Choosing your dates and launch settings
This article covers the "Launch settings" step of the wizard (step 5), where you decide when the new or changed fee takes effect, when residents hear about it, and, if your batch includes bank debit...
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This article covers the "Launch settings" step of the wizard (step 5), where you decide when the new or changed fee takes effect, when residents hear about it, and, if your batch includes bank debit rows, how their consent is collected. What you see on this step depends on the kind of batch you are running, and the next section lists the four kinds. It is for staff, property managers and board members running the bulk upload. Read this carefully. The dates here are where a mistake costs real money or a delay nobody wanted, so take your time and check each field before you continue.
What you see depends on the kind of batch
- Bank debit rows, each person signs ("Send each person the agreement to sign"). You see the fee start date, the start period choice, the communication date, the alignment toggle and the set-up invitations switch. The ten day rule applies, as described below.
- Bank debit rows, paper agreements ("I already hold signed agreements"). You do not see the start period choice, the alignment toggle or the communication date. The fee start date is locked to the first debit date, which you choose on the "Signed paper agreements" card. See the section on that card below.
- Fees only (no bank debit rows). You see the fee start date, the start period choice, the communication date and the set-up invitations switch. There is no ten day rule.
- Bank details only. You see only the bank debit agreement choice and the "Send set-up invitations" switch, with the note "Fees already running for these units are not changed by this upload." There is no fee start date, start period or communication date, because the fees already run.
The fee start date
On a batch that includes fees, the first field on this step is the fee start date. Its helper text reads:
"The date every new or changed fee takes effect. Segment 3's communication date and this date must be at least 10 days apart."
In plain words: whatever amount you are setting or changing for a unit takes effect from this date onward. Past invoices, past payments and anything that already happened are never touched. Only charges from the fee start date forward use the new amount.
The second sentence of that helper, about the communication date (the field further down the same screen, sometimes labelled "Segment 3" in the helper text), is leftover wording. The real rule is the one in the ten day rule section below: it applies only to a batch with bank debit agreements to sign, and it says the communication date must be at least 10 days before the fee start date. A fees only batch has no such rule. On a paper agreements batch the fee start date is locked, as described below.
Start period mode
Right under the fee start date is a required choice between two cards. You must pick one before you can continue.
Charge the first period on the start date. "The fee start date's charge covers the full period, even if the date falls mid-cycle."
Worked example: Maple Ridge Condos bills on the 1st of the month. You set Unit 304's new $450.00 fee to start today, September 20, which falls in the middle of the period that began September 1. With this option chosen, Unit 304 is billed the full $450.00 for that period, even though the new fee only existed for part of it. Nothing is split or reduced for the partial month.
Start at the next billing date. "Skip the partial period; the first charge lands on the next full billing date instead."
Worked example: same property, same September 20 start date, but this time you choose this option instead. Unit 304 is not billed the new fee for the rest of September. The first charge under the new $450.00 fee happens on October 1, the property's next full billing date, for the full amount.
Underneath both cards, a caption states the rule plainly: "Fees are never prorated. A backdated start is not offered here." There is no third option that splits a partial period into a smaller amount, and you cannot choose a start date that has already passed.
These cards do not appear on a paper agreements batch or on a bank details only batch.
The two start period mode cards. One must be chosen before you can continue.
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Charge the first period on the start date
The fee start date's charge covers the full period, even if the date falls mid-cycle.
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Start at the next billing date
Skip the partial period; the first charge lands on the next full billing date instead.
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The communication date
Below the start period cards sits the communication date field. It stays disabled until you choose a fee start date, showing "Choose the fee start date first." Once a start date is set, this field controls when residents are told about the change, and, if your batch has bank debit rows to sign, it also controls when their sign requests can go out. The communication date still cannot be before today.
A paper agreements batch has no communication date. In its place you see: "Each resident gets one setup email automatically when the import commits. There is no communication date to set for a declared batch." A bank details only batch has none either.
The ten day rule
This is the rule that most often stops people cold on this step, so it gets its own section. It applies to a batch where each person signs, and it works differently for the other kinds of batch, as set out at the end of this section.
Why it exists. Anyone being asked to review their bank details and sign a bank debit agreement needs real time to notice the email, read it carefully, and sign, before any money is scheduled to move. Ten days is the amount of runway the wizard requires so nobody is rushed into signing something at the last minute.
How it behaves. When your batch has bank debit rows that people will sign, the communication date cannot be set any later than 10 days before the fee start date, and it defaults to exactly that day. The helper text under the field reads: "Latest allowed: 10 days before the fee start date."
What happens when there is no room left. If your fee start date is already less than ten days away, there is no valid communication date left to choose, and the field is blocked entirely with:
"Bank debit messages must go out at least 10 days before the fee start date. Move the fee start date to send them."
The one way out. There is no override and no way to shorten the ten days. The only fix is to move the fee start date later, far enough into the future that a full ten days fits before it.
The fee start date and communication date fields on a batch where each person signs, with the ten-day helper text shown under the communication date.
