How to Set a Resident Payer

The first step to set up a resident's billing profile in ALIS is verifying the payer details. The payer information dictates what will go on the resident's invoices and how the invoices can be paid.

• By default, the only payer automatically listed on the account is the resident. If this is appropriate, all you will need to do is update the resident's invoice and payment preferences.
• Typically, you need to designate a resident contact as an additional payer or the default financially responsible party. To add a payer, you can either create a new contact on the resident's profile, or designate this status to an existing contact. For more general information about resident contacts, read this Resident Contacts Reference Guide. 

Edit Payer details when the resident is their own payer

Most likely you do not need to add the resident as their own contact. An exception to this is if the resident will use ALIS Connect to pay their bills online. Read this How to Collect Payments Through ALIS Connect with ALIS Pay guide for more information about bill pay in ALIS Connect.

Setting up a payer is done in the Payers section of the Resident Profile. Scroll toward the bottom of the page to find this section under the Billing heading.

1. Click the Payers blue bar to expand. As mentioned above, the Default Payer is the resident themselves if no further setup has taken place.

2. Click the Options button to the right of the resident's information and click Edit Payer Details.

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3. Review the following information to complete their payer setup:

   1. Set the Invoice Preference and the Payment Preference.

      • The Invoice Preference option will help you filter for invoices that you must either email or print each month. The Payment Preference option will help you post your monthly bulk payments more efficiently.
      • If the Payment Preference is ACH or Credit Card, you can also set a Payment Date Preference. This can help you filter for invoices that are paid on specific days when you are posting payments in bulk.
      • This section is also where you select whether the resident or this payer is the appropriate recipient of Tax Statements for the account.
   2. If you use the Payment Gateway to post payments without leaving ALIS (also referred to as ALIS Pay), there is space in this section to enter the banking or credit card details for residents with the ACH or Credit Card Payment Preference. Read this ALIS Pay: Monthly ACH Pulls guide to learn more about the payment gateway integration and adding banking and credit card information.
      • After these details are added, it is required to click the Enable Recurring Payment button in the Monthly Recurring Payment section. Without this enabled, you won't have the option to process payments in ALIS using the bank account or credit card details.
      • When you click Manage Recurring Payment, you have the ability to select None, Single, or Split Pay.
        • • • If you move the toggle to "None", this will automatically change the Payment Preference field to "Unspecified." 
            • If you move the toggle to "Single", the Payment Preference will update based on the payment type you select (i.e., ACH or Credit Card). 
            • If you select "Split Pay", the Payment Preference will update based on the method listed as the first priority in the list.
   3. Verify and update the email address if applicable.
   4. Verify the Payer Address, which is the address that the payer is getting billed to and that will show up on invoices or statements. You can select Payer Address: Custom to add a different physical address to appear on an invoice or statement.
      1. 1. • Note that if you need to update the Billing Address, which is shown when pulling funds, you will need to click Options > Delete the existing payment method and then click +Add Payment Method to readd the payment method with a new Billing Address. ALIS will remove the deleted payment method from the Payer Details page but still store all historical data. 
   5. Click Save & Go Back to complete.

Set a contact as a payer

• If you add a contact as payer, you can invoice charges to the contact and post payments from the contact.
• If you set someone as a Default Payer, this adds them to the resident's Facesheet as Financially Responsible.

This is most easily done in the Payers section of the Resident Profile. Scroll toward the bottom of the page to find this section under the Billing heading.

1. Click the Payers blue bar to expand. As mentioned above, the Default Payer is the resident themselves if no further setup has taken place.
2. To add a Default Payer who is not the resident, click the +Add Payer button.
3. In the pop-up, you can select one of the resident's Existing Contacts, or Add a New Contact.
4. For either option, you will be taken to the Add/Edit Personal Contact page. Start with reviewing the Payer Information section at the bottom of the page.
   1. Set the Payer option as either Yes or Yes - Default.
      • One person must be set as the default payer. If you do not set a resident's contact as the default payer, the resident themselves will remain the default payer.
      • If the person is added as a Payer who isn't default, any recurring or incidental charge can still be billed to them.
   2. Set the Invoice Preference and the Payment Preference.
      • The Invoice Preference option will help you filter for invoices that you must either email or print each month. The Payment Preference option will help you post your monthly bulk payments more efficiently.
      • If the Payment Preference is ACH or Credit Card, you can also set a Payment Date Preference. This can help you filter for invoices that are paid on specific days when you are posting payments in bulk.
      • This section is also where you select whether the resident or this payer is the appropriate recipient of Tax Statements for the account.
   3. If you use the payment gateway to post payments without leaving ALIS (also referred to as ALIS Pay), there is space in this section to enter the banking or credit card details for residents with the ACH or Credit Card Payment Preference.
      • After these details are added, it is required to click the Enable Recurring Payment button in the Monthly Recurring Payment section. Without this enabled, you won't have the option to process payments in ALIS using the bank account or credit card details.
      • When you click Manage Recurring Payment, you have the ability to select None, Single, or Split Pay.
        • • • If you move the toggle to "None", this will automatically change the Payment Preference field to "Unspecified." 
            • If you move the toggle to "Single", the Payment Preference will update based on the payment type you select (i.e., ACH or Credit Card). 
            • If you select "Split Pay", the Payment Preference will update based on the method listed as the first priority in the list.
   4. Scroll up and verify the email address in the Contact Information section if you have it! This will allow you to easily email bills, statements, and receipts to the payer later. 
   5. Click Save & Go Back to complete.

You can follow these steps for any resident contacts. 

After you have added one of the resident's contacts as the Default Payer, the resident will still show as an Additional Payer in the Payers section. If you want to remove them as a payer on their own account, you can click the Options button and select Remove Payer.

The Payers report

Use this report to make sure the residents' payers are setup properly. You can also create mailing labels from this report.

You can access this report in the Billing Reports section of the Reports page, or you can click the Billing menu at the top, select Reports, select Payers Report.

The filters of this report will allow you to review the payer contacts for residents one community at a time. The default filters will show you current residents only, but you can update the Resident Stage filter if you also want to see Applicants or Moved Out residents.

You can edit a payer's details from this report using the Options button to the right of each payer. There are options to Make Default Payer, Edit Contact or Edit Payer Details (this takes you to the edit contact payer details page), Disable Payer, or Remove Payer. 

Use the buttons to the top right of the table to Print Report, Generate Mailing Labels, and Export the data to Excel.

Generate Mailing Labels in the Payers report

1. Right-click the following link and click "Save Link As.." to download the template file to your computer: Avery Mail Template 5160.
2. Update the filters and click the Refresh button so that the report includes the payers you need to print on labels. When you are ready, click the Generate Mailing Labels button to the bottom right of the filters.
3. A new section under the filters will open. In the Template field, click Browse to find the mail template file on your computer that you downloaded in step 1. Click the file name and Open.
4. Once the file name is loaded in the Template field, click Generate Mailing Labels. This will prompt you to download a PDF of the completed labels.

Visit the Avery website for more information about address templates and label paper. https://www.avery.com/templates/5160

Related articles:

• Resident Contacts Reference Guide
• ALIS Pay: Monthly ACH Pulls

For more assistance with Payments,

Contact our ALIS Customer Success Team:

 888.404.ALIS (2547) or support@go-alis.com