ALIS Billing Office User Guide

Software Training Manual 

for Community Billing Office Staff 

Using ALIS to manage resident billing, process payments, handle financial adjustments, and distribute invoices.

Additional Support

If you need help while using ALIS, several support resources are available to assist you.

For password resets or login issues, contact your Community Administrator first. Administrators can reset passwords and verify your access permissions.

For general questions, troubleshooting, or system issues, use the ALIS Helpdesk, ALIS Assist, or contact the ALIS Customer Support Team via phone or email.

Links to these resources are available from every page in ALIS.

ALIS Helpdesk

Website: support.alisonline.com

The ALIS Helpdesk contains guides, video tutorials, and reference materials to help you learn how to use the system.

Tips for searching:

• Browse the Residents, Billing, Staff, Dashboards & ALIS HQ, and Community Management categories for guides related to billing and general operations.
• Visit the Video Library to watch short tutorials demonstrating common tasks.

These resources can often provide quick answers to common questions.

ALIS Assist

ALIS Assist is your instant, AI-powered first line of defense for quick, non-emergency questions. Look for the chat bubble to get immediate answers, 24/7.

ALIS Assist:

• Answers questions instantly, pulling from support answers and Helpdesk articles
• Is on key ALIS pages (the Dashboard, Payment Center) and the Helpdesk
• Creates a support ticket thread for you if it cannot resolve your question

Phone Support

Phone: 888.404.ALIS (2547)

Business Hours:

Monday – Friday

8:00 AM – 6:00 PM CST

After-Hours Support:

Monday – Friday: 6:00 PM – 10:00 PM CST

Weekends: 8:00 AM – 10:00 PM CST

Response Times

Emergency Issues: Calls regarding emergency issues received during holidays or outside normal support hours will be responded to within 1 hour. If the issue is urgent, call and leave a message. A support team member will return your call as soon as possible.

Non-Emergency Issues: Non-urgent requests will be addressed as soon as possible or at the start of the next business day.

Email Support

Email: support@go-alis.com

Hours:

Monday – Friday

8:00 AM – 6:00 PM CST

Response Times

Emergency Issues: Emails regarding emergency issues received outside of normal hours or during holidays will be responded to within 1 hour.

Non-Emergency Issues: Non-urgent requests will be addressed as soon as possible or at the start of the next business day.

⚠️What Qualifies as an Emergency?

Emergency support requests typically involve situations where:

• ALIS is not accessible or unavailable
• There is a system outage
• A critical bug prevents billing, processing payments, or accessing essential system functions

If you experience one of these issues, contact support by phone for the fastest response.

Information to Provide When Contacting Support

When contacting the ALIS Customer Support Team, please provide the following information:

• Your full name
• Preferred contact information (phone number or email)
• The community name where you work
• A detailed description of the issue or request
  If possible, also include:
• The steps taken before the issue occurred
• The page or feature in ALIS you were using
• Any error messages you received
  Providing this information helps the support team resolve your request more quickly.

Section 1: Billing Office Quick Reference

This section outlines how Business Office staff typically use ALIS across a billing cycle. Actual workflows may vary based on community policy and home office requirements.

Start of Day

• Log in and confirm you are in the correct community.
• Review alerts: residents flagged No Recurring Charges, invoices flagged for Collections, and accounts with outstanding or unapplied balances.
• Review recent resident changes: move-ins, move-outs, room transfers, Level of Care (LOC) changes, and new payer or contact updates.

During the Billing Period

• Set up billing for new residents: configure the Payer, add Recurring Charges, and generate the move-in invoice.
• Record adjustments: set up discounts or credits and correct charges, ideally before invoices are distributed.
• Process payments: apply payments to open invoices and manage recurring or split auto-payments in ALISPay.
• Handle mid-month changes: prorate and rebill for room transfers, LOC changes, and move-outs.

Monthly Invoicing

• Preview Invoices prior to generation to confirm accurate charges. 
• Distribute invoices by email or print, based on each payer’s Invoice Preference. Each payer type will receive its own invoice. 

Month-End & Billing Cycle Close

• Confirm recurring charges using the Invoice Preview tab so every billable resident is set up.
• Complete adjustments and payments for the period.
• Distribute all invoices by payer preference.
• Export and close the GL period: export from GL Transactions, then perform the close.

As Needed

• Add or discharge staff (with the appropriate permissions).
• Run reports and export transactions for reconciliation.
• Distribute invoices mid-month for move-ins/move-outs or service-level changes.

User Guide Considerations 

Some features mentioned in this guide are optional and may not be enabled for your community. Most optional features require the ALIS team to enable them, and some need extra configuration. 