Fee start date
October 1, 2026
Communication date
September 21, 2026
Latest allowed: 10 days before the fee start date.
You will meet the same ten day rule again on the Send card once the batch is committed: a communication date cannot be earlier than today, and a batch where each person signs that has fallen inside the ten day window has its bank debit messages held back until you move the fee start date. Sending the messages to residents covers what "held back" looks like and what to do about it.
The ten days on the other kinds of batch.
- Paper agreements. The ten days run between two other dates: the notice date and the first debit date, both set on the "Signed paper agreements" card. There must be at least 10 days from the notice date to the first debit date.
- Fees only. There is no ten day rule. The caption reads: "No bank debit rows in this batch, so there is no 10-day rule. A fee can start within 10 days of the communication date." The communication date still cannot be before today.
- Bank details only. There are no dates to set, so there is no ten day rule.
The "Signed paper agreements" card (paper agreements batches)
When you choose "I already hold signed agreements (staff declaration)", the fee start date is locked and reads: "Same as the first debit date for signed paper agreements. Change the first debit date below to move it." Below it, the "Signed paper agreements" card asks for two dates.
- "Date residents were told (notice date)". Today or earlier, and before the first debit date.
- "First debit date". A Canadian business day. If it falls after the 28th, it must be the last day of the month. Its bank file, built at 7:00 AM Toronto time on that day, must not have started.
There must be at least 10 days from the notice date to the first debit date. The card shows how you
stand: "
The billing day, and start dates that miss it
Every property has a billing day, the day of the month its charges are due. On a batch where you set the fee start date yourself, if you choose a date that is in the future, it must land exactly on that billing day. (On a paper agreements batch the fee start date is locked to the first debit date, so you set the date there instead.) If it does not, a red line appears under the field:
"Future fee start date must fall on the billing day, day (the property's billing day) of that month."
For a property whose billing grid runs to the end of the month instead of a fixed day number, the message instead reads:
"Future fee start date must fall on the billing day, which is the last day of the month."
If the field is left this way, "Fee start date must be on the billing day" also shows up in the wizard's amber "Still need" list at the bottom of the step, alongside anything else you have not yet filled in. Move the date to the property's billing day, or, if you want a start date that falls mid-cycle, choose today's date instead of a date in the future; only a future date is held to the billing day.
The "Send set-up invitations" toggle
This toggle sends an invitation to anyone in the batch who has no bank debit row, so they can set up automatic payment themselves. Its description reads: "Sent to anyone in this batch with no bank debit row, so they can set up their fee on their own."
The toggle is on by default whenever the property can accept bank debits. When the property cannot, the toggle is forced off and cannot be turned on, with the reason spelled out underneath: "Off because this property cannot accept bank debits yet. No bank account is connected for collections." Connecting a collection account for the property, outside this wizard, is what turns the toggle back on.
The bank debit consent section
If your batch has bank debit rows, an extra required section appears on this step, headed "How will people agree to bank debits?" with the note "Choose once for this whole batch. This cannot be split row by row." This choice, and the staff declaration that goes with one of its two paths, is covered in full in its own article: see How bank debit consent is collected for what each option asks of you, what the staff declaration commits the property to, and the toggle that decides whether a person's first debit lines up with the fee start date or with their own sign date. That toggle only shows when each person signs. It is hidden on a paper agreements batch. You cannot continue past this step without making that choice if your batch has bank debit rows.
Changing dates after messages have gone out
Launch settings, including the fields your kind of batch shows (the fee start date, the start period mode, the communication date, the set-up invitations toggle and the bank debit consent choice), can still be changed after the batch is committed, and even after its messages have already been sent. If you try to change the fee start date on a batch whose messages already went out, a confirmation window appears first:
"Change the fee start date?" "Messages for the (old date) fee start date have already been sent. They cannot be recalled." "The dates shown in the app and on the sign page recompute from live data, so they can now differ from what people were emailed."
Two buttons follow: Change the date anyway and Keep the current date.
Be honest with yourself about what this means before you press "Change the date anyway": the emails that already went out cannot be recalled or corrected. Once you confirm the new date, the app and the resident's sign page will show the new date going forward, but the email a resident already opened still shows the old one. Afterwards, the Send card carries a standing warning so this is never a surprise later: "The fee start date changed to (new date) after these messages were sent. Messages already sent were not updated."
If you reopen a batch that has already been committed from the Send card and land back on this step, the button at the bottom reads Save instead of Continue, and Back is replaced by Cancel. Saving here closes the wizard. It does not commit the batch a second time.
Changing a setting cancels a scheduled send
If the batch already has a send booked for a future date and you change any of the fields on this step (the fee start date, the start period mode, the communication date, the bank debit consent choice, or its alignment toggle), that booking is cancelled automatically. You will see this message:
"The scheduled send was cancelled because launch settings changed."
This is recorded in the batch's audit trail. If you still want the messages to go out, you will need to book a new send, or send immediately, from the Send card afterward.