How to Create and Manage Reimbursements
What is a reimbursement? A reimbursement is an expense where the property owes money to a person rather than an external vendor, for example, reimbursing a staff member who paid out of pocket for...
Last updated
What is a reimbursement?
A reimbursement is an expense where the property owes money to a person rather than an external vendor, for example, reimbursing a staff member who paid out of pocket for supplies, or issuing a credit to a resident's billing account.
Reimbursements go through the same sequential approval chain as any other expense.
Creating a reimbursement
Open the expense you want to reimburse from Accounting > Expenses, then click Reimburse expense in the Bill or Reimburse card inside the expense drawer.
Staff and external reimbursements are also accessible from the expense overflow menu (three-dot icon) → Mark for Reimbursement, the same as before.
Step 1, Choose the payee type
| Payee type | When to use |
|---|---|
| Staff | Reimbursing a property staff member who paid out of pocket |
| Resident | Issuing a credit to a resident's billing account |
| External | Reimbursing a third party not in your vendor list |
Step 2, Select the payee
Staff reimbursements
Choose the staff member from the dropdown. Their contact information is auto-filled. Select the payment method (ACH, cheque, or wire transfer) and confirm.
External reimbursements
Choose an existing vendor record or enter a one-time payee name and contact details. Select the payment method and confirm.
Resident credit reimbursements (unit-first flow)
Resident reimbursements now use a unit-first selection flow:
- Under Resident credit, click Pick unit.
- Search for and select the unit you want to apply the credit to.
Once the unit is selected, URBI shows the billing accounts linked to that unit. Choose who receives the credit:
- The unit itself, the credit is applied at the unit level.
- The primary account holder, the main billing contact for the unit.
- A sub-account holder, any additional occupant with a billing account on the unit.
- If the person you want to credit does not have a billing account yet, for example, a registered occupant or someone you have invited, they appear in the list with a note that a billing account will be created. Select them and continue; URBI creates the billing account automatically when you save the reimbursement.
- Confirm the amount and click Save.
Step 3, Set the payment method (staff and external only)
The payment method is auto-selected based on the payee's country:
- US payees → Plaid ACH (requires the payee to have a linked bank account)
- Canadian payees → Stripe Connect
You can also manually choose Cheque or Wire transfer, these are never auto-filled.
Resident credit reimbursements do not use a payment method, the credit is applied directly to the billing account.
Step 4, Submit and approve
Once you save the reimbursement details, the expense (with the reimbursement attached) follows the normal approval chain. No separate routing is applied.
After final approval:
- For staff and external reimbursements: if Auto Pay is enabled, payment initiates automatically. If Auto Pay is not enabled, the expense sits in Approved status until you manually mark it paid.
- For resident credit reimbursements: the credit is posted to the billing account automatically when the expense is marked paid. No bank transfer is initiated.
Marking a reimbursement as paid (staff and external)
If you are not using Auto Pay:
- Open the expense profile drawer.
- Click Mark Paid.
- Select the payment method, enter the payment reference (for example, cheque number or wire confirmation), and confirm.
- The expense moves to Paid status.
- A payment receipt is generated. You can send it to the payee from the overflow menu.
Resident credit reimbursements
When you apply a credit to a resident's billing account:
- The credit is posted to the billing account automatically when the expense is approved and marked paid.
- No bank transfer is initiated.
- The credit appears in the resident's billing history.
- The resident can see the credit in the resident app through their AI assistant (Arthur).
- If the selected person did not previously have a billing account, URBI created one during the reimbursement setup. That account is active immediately and appears in billing account management.