How to Set Opening Balances

When you are first getting started with ALIS Billing, some of your residents may already have a balance. This guide will help you invoice the opening balances in ALIS without having to itemize the previous charges. If a resident has an opening balance, doing this will be the first step in setting up a resident's billing.

The opening balances will be set up for each individual resident on their resident profiles. Residents must be added to ALIS before you can begin. Adding the charges themselves is quick and simple process, but there are a few steps to prepare and decisions to make before you can start.

Begin this process in the month prior to running your first bills from ALIS in order to avoid adding charges that have since been paid and accounted for.

Preparation for Opening Balances

First, prepare some information outside of ALIS:

1. The first requirement is for you to access an updated Aging Report containing your opening balances. This is likely generated from a previous billing software.
2. Next, decide the "As Of" date that you want your future aging reports to reference. Determine the opening balance invoice dates based on the As Of date.
   • The As Of date should be the first of the month nearest the time you create the opening balance invoices in ALIS.
   • ALIS tracks aging balances within three time ranges: 30-60 days, 60-90 days, and 90+ days. Based on your As Of date, utilize three different dates for your resident opening balances charges.
   • Example:
     • The As Of date is 2/1/22.
     • Edwards and three other residents have balances that are 90+ days old as of 2/1/22. Their opening balances will be invoiced for 11/1/21.
     • Breyer has a balance that is 60-90 days old as of 2/1/22. Their opening balance will be invoiced for 12/1/21.
     • All other residents with aging balances are between 30-60 days old as of 2/1/22. These balances will be invoiced for 1/1/22.
3. For easier entry, find the earliest (oldest) balance owed and sort your balances in order of oldest to newest. Assign each balance an invoice date based on your As Of date.

 Prep within ALIS:

1. Create 'Opening Balance" as a Billing Item. Remember to add the GL code for this item.
   
   • This is the item that will display on all your resident invoices to account for previous charges.
   • Read this article for more information about how to setup ALIS Billing Items: Billing Settings: Private Tab.
2. Add Payers for each resident. This can be done as you go about adding the charges and invoices to the resident profiles as described below. Payers may be the resident themselves, and you can find this information on the previous month's invoices.
   • Read this article for more information about ALIS Payer setup: How to Set a Resident Payer.

Create Opening Balances Invoices

It is recommended to start with your oldest balances first and work your way to the newest.

1. On your resident's ALIS profile, verify the resident's Default Payer.
2. Create an invoice for the opening balance.
   • Go to the Invoices blue bar and click the Create Invoice button. Select the "Blank" option.
     • It is not recommended to use the Move-In option for opening balances. This requires setting up recurring charges for the resident first, and it is recommended to use this for all charges going forward upon move-in.
   • In the Create Blank Invoice pop-up, set the Invoice Date to the appropriate date based on the As Of date as explained above.
3. Now that we have created the invoice, we add the opening balance charge.
   • On the Invoice page, click the +Add Charge button in the Transactions section.
   • Update the following in the Add Charge pane:
     • Select Opening Balance in the Billing Item list.
     • Update the Incurred On date to match your invoice date.
     • Add the price of the balance.
     • Click the Opening checkbox.
     • Click Save to create the charge on your invoice.

Done! Repeat for all residents with opening balances.

Verify your invoices

1. After you added the charge to your opening balance invoice, this will show in the Invoices section of the resident's profile.
2. Review the Aging Details report. 
   • Update the "As of Date" to your As Of date as determined above, uncheck the checkbox next to "Display residents with Unapplied Payments or Credits and no Outstanding Balance", and click Refresh.

Related articles:

Monthly Billing with ALIS

Billing Settings