Choosing Which Invoices a Payment Covers

When a resident pays you a lump sum rather than paying one specific invoice, URBI now shows you exactly where that money is going before you record it, and lets you change it. Previously the system decided on its own, oldest invoice first, and told you nothing.

Who can do this: Any staff member, property manager, or board member whose permissions for that property allow them to record and manage payments.

Where this appears: Everywhere you split a payment across invoices. The chooser looks and works the same in all three places.

• Record Payment, when you choose "Pay into Account" instead of paying one invoice
• Bank reconciliation, when you match an incoming deposit to a resident
• Apply Credit, when you spend credit a resident already holds

What you will see

When you enter the amount, URBI looks at the account's open invoices and proposes a set that adds up to exactly what was received. Those invoices are ticked for you, with the amount each one will receive.

The allocation chooser after URBI proposes two invoices that add up exactly to what was received.

This is a proposal, not a decision. Everything on it can be changed.

• Tick or untick invoices in the chooser at the top.
• Change how much each invoice gets by typing in its amount box. You can pay part of an invoice.
• Leave the rest as account credit using the tick box, when the payment is more than the invoices you want to settle.
• Hold the whole amount as account credit without paying any invoice at all.

The line at the bottom always shows what is still unaccounted for. While anything is left over, it tells you so; when the amounts add up, it settles.

The remainder line while part of the $612.00 payment is still unallocated, with Continue turned off until it reaches zero.

Nothing happens until you confirm

Ticking, unticking and editing amounts changes nothing on their account. The payment is recorded only when you press the button at the bottom of the screen. If you close the window first, nothing is written.

Why an invoice might already be chosen

URBI prefers the set of invoices that matches the amount received, not the oldest ones. If a resident pays $612.00 and two invoices happen to total exactly $612.00, those two are chosen, even if there is an older invoice outstanding.

If several different combinations would add up exactly, URBI tells you how many and offers to clear the selection so you can choose yourself.

If nothing adds up exactly, URBI picks the closest single invoice and says so. Occasionally, on an account with a large number of open invoices, it will tell you it could not check every possible combination. When you see that, it is worth choosing the invoices yourself.

The banner that appears when more than one combination of invoices adds up to $612.00, with the option to clear the selection and choose by hand.

Applying credit a resident already holds

Open the invoice, then Apply Credit. The invoice you opened is shown at the top with the amount it will receive. Below it you can spread any remaining credit across other open invoices, using the same chooser.

You do not have to use all of the credit. Whatever you do not allocate simply stays on the account.

The Allocate Credit modal, showing the fixed amount for the invoice you opened and room below to spread the rest.

When something is wrong

URBI now tells you plainly rather than showing a technical message.

• "This account is closed or frozen": the account cannot hold new credit. Apply the whole payment to invoices, or reopen the account first.
• "The amounts chosen do not add up": adjust them so the total matches what was received.
• "One of the chosen invoices was paid while this was open": somebody settled it in the meantime. URBI names which one and refreshes the list so you can choose again. Nothing was recorded.
• "This deposit is dated in a closed accounting period": on bank reconciliation, the deposit's own statement date decides which period the payment lands in, and that date cannot be changed here. Reopen the period, or reconcile the deposit another way.

In every one of these cases nothing was written. Your split is still on screen and you can adjust it and try again.

If a payment is taking a long time

Occasionally a payment takes longer than expected to finish. When that happens URBI tells you the outcome is unknown and asks you not to record it again. Do not re-enter the payment. Use the check button, which re-uses the same attempt and cannot record it twice, or close the window and check the invoice in a moment.

The panel that appears when a payment's outcome could not be confirmed right away, with the status check button that is safe to press again.

Going back does not lose your work

On bank reconciliation, if you move on to the payment method step and then press Back, the split you built is still there. Invoices that were settled by somebody else in the meantime drop out; everything else is as you left it.

What happens to the money

• Amounts you allocate are applied to those invoices and reduce what is owed.
• Anything you leave over is held as account credit, which shows on the resident's account and can be applied to a future invoice.
• Both are recorded in the property's accounting audit log, naming who recorded the payment, how much went to invoices and how much became credit.
• The journal entry names the invoices the payment settled, and each of those invoices can show that entry on its own Journal tab.