Uploading fees, leases and bank debit agreements in bulk: overview
This article introduces the bulk upload feature for property managers, building staff and board members who need to set up or update monthly fees for many units at once, instead of one at a time....
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This article introduces the bulk upload feature for property managers, building staff and board members who need to set up or update monthly fees for many units at once, instead of one at a time. Read this first, then move on to the rest of the article set.
What this does
This feature lets you upload a spreadsheet and, in one pass, set up the monthly fee (or rent) and lease for many units, collect the bank details needed for automatic monthly payments, and prepare the messages that tell residents what changed. You review everything on screen before anything happens, so you can fix mistakes before they reach a resident's bank account or inbox.
The three things it handles together
- The monthly fee and lease for each unit. You upload a file with a row per unit, and the wizard creates or updates the lease and the recurring charge for each one. A fee file is not always required. When you start, you say what you are uploading: fees only, bank details only, or both.
- Bank debit agreements. If you also want residents to pay by automatic bank withdrawal, you can add a second file with everyone's bank details, in the same batch. You can also upload bank details on their own, for units whose fees already run. The industry name for this kind of automatic bank withdrawal is "pre-authorized debit". This article set calls it a "bank debit agreement" from here on, because that is the plain language used on screen.
- The messages to residents. The wizard prepares the emails that tell each resident what is changing, what to sign, or what to expect. When you ask residents to sign, nothing is sent until you choose to send it.
The single most important promise
Nothing is written to any unit's records until you choose to commit the batch at the end of the wizard. You can upload a file, look through every row, close the wizard, and come back later, all without changing anything.
What residents are emailed depends on how they agree to bank debits. When you ask residents to sign, committing sends nothing, and you choose to send the messages afterwards, so committing and sending are two separate, deliberate steps. When you declare that you already hold signed paper agreements, you take responsibility for those debits, and each resident gets one setup email automatically when you commit. No invoice email goes out for the first bill.
Who can use this
You need to be signed in as staff, a property manager, or a board member with the right permission for this property (see What you need before you start for exactly which permissions). Residents do not use this feature. They only see the results of it, such as an email asking them to sign a bank debit agreement or set up their own automatic payment.
Where to find it
Open Property Settings, then open the drawer for managing units. At the top of that drawer are two tabs: the units tab and Bulk Actions. Everything in this article set lives on the Bulk Actions tab, in a block headed "Fees and bank debit", which holds two cards side by side.
Fees and bank debit
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Fees and leases
Upload a CSV to create or update condo fee leases for units in bulk.
Upload fees and leases
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Bank debit agreements
Collect bank details for pre-authorized debit alongside the same batch.
Upload bank debit details
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What the two entry cards look like when both are ready to use.
Both cards open the same wizard. The second card opens it set to bank details only. There is no other page in the app that opens this wizard. The Import History area shows past batches, but it does not launch this one.
What this does not do
This feature does not change a resident's existing invoices, payment history, or past charges. Updating a fee only changes the amount from the date you choose, going forward. It also does not remove or override an existing bank debit agreement without your say. Where a conflict exists (for example, two people trying to pay the same billing account by bank debit), the wizard stops and asks you to decide, rather than picking for you. Finally, it does not prorate a fee for a part month. If you want a person billed only from partway through a period, you choose one of two fixed options rather than a custom split.
Where to go next
- What you need before you start checks that your property, your permissions and your files are ready before you open the wizard.
- The following articles in this set walk through preparing your fee and lease file, preparing your bank debit details file, each step of the wizard in order, the three ways bank debit consent can be collected, what a resident sees on their end, and what every on-screen message and error means.