A few are worth knowing up front because they can shape everyday billing: 

• ALISPay: the integrated payment gateway for ACH, card, check scanning, and online payments.
• Billing Center: a task list that turns occupancy and care changes into billing for review.
• Impact Review: confirmation tool which prorates and reviews mid-cycle charges before they post.

For details on these and additional features, see Appendix: Optional Features. 

⚠️Important Note for Business Office Staff

ALIS is used to support accurate billing, financial documentation, and resident account management.

Always follow your community’s policies and your home office’s procedures when recording financial information in ALIS.

If you are unsure how to document or process something in the system, contact your Finance Team for guidance. 

If you need immediate assistance, contact the ALIS Customer Support Team. (See Additional Support.)

Section 2: Logins & Account Access

About ALIS Logins

Each organization has a unique ALIS login page used by staff to access the system.

Company URL

Your company login URL follows this format:

• [CompanyID].alisonline.com

Your Company ID is assigned during your organization’s ALIS setup.

Username

Usernames are typically created using the following format:

• firstname.lastname

Your username is created when your staff profile is added to ALIS.

Password

Your password may be:

• Automatically generated and sent to you by email or text, or
• Manually created by the administrator who sets up your staff account

⚠️Your security role permissions likely allow you to update your username and password. If you need further assistance contact your Company Administrator.

How to Log in to ALIS (Standard)

1. Open your internet browser and enter your company URL to navigate to your company’s ALIS login page.
2. Enter your Username and Password.
3. Click Login.

⚠️If you are logging in for the first time, you will be required to sign a one-time-only consent form. Based on your company’s settings, you may also be prompted to change your password.

Additional Login Methods

Some organizations enable additional login security features to improve data protection and meet compliance requirements. These features are likely configured by your Company Administrator and may vary between organizations.

If you have questions about login security settings, contact your Company Administrator.

Two-Factor Authentication (2FA)

Some communities require Two-Factor Authentication (2FA) when logging into ALIS. Two-Factor Authentication adds an extra layer of security by requiring two steps to verify your identity:

1. Enter your Username and Password
2. Enter a verification code sent to you outside of ALIS

The verification code may be delivered through:

• Email
• SMS text message
• Authentication application (depending on company settings)

Once the code is entered successfully, ALIS will allow you to access the system.

⚠️If you do not receive a verification code or cannot complete the login process, contact your Company Administrator or the ALIS Customer Support Team.

Single Sign-On (SSO)

Some organizations use Single Sign-On (SSO) to allow staff to access ALIS using their company login credentials. SSO allows you to sign into multiple systems using one set of credentials, typically linked to your organization’s Microsoft account.

If your organization uses SSO:

• You may be redirected to your organization’s Microsoft login page
• Enter your company email and password
• Once authenticated, you will automatically return to ALIS

⚠️If you are unsure whether your organization uses SSO, contact your Company Administrator.

Login PINs (For SSO Users)

Some organizations may enable Login PINs for staff using SSO. A PIN is a 6-digit code created within ALIS that allows faster identity verification during certain workflows.

Instead of completing the full SSO authentication process each time, the PIN can be used for quick verification.

Password Requirements and Security

ALIS Default Password Requirements

Your password must meet the following requirements:

• Minimum 8 characters
• At least 1 uppercase letter
• At least 1 lowercase letter
• At least 1 number
• At least 1 special character

⚠️Your organization may require additional password rules beyond these defaults.

Password Expiration

Your organization may require passwords to be updated periodically (for example, every 30 days). When your password expires, you will be prompted to create a new one before logging in.

One-Time Passwords

Some users receive a temporary password for their first login. This password must be changed when you first access ALIS and will expire if unused after 90 days.

Company Password Configuration

Organizations may configure additional password security requirements to improve data protection.

Examples include:

• Increasing minimum password length
• Requiring password updates at scheduled intervals
• Preventing reuse of previous passwords

These settings are managed by Company Administrators.

Account Access and Security Roles

Security Roles

A Security Role determines what you can see and do within ALIS. Each role contains a group of permissions that control access to different parts of the system. Your security role is assigned to your staff profile when your account is created.

The standard Business Office Manager (BOM) role is built around billing, payments, and the resident financial lifecycle. It typically lets you:

• View resident profiles, billing records, and resident reports.
• Set up payers, recurring charges, and invoices.
• Record billing adjustments, apply payments, and process refunds and bulk ACH/credit-card payments through the Payment Gateway (ALISPay).
• Email and distribute invoices and statements.
• Manage the resident financial lifecycle: move-ins, move-outs, transfers, leave status, room assignments, and financial move-in/out dates.
• Manage residency agreements and resident, staff, and community compliance items.
• Add and manage staff members and staff logins.
• View the Billing Center, Billing Settings, and accounting periods.

By default, the role excludes GL/period-close configuration, which are likely handled by your administrator or corporate office.

