Record a payment you received

Who this is for

Landlords and property managers whose tenant paid without using the tenant portal. Payments a tenant makes online are recorded for you. Only the account owner can record, apply or void a payment.

Before you start

• The tenant, the amount, how they paid, and the date you received it.
• For money that is already in your bank (Zelle, a bank transfer), the bank account it went into.
• For a property manager: the property needs an owner before the payment can be applied to its invoices.

Steps

1. Open Rent & Payments under Money in the menu and click Receive Payment.
2. Search for the Tenant and type the Amount Received.
3. Pick the Payment Method: Check, Cash, Money order, Zelle, ACH / bank transfer, Credit Card, Debit Card or Other.
4. For a check, cash or a money order there is nothing to pick: it waits in Undeposited funds until you record the deposit on the Deposits page. For any other method, pick the bank under Deposited to.
5. Optional: the Payment Date (today if left empty) and Notes, such as the check number.
6. Click Review Payment, check it, then click Confirm Payment.
7. The Payments tab opens with Apply Payment on top. Type the amount for each open invoice and click Apply on its line. Check the amounts eSamaHomes fills in before you apply. Click Done when the whole payment is applied.

Example

Maria hands you a check for $2,350.00. Her October rent invoice is $2,350.00.

• Receive Payment → Maria, $2,350.00, Check, Notes "Check #1042" → Review Payment → Confirm Payment.
• In Apply Payment, apply $2,350.00 to the October invoice. The invoice shows Paid and the payment's unapplied balance is $0.00.
• The payment shows "Received — not deposited" until you take the check to the bank. See Checks, cash and bank deposits.

What happens next

• The tenant's balance and the rent status change at once.
• A paid invoice gets no more late notices.
• Money not applied to an invoice shows as Prepaid on the payment. When eSamaHomes next creates a rent invoice for that tenant, it applies the prepaid money to it. It is not applied to invoices that are already open: use Apply for those.
• For a property manager, the owner is credited once the payment is both applied and in a bank. A check, cash or money order reaches the bank when you record its deposit.

If something looks wrong

• Wrong amount or tenant. Click Void on the payment, type a Reason and click Void Payment, then record it again. The void can't be undone; the payment stays in the list and its invoices are open again. Online payments can't be voided.
• Giving money back. Click Refund on a payment that is applied and deposited, and type the Refund Amount (USD). For a security deposit, see Security deposits.
• Applied to the wrong invoice. Click Unapply on the payment, click Unapply on the wrong line, then Apply to the right invoice.
• "Assign an owner to …". A property manager's property has no owner. Follow the link, assign the owner, then apply the payment.
• Diagnostics shows an Unused Tenant Payment. The tenant has money not applied to any invoice. Apply it here on the Payments tab, or leave it if the tenant paid ahead on purpose.