBI handles, there is at most one message per property per day, and it says no action is needed. For problems the property must fix, such as a bank debit left out because an account holder has no bank details, there is one message per day asking you to add them. Connection and check failures go to URBI only.

Staff can skip a single upcoming debit from the Payment files tab, in its Upcoming section, with Skip this time and Undo skip, until that date's file has been built at 7:00 a.m.

Things that need a person

An account holder changes bank accounts. They update their details through the Portal, or staff can enter the new details and the account holder confirms them by email. Future debits use the new account.

A stop payment. The account holder asked their bank to refuse one debit. URBI records it as a return and alerts staff, but it does not cancel the account holder's authorisation. Talk to them to find out whether they meant to stop one payment or to end the arrangement.

An account holder cancels. A cancellation is recorded with the date it takes effect. Debits due on or before that date are still collected; after it, nothing more is taken. Staff can also pause, resume or cancel a single enrolment from the account's accounting tab.

A dispute. When an account holder disputes a debit through their bank, URBI reverses the payment and opens a dispute record. The signed agreement on file is the property's evidence of authorisation.

Questions staff ask

Is the account holder told before every debit? Not when the amount is the one they agreed to. When it differs, they are notified in advance, using the notice period recorded on their agreement.

Can I see who will be debited tomorrow? Yes. The account's accounting tab shows upcoming debits for the next 30 days. That list is for viewing only.

Does an account holder on bank debit still get the billing summary email? No. They get the setup email, and failure, return, changed amount, cancellation and account update emails. Their invoices still appear in the Billing tab of the Portal.

Can pre-authorized debit collect an old balance? No. Only invoices falling due after the property began collecting by debit are included.

Does the account holder pay anything for a return? Only for insufficient funds, and only if your property has set a returned-payment fee. Other return reasons carry no fee in URBI.

Why does a return show up after the money already arrived? The bank credits the property for the whole file first and takes each returned amount back afterwards, as a separate withdrawal on your statement. URBI reverses the payment when the return is reported, so your ledger and your statement end up matching. Your bank may also charge its own fee for a returned item; that appears on your statement, not on the account holder's account.