⚠️Security roles are assigned by administrators. If you cannot access something you believe you should, contact your Company Administrator.

Login Lockdown by IP Address

Some organizations restrict logins to the community’s internal network. This means staff may only be able to access ALIS while connected to the community’s Wi-Fi or network.

⚠️If you are unable to log in remotely, this setting may be enabled. Contact your Company Administrator first if you have questions.

Managing Your Account (My Account)

My Account contains your personal staff profile and login settings.

To access it:

1. Click My Account at the top of any page in ALIS.

Your account contains several tabs that allow you to manage your information.

My Account: Staff Profile

This tab displays your personal information and employment details within ALIS. 

This section includes:

• Profile photo
• Job Role
• Security Role
• Hire date
• Contact information
• Signature setup

⚠️If information in your profile is incorrect or incomplete, be sure update it. 

My Account: Compliance Forms

This tab contains digital forms your organization requires you to complete. If form completion is managed external to ALIS, there may be no forms here to complete.

Compliance Forms examples may include:

• Community policies
• State licensure acknowledgements
• Training documentation
• Employee compliance confirmations

To complete a form:

1. Click the Compliance Forms tab.
2. Locate the form you need to complete.
   • To complete a form electronically, click Fill Online → Complete the Form → Save & Close → Complete.
   • To upload a PDF document, click Upload File → Browse → Upload & Complete.

My Account: Login & Access

This tab is used for changing your password, viewing your Security Role(s), and setting other types of session parameters.

Change Your Password

Changing your password is always a recommended first step after logging into ALIS for the first time. You can update your password at any time.

1. Select the Login & Access tab.
2. Under Login Information, click Change Password.
3. Enter:
   • Your Current Password
   • Your New Password
   • Confirm your New Password
4. Click Save. Your new password will be required the next time you log in.

Login Timeout

Your ALIS session length is controlled by the Login Timeout setting in this Login & Access tab. You likely have permission to change the Login Timeout.

Privacy and Session Security

Privacy Screen

The Privacy button allows you to quickly lock your screen when stepping away from your device. This hides sensitive information and prevents others from viewing or interacting with your ALIS session.

Lock Your Screen

You can activate the privacy screen from any page in ALIS.

To lock your screen:

1. Click the Privacy button (padlock icon) in the top-right corner of the screen.
2. The page will hide and display a password field.

Keyboard Shortcut: Hold Ctrl + Alt + P to lock your screen instantly.

Unlock the Privacy Screen

To return to your session:

1. Enter your password.
2. Click Unlock.

ALIS will return you to the same page you were viewing before the screen was locked.

Logging Out from the Privacy Screen

If another user needs to access the device:

1. Click Logout in the bottom-left corner of the privacy screen.
   This will end your session and return the device to the ALIS login page.

Privacy Screen and Login Timeout

Even if the privacy screen is active, ALIS will automatically log you out once the timeout limit is reached.

Username and Password Assistance

Username Changes

It is likely that you have permission to change your own username.

⚠️ If you are unable to change your username and need to, contact your Company Administrator and to update it.

Password Resets

⚠️If you forget your password or cannot log in, contact your Company Administrator.

Depending on your organization’s settings, password reset links may be sent to:

• Your company email address
• Your personal email address
• Your phone number via SMS text

Login Troubleshooting

If you cannot log in, try the following troubleshooting steps:

Verify Your Login URL

Your login address should follow this format:

• companyid.alisonline.com

Make sure:

• The correct Company ID is used
• The URL does not include “www”

If you see the message: “Whoops! That’s an unknown community.” The Company ID in the URL is likely incorrect.

Login Disabled

For security reasons, ALIS will automatically disable your login after 8 incorrect password attempts.

To restore access:

1. Contact your Community Administrator or the ALIS Customer Support Team.

Clear Your Browser Cache

Sometimes outdated browser data can interfere with login.

To clear your cache in Google Chrome:

1. Click the three dots in the upper right corner.
2. Select Delete browsing data.
3. Choose All time as the time range.
4. Ensure Cookies and other site data is checked.
5. Click Delete data.
6. Try logging in to ALIS again.

Section 3: Navigating ALIS

About Navigating ALIS

After logging in, the main page you see is the Dashboard, or homepage.

The Dashboard serves as the central hub for navigating ALIS and provides:

• Quick access icons
• Navigation menus
• Alerts and notifications
• Search functionality

The exact icons and features visible on your Dashboard depend on your Security Role permissions and your organization’s enabled features.

Dashboard Icon Sections

Icons are grouped, and these sections can be reordered based on your preference.

To rearrange them:

1. Click and hold the section header
2. Drag the section up or down
3. Release it in the desired position

Your layout will automatically save for future logins.

Navigation Menus

There are navigation menus, available from any page in ALIS, allowing you to quickly move between areas of the platform.

Examples include:

• Residents
• Billing
• Staff
• Community

Using the Search Bar

The Search bar allows you to quickly locate profiles you have access to. For example:

• Residents
• Staff
• Contacts

To search:

1. Begin typing a name.
2. Matching results will appear automatically.
3. Click the name to open the profile.

You can also:

• Right-click a result to open it in a new tab
• Hold Ctrl while clicking to open in a new tab

Switching Between Communities

If you work within more than one community, you may have access to multiple ALIS environments.

To switch environments:

1. Click the Community Name dropdown in the upper right corner.
2. Select the community you want to access.

⚠️Always confirm you are working in the correct community environment before entering or reviewing information.

Required Fields

Throughout ALIS, any field label shown in bold blue text is required. You must complete these fields before the system will let you save or submit.

Section 4: New Resident & Billing Setup

About New Resident & Billing Setup

Resident billing setup establishes who is financially responsible for a resident and what they are charged each month. This section covers move-in dates, room assignments, adding and managing payers, recurring charges and the move-in invoice, community fee invoices, and incidental charges.

Complete resident profile and billing setup prior to (Applicant) or as soon as a new resident moves in (Current Resident) so their first invoice is accurate and on time.

Set the Move-In Dates

1. On the Applicant/Resident profile, expand the Move-in & Community Information section.
2. Set the Physical Move-In Date (the day the resident physically moves in).
3. Set the Financial Move-In Date (the day billing responsibility begins). The two can differ, but can often be the same day. 

💡Tip: The financial move-in date is what you will use as the Service Start Date on the resident's recurring charges. 

 Assign a Room

1. In the below Room Assignments section, click Assign Room. 
2. On the interactive floor plan, click directly on the room (available rooms are green) and click Assign. 
3. Confirm the Room Assignment Start Date matches the correct move-in date.
4. Confirm the correct Occupant Type.
5. Click Assign Room.

⚠️ Note: 

• Financial Move In Date may be a locked field. If this is incorrect, click Cancel and return to the profile to update it first.
• Primary is counted in occupancy data; Secondary is tracked in reports but does not impact the total occupancy count. 

Add & Manage Payers

A Payer is the contact responsible for paying a resident’s invoices, and payer setup is the first step in a resident’s billing profile. Payer information determines what appears on invoices and how they can be paid. By default the only payer is the resident, so you often designate a contact as an additional payer or the Default Payer.

When the Resident Is Their Own Payer

You only need to set their invoice and payment preferences. (You generally do not add the resident as their own contact unless they will pay online through ALIS Connect.)

1. Go to the Applicant/Resident Profile and scroll to the Billing section.
2. Expand Payers. With no other setup, the resident appears as the Default Payer.
3. Click Options next to the resident’s name, then Edit Payer Details. 

4. Set the Invoice Preference and Payment Preference.
5. Set a Payment Date Preference if the method is ACH or Credit Card.
6. Under Tax Statement Recipient, choose the resident or the payer.
7. Confirm the Payer Address (defaults to Room; choose Custom for a different address).
8. If you use the ALISPay gateway, click + Add Payment Method to add bank account or credit card details. Be sure to set it to Use for Recurring Payments.
9. Click Save & Go Back.

💡Tips: 

• Invoice Preference helps you filter invoices that must be emailed or printed each month. Payment Preference helps you process bulk payments efficiently.
• Payer Address: This does not have to match the billing address on the payment method. You can use the payer's own address or the resident's address at the community. ALIS uses this address to notify the payer if there is an issue with a payment (e.g., an NSF, a declined card, or an incorrect account number). 

When a Contact is a Payer

Adding a contact as a payer allows your team to invoice charges to that contact and post payments from them. 

1. In the profile → Billing, expand the Payers section.
2. Click +Add Payer.
3. Select an Existing Contact or choose Add a New Contact, then click Submit. You are taken to the Add/Edit Personal Contact page.
4. In Contact Information, verify/add the email address so you can send invoices, statements, and receipts.
5. In Additional Information, verify/add any relevant tags (e.g., Financial Power of Attorney). 
6. In Payer Information, set the Payer option: 
   • Yes (additional payer), or 
   • Yes – Default (primary payer).
7. Click Next: Payer Details. Select Mark as Default (if set to Yes - Default).

8. Set the Invoice Preference, Payment Preference, and Payment Date Preference (if ACH or Credit Card).
9. Choose whether the resident or the payer receives tax statements.
10. If you use ALISPay, click +Add Payment Method for bank or card details.
11. Click Save & Go Back.

⚠️ Note: One payer must always be the Default Payer. If no other payer is assigned as such, the resident remains default. A non-default contact can still be billed recurring or incidental charges. A default contact can also be displayed on the resident’s Facesheet as the Financially Responsible party.

