How to Add and Manage Payers

Accurately setting up payers ensures that invoices are sent to the correct person, payments are processed efficiently, and billing records remain clear and organized. Proper payer configuration also helps communities manage financially responsible parties, maintain accurate billing communication, and prevent payment processing issues.

About Payers in ALIS

The first step to setting up a resident’s billing profile in ALIS is verifying the payer details. Payer information determines what appears on the resident’s invoices and how those invoices can be paid.

By default, the only payer automatically listed on an account is the resident. If this is appropriate, you only need to update the resident’s invoice and payment preferences.

In many cases, you will 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 an existing contact as a payer.

For more general information about resident contacts, read this Resident Contacts Reference Guide.

Edit Payer details when the resident is their own payer

In most cases, you do not need to add the resident as their own contact. The main exception is if the resident will use ALIS Connect to pay bills online. For more information on setup for ALIS Connect, read this Set up bills pay for ALIS Connect users guide.

To update the resident’s payer details:

1. Go tothe Resident Profile.
2. Scroll to the Billing section near the bottom of the page.
3. Expand the Payers section.
   • If no other setup has been completed, the resident will appear as the Default Payer.
4. Click the Options button to the right of the resident’s name.
5. Select Edit Payer Details.

Edit Resident Payer Details page

Review and complete the following fields. 

Step 1: Edit Payer Details

1. Invoice Preference: Helps you filter invoices that must be emailed or printed each month.
2. Payment Preference: Helps you process bulk payments more efficiently.
   • If the Payment Preference is ACH or Credit Card, you may also want to set a Payment Date Preference. This allows you to filter invoices by specific payment days when posting payments in bulk.
3. Tax Statement Recipient: Use this section to determine whether the resident or the payer should receive tax statements for the account.
4. Payer Address: The address that the payer is getting billed to that will show up on invoices or statements. This defaults to Room. You can select Custom to add a different physical address to appear on an invoice or statement. 

Step 2: Add Payment Method(s)

If you use the Payment Gateway (ALIS Pay), you can add banking or credit card details in this section. 

To add a payment method: 

1. Click + Add Payment Method. 

2. Select Bank Account or Credit/Debit Card. 

3. Enter the Payment Details. 

4. Create or select the Billing Address if applicable. This is the address shown when pulling funds.

   • Important: If you need to change the Billing Address after saving, you must to Delete the existing payment method and re-add it with the new Billing Address. 

5. Click Add Payment Method. 

For more details about the payment gateway, refer to the ALIS Pay: Monthly ACH Pulls guide.

Step 3: Enable Payment Method for Recurring Payment

Once a payment method is added, you must enable it for recurring payments in order 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.

• None: Automatically changes the Payment Preference field to "Unspecified." 
• Single: Payment Preference updates based on the payment type you select (i.e., ACH or Credit Card). 
• Split Pay: Payment Preference updates based on the method listed as the first priority in the list.

Step 4: Verify Final Details & Save

1. Verify all payer details. 
2. Click Save & Go Back to complete.

Set a Contact as a Payer

When you add a contact as a payer, you can invoice charges to that contact and post payments from them.

If a contact is set as the Default Payer, they will also appear on the resident’s Facesheet as the Financially Responsible party.

To add a Contact payer:

1. Open the Resident Profile.
2. Scroll to the Billing section.
3. Expand Payers.

If no changes have been made, the resident will still appear as the Default Payer.

4. Click +Add Payer.
5. In the pop-up window, you can:
   • Select one of the resident’s Existing Contacts, or
   • Choose Add a New Contact.
6. Click Submit.

For either option, you will be taken to the Add/Edit Personal Contact page.

Payer Information

Review the Payer Information section near the bottom of the page.  

One payer must always be set as the Default Payer. If no contact is assigned as default, the resident remains the default payer. Even if the contact is not the default payer, recurring or incidental charges can still be billed to them.

Set Payer Status

1. Set the Payer option to one of the following:

   • Yes adds the contact as an additional payer.

   • Yes – Default makes the contact the primary payer.  

2. Click either Mark as Default (for a default payer) or Next: Payer Details. 

Payer Details and Payment Methods

1. Set the Invoice Preference, Payment Preference, and Payment Date Preference (if the payment method is ACH or Credit Card).

2. Select whether the resident or the payer should receive tax statements. 

3. If you use the ALIS Pay payment gateway, click +Add Payment Method to enter banking or credit card details here.

   • Enable for recurring payment by clicking Manage Recurring Payment and select Single or Split Pay. These options update the Payment Preference automatically based on the selected configuration.

Contact Information

1. Scroll up to verify the email address in the Contact Information section. This ensures you can email invoices, statements, and receipts to the payer.

2. Click Save & Go Back to complete.

You can repeat these steps for any resident contact. 

Removing the Resident as a Payer

After assigning one of the resident’s contacts as the Default Payer, the resident will still appear as an Additional Payer in the Payers section.

If you do not want the resident listed as a payer on their own account:

1. Click the Options button next to the resident’s name.
2. Select Remove Payer.

Edit, Disable, or Remove a Payer

If a payer’s information needs to be updated, or if they should no longer receive invoices or be billed on the resident’s account, you can edit, disable, or remove them. 

Click Options, and select one of the following:

• Edit Payer Details to update invoice preferences, payment preferences, tax statement settings, or payment methods.
• Disable Payer to keep the payer record for historical reference but prevents them from being used for future billing or payments.
• Remove Payer to remove the payer from the resident’s active payer list. 

These actions can be completed from either the Payers Report or the Resident Profile.

The Payers Report

The Payers Report allows you to verify that resident payers are configured correctly. It can also be used to generate mailing labels.

To access the report:

1. Go to Billing in the the navigation menu.
2. Select Reports.
3. Click Payers Report. 

You can also access it from the Billing Reports section of the Reports page.

Report Filters

The report filters allow you to review payer contacts one community at a time.

By default, the report shows Current Residents only, but you can update the Resident Stage filter to include:

• Applicants
• Moved Out residents

Report Actions

Using the Options button next to each payer, you can:

• Make Default Payer
• Edit Contact
• Edit Payer Details
• Disable Payer
• Remove Payer

Buttons at the top right of the report allow you to:

• Print Report (PDF version)
• Generate Mailing Labels
• Export to Excel

Generate Mailing Labels in the Payers Report

To generate mailing labels, you will need to download a template to be uploaded into the Payers report.

First, download the template:

1. Click here and save this template file to your computer with the MS Word (.docx or .doc) file format.

Then, in the Payers report:

1. Update the report filters so the report includes the payers you want to print.
2. Click Refresh.
3. Click Generate Mailing Labels at the bottom right of the filters.
4. A new section will appear under the filters.
5. In the Template field, click Browse and select the downloaded template file. 
6. Optional: Use the checkbox to "Print labels only for records with complete address information."
7. Once the template appears in the field, click the blue Generate Mailing Labels button.

ALIS will download a PDF containing the completed mailing labels:

Related Articles:

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

For more assistance: 888.404.ALIS (2547)  |  support@go-alis.com