Managing Multiple Payers

After you assign a Default Payer, the resident still appears as an Additional Payer. Adjust the list any time from the Resident Profile or the Payers Report using Options:

• Make Default Payer: revert the resident or contact to the default payer.
• Remove Payer: remove a payer (including the resident) from the active list.
• Edit Contact/Payer Details: update invoice/payment preferences, tax settings, or payment methods.
• Disable Payer: keep the record for history but block future billing or payments.

💡 Tip: Verify payers across a community in Billing → Reports → Payers Report. From here, you can also generate mailing labels, print to PDF, or export to Excel.

Add Recurring Charges & the Move-In Invoice

Recurring Charges are the monthly charges (such as Rent and Care fees) that generate a resident’s invoice each period. 

Add the First Recurring Charges

1. In the Billing section, expand Recurring Charges.
2. Click +Add Recurring Charge.
3. Select the Payer Type (for example, Private, Medicaid).
4. Select the Billing Item (for example, AL 1 Bedroom Rent).
5. Enter the Service Start date.
6. In Price, enter the full monthly amount if not pre-filled. Always enter the monthly amount, not the prorated amount. 
7. Click Submit. 

If the Impact Review is enabled:

1. Set Action to Add Charge and To to Create New Invoice.
2. In New Invoice Date, enter the invoice date (match the charge’s Service Start).
3. Click Submit. 

⚠️ Note: If the Impact Review is not enabled and/or the charges are set to start in the next period, continue adding all applicable Recurring Charges. Then, scroll up and expand Invoices → Create Invoice → Move In to create the move-in invoice. 

Add More Charges to the Same Invoice

The first charge now displays as Active.

1. To add another charge (such as Care), click Add Recurring Charge again. 
2. Complete the charge details and click Submit.

If the Impact Review is enabled:

1. On the Impact Review, in the To column select the invoice you created earlier (the dated invoice) so this charge joins the same move-in invoice.
2. Click Submit.

💡 Tip: Once your last charge is saved, expand the Invoices section and click the invoice number to open and print the move-in invoice. 

Create a Separate Community Fee Invoice

Use this when a one-time Community Fee should be billed on its own invoice, separate from recurring invoices. 

1. On the Resident Profile, scroll to the Invoices tab in the Billing section.
2. Click Create Invoice, then select Blank.
3. Set the Invoice Date, Due Date (if applicable), and Payer Type. Then click Create Invoice.
4. In the invoice editor under Transactions, click Add Charge. 
5. Select the Community Fee billing item and set the Price.
6. Click Save.
7. Click the resident’s name in Prepared For to return to the profile. The new invoice appears in the Invoices list. 

⚠️ Note: If a Community Fee Billing Item does not appear, it is not configured in Billing Settings. Contact your Finance Team for assistance.

Add Incidental Charges (Individual & Bulk)

Incidental Charges are one-time fees added to a resident’s account. They are not invoiced immediately; they appear on the resident’s next monthly invoice, which prevents multiple invoices in one month.

Individual (one charge, for one Resident)

There are two options for adding an incidental charge for a resident:

1. Click the Add Incidental Charge dashboard icon. 
2. Go to a Resident profile → Incidental Charges → +Add Incidental Charge.  

Each incidental is queued for that resident’s next monthly invoice.

Dashboard icon:

Resident Profile:

In Bulk 

1. From the Billing menu, hover +Bulk Imports and click Bulk Incidentals.
2. Click Create Incidental Charges.
3. Use the Yes/No toggle: choose No to add charges for only some residents (or to import); choose Yes to pre-select all current residents (then delete lines you do not need, and set the Payer Type and Billing Item if charging everyone the same item).
4. Leave the Opening checkbox unselected unless you are onboarding to ALIS Billing with opening balances.
5. Click Submit to open the Create Bulk Incidentals page.
6. Confirm the Resident, Payer Type, and Billing Item for each line. Use Bulk Set to apply the Incurred On date, Payer Type, and Billing Item at once.
7. Review the Description, Price, and Quantity (these autofill from Billing Settings).
8. Verify the total, then click Submit to add the charges.

💡 Tip: To reuse a spreadsheet each month, click Download Template, add charges through the month, then click Import Incidentals to bring them in at once. All columns are required except Description, Service Start, and Service End. 

Verify All Residents Have Recurring Charges

Before invoices generate, confirm every billable resident has recurring charges set up.

1. From the Billing menu, click Invoices.
2. Click the Invoice Preview tab.
3. Review any resident flagged No Recurring Charges (they will not receive an invoice this period).
4. Click View on a flagged resident to set up their recurring charges and/or move-in invoice using the steps above.
   

⚠️ Review each flagged account before the cycle closes.

Section 5: Billing Adjustments
About Billing Adjustments

Billing adjustments reduce or correct what a resident owes. This section covers discounts versus credits, editing rent invoices, changing a credit’s date, and scheduling rate changes.

⚠️Important: Whenever possible, make adjustments before invoices are distributed.

Discounts vs. Credits

ALIS offers two ways to reduce a resident’s charges, and they behave differently:

• A Discount spans a period of time and must be tied to a resident’s billable item. ALIS finds that item and applies the reduction on the invoice. Discounts have a start date and can be ongoing.
• A Credit is a one-time concession (such as a rent concession). It does not need to be tied to a billed item and sits on the account until applied to an invoice, or until next month’s invoices are generated.

⚠️Important: Because a discount must attach to the item it reduces, do not select a generic item like “Base Rent Discount.” The discount will not populate on the invoice. The correct GL account is mapped in the background. 

Add a Discount on the Resident Profile

A discount reduces what a resident is billed for a specific charge or an entire invoice, and applies automatically to any invoice within the dates you set. This is the most common method for promotional periods and rent concessions.

1. In the resident’s Billing section, expand Discounts.
2. Click +Add Discount.
3. Set the Start Date and End Date (if applicable) that determine which invoices include the discount.
4. Under Apply To, choose Billing Item (a specific charge) or Invoice (the entire invoice total).
5. Select the Billing Item and Discount GL Account # as needed.
6. If appropriate, select Excluded from Proration to apply the full amount even on a prorated charge.
7. Enter the Amount (flat amount or percentage per day).
8. Add an optional Description or Internal Note.
9. Click Save. 

💡 Tip: Leaving the End Date blank shows as “Never” and applies the discount indefinitely. Discounts with set start and end dates are useful for future promotions (for example, a resident’s third and fifth months), applying automatically when future invoices run.

Credits

A Credit corrects billing errors, adjusts for service changes after an invoice is generated, manages non-payment (bad debt), and helps close accounts. Applying a credit creates a clean, separate transaction and a clear audit trail, which is preferred over editing a historical charge, especially for closed GL periods.

Apply a Credit to an Existing Invoice

This is the most common workflow, used to adjust an invoice that has already been generated.

1. Go to the Edit Invoice page for the invoice.
2. In Transactions, click the CR link in the row of the item to credit. (If CR is unavailable, for example when the GL period is closed, use the Apply Credit button at the top right instead.)
3. Set Amount Calculation to Prorated and confirm the Credit Service Period dates.
4. Add a clear Description (for example, “Credit for 10/25 move-out”). 
5. Click Save. The credit shows immediately on the invoice.

⚠️ Note: If the invoice already has a payment, a pop-up asks how to handle the resulting overpayment. The common practice is to unapply only the overpayment amount, but confirm this with your accounting team.

Add a Credit for a Future Invoice

Use this method when your policy is to apply credits to future charges rather than to a past invoice. The credit is added directly to the resident profile and applies automatically to the next invoice.

1. Confirm your community has Automatically Apply Excess Credits to Invoices turned on in Billing Settings.
2. In the resident’s Billing section, go to Credits and click +Add Credit.
3. Select the Billing Item from the Credit For dropdown.
4. Set Amount Calculation to Prorated, then add the Credit Service Period and Item Price.
5. Add a clear Description (and an optional Internal Note that will not display on the invoice).
6. Click Save. The credit applies automatically to the next invoice that generates.

⚠️ Note: Applying a credit to a paid invoice creates an overpayment, which can be applied to future charges or processed as a Refund. Per best accounting practice, refund the overpayment balance created by the credit rather than refunding a credit directly.

Manage Overpayments and Refunds 

Applying a credit to an already-paid invoice creates an overpayment balance on the resident’s account. This overpayment can be applied to future invoiced charges or processed as a Refund. For more information about Refunds, see Section 6: Payments.
 

⚠️ Note: Per best accounting practice, refund the overpayment balance created by the credit. It is not good practice to create a credit on an account and then refund that credit directly.
 

Edit a Rent Invoice

You can edit a rent invoice to correct a charge’s amount or service-period dates.

⚠️Important: Only edit an invoice if it has not already been distributed. Adjustments after invoicing often create extra accounting work; In Billing → Invoices, use Invoice Preview and billing reports to verify before regenerating.

1. Go to the Resident Profile, scroll to Billing, and click Invoices.
2. Click Options next to the invoice, then Edit.
3. Click Edit on the charge row under Transactions.
4. In Edit Charge, adjust the Service Period dates (and Incurred On date). Toggle Amount Calculation between Manual and Prorated as needed.
5. Click Save. The invoice will display the adjusted amount and new date range.

Unapply vs. Delete

When you edit an invoice, you can remove a recurring charge using either Unapply or Delete. The difference determines whether the charge remains available for future invoicing.

• Unapply removes the item from the invoice but keeps the recurring charge (and its amounts, prorations, and discounts) available to rebill later. Use it to correct mistakes, regenerate invoices, or preserve the recurring setup.
• Delete permanently removes the recurring charge from the invoice and the resident’s billing profile. Use it only when the charge should no longer exist.

⚠️Important: Deleting a recurring charge cannot be undone. Editing a charge on an invoice does not update the original recurring charge setup and does not adjust historical invoices. If you lack access to edit invoices, contact your Company Administrator.  

💡Tip: Use Add Rate Change rather than Edit Charge for rate updates effective on a future date, and use End Service to stop a recurring charge on a known future date. Both reduce manual invoice corrections.

Change the Date of a Credit

To change a credit’s date, you must first un-apply (delete) it from any invoice it is attached to, then edit the date and re-apply it.

⚠️Important: Deleting a credit removes it from the invoice, but the credit remains available on the resident’s account.

Step 1 – Un-apply the Credit

1. On the Resident Profile, click Invoices.
2. Click Options next to the invoice, then Edit.
3. Click Unapply on the credit line under Transactions.
4. Enter a reason in Enter a reason, then click Unapply Credit.
5. Scroll up and click Back to Invoices.

Step 2 – Change the Date and Re-apply

1. Scroll to the Billing section and click the Credits tab.
2. Click Options next to the credit, then Edit.
3. In Edit Credit, click the Issued On field and enter the correct date, then click Save.
4. Re-apply the credit: click Options next to the invoice, select Apply Credit, choose the credit, and click Save.

Schedule Rate Changes for Recurring Charges

Recurring charges are invoiced automatically each month per your financial agreements. When a planned rate increase or service change is coming, schedule it before the affected invoices generate so charges prorate correctly. 

Change Only the Price

1. On the charge, click Options → Add Rate Change.
2. Select the Rate Change Service Start date (future to schedule, past to backdate).
3. Enter the new Price, then click Submit.

💡Note: If the Impact Review is enabled, it generates a prorated credit for the old rate and applies the new rate to the applicable invoice.

Change the Service Itself 

1. On the charge being replaced, click Options → End Service.
2. Enter the Service End Date and click End Service. When a service ends before it is invoiced, ALIS prorates through the end date.
3. In the Active & Future tab, click +Add Recurring Charge.
4. Select the Payer Type, Payer, and Billing Item.
5. Confirm the Service Start date and verify the Price, then click Submit.

💡Note: If the Impact Review is enabled, it generates the prorated charge for the ended service for you to apply to an invoice.

Rate Changes in Bulk 

To update one billing item across many residents at once, go to Billing → Bulk Imports → Bulk Recurring. 

Bulk Rate Changes do not include an Impact Review, so adjust already-generated invoices individually from each resident’s profile.

Section 6: Payments

About Payments

This section covers ALISPay, the Payment Center and its bulk workflows, the monthly ACH pull, applying an unapplied payment, refunds, and voids.

Using the Payment Center

The Payment Center (Billing → Payment Center) is your hub for incoming revenue. Use it to process ALISPay transactions, document manual payments, and manage deposit batches. It is optimized for bulk entry against a pre-set Deposit Total or in batches you group into a deposit later.

• ALISPay Gateway enabled: ACH/CC and/or Check Scanning processing tools. See Appendix: Optional Features. 
• Gateway not enabled (Recordkeeping): manual recording options for Check, ACH/CC, and Medicaid payments.

💡Tip: Even with ALISPay enabled, you may still record manual payments for transactions processed outside ALIS. 

Bulk Payment Workflows

The Bulk Payment tab offers five workflows by payment type:

• ACH Pull (ALISPay): +Collect ACH/CC to withdraw funds or charge cards.
• Check Scanning (ALISPay): +Scan Checks to electronically deposit checks.
• ACH/CC (manual): +Record ACH/CC to document card or ACH payments processed outside ALIS.
• Check (manual): +Record Check to bulk-enter paper checks.
• Medicaid (manual): +Record Medicaid to bulk-enter Medicaid payments.

Run the Monthly ACH Pull (ALIS Pay)

The standard monthly workflow for collecting recurring payments is an ACH pull through the ALISPay gateway. You can run ACH payments as often as needed, though most communities run all payments on one or two set days. 

Prepare Before the Pull Date

1. Confirm your community’s automatic invoice generation date in Billing Settings.
2. Determine your ACH payment schedule (the day or days you run payments).
3. Run the Payers Report (Reports → Billing) to find anyone missing setup.
4. Confirm each payer to be pulled is a Yes – Default payer, has a Bank Account or Credit Card on file, and has Use for Recurring Payments checked.  (A payer that does not appear at pull time almost always has an incorrect payment method.)
5. Once invoices are generated and reviewed, send them to payers. 

Run the Pull 

Credit card payments use this same workflow. Select both ACH and Credit Card in step 2 to process them in one batch, or select only Credit Card to run it as a separate batch. 

1. In the ACH/CC Processing tile, click +Collect ACH/CC.
2. Select ACH (and/or Credit Card) from the Payment Method dropdown.
3. Leave Payment Date Preference set to None Selected unless running a separate batch for a configured date.
4. Review the Balance Due as of date, then click Next: Review. 

5. Review eligible payers; edit any Amount or use Exclude to leave a payer out.
6. Click Submit Payments.

⚠️ Note: Submitted payments are queued and sent to the processor immediately; successful withdrawals are applied to resident invoices. Track batch status in the Payment Gateway Txns tab, and see the ALISPay Report (Reports → Billing) for deposit status, voids, and refunds.

Scan Checks (ALIS Pay)

Check scanning lets you deposit checks directly into ALIS with a supported scanner, without submitting them through the bank or by mobile deposit.

1. In the Check Scanning tile, click +Scan Checks. 
2. In the right pane, set Received On (defaults to today; editable until payments are posted) and the Expected Total (the sum of all checks, which ALIS compares to the Scanned Total).
3. Click Next: Set up Scanner. ALIS identifies the active scanner ("Scanner found!").
4. Click the green Start Scan button and begin feeding checks. 

5. Each check appears in scan order: a green Order column means success; a red Order column means the check needs review, with details in the Status column. 
6. To fix a flagged check, click its line to open the check image and edit the Check #, Check Amount, Routing #, Account #, Payer, Outstanding, and Apply to fields.

7. When all errors are resolved, the Order column and the Submit button turn green.
8. Click Submit, review the Received On date, Scanned Total, and number of checks in the pop-up, then click Submit again to process. Payments move to the Undeposited Payments tab until cleared and posted.

⚠️ Important: 

• The first time a check’s account is scanned, ALIS cannot match the payer. Select the Payer from the dropdown and ALIS links it for future scans. 
• There is a 100-check batch limit; ALIS warns you as you approach it and pauses at the limit so you can submit the batch before starting a new one. 
• For troubleshooting assistance, contact the ALIS Customer Support Team.

💡Tips: 

• If the Submit button stays gray, your Expected Total and Scanned Total do not match. Click the pencil next to Expected Total, enter the correct amount, and save. 
• Track batches in the Payment Gateway Txns tab (open a transaction to view the Check Scan Summary PDF), and see the ALISPay Report (Reports → Billing) for amounts, statuses, and payer details.

Record a Manual Check Payment

1. Click +Record Check and set the Payer Type.
2. Select the Received On date.
3. For Add payment lines for check payers with balance?, choose Yes to auto-show payers with balances, or No to add rows manually.
4. Enter the Deposit Total and review the Balance as of date.
5. (Optional): Upload Deposit File(s) to attach to the record.
6. Click Next: Review. 

7. Enter the Check # for each row, and edit Amount and Apply To (as needed).
8. When your total matches the Deposit Total, click Submit Payments.

Record a Manual ACH/CC Payment

1. Click +Record ACH/CC.
2. Set the Payer Type (Private, Medicaid, or Insurance).
3. Select the Received On date and the Method (ACH or Credit Card).
4. Set the Amount (default Full Outstanding Balance, or Custom / Most Recent Invoice).
5. Enter a Deposit Total to balance against a specific bank deposit. 
6. (Optional): Upload Deposit File(s) to attach to the record and review the Balance Due as of date. 
7. Click Next: Review. 
8. Edit the auto-filled Amount and Apply To fields, and use +Add Another Payment as needed.
9. When your total matches the Deposit Total, click Submit Payments.

Record a Manual Medicaid Payment

1. Click +Record Medicaid and select the specific Medicaid Payer Type (these appear only if configured in Billing Settings).
2. Confirm the Invoice Date Range (defaults to the previous month).
3. Select the Received On date and Method (include Check # if applicable).
4. Enter the Deposit Total and click Next: Review.
5. Confirm resident names, amounts, and where payments apply, then click Submit Payments.

Manage Deposits

• Undeposited Payments tab: multi-select payments and click Deposit Payments to group them into a formal bank deposit, or use Delete Payments.
• Deposits tab: a historical report of all deposit batches. Expand a month, use Options to view or delete, or open a batch to print deposit slips or export to Excel. 

⚠️ Important: Deleting payments or deposits removes financial records and cannot be undone. Confirm your community’s policy before deleting.Apply an Unapplied Payment

An unapplied payment is money recorded in ALIS but not yet matched to an invoice.

1. On the Resident Profile, scroll to Billing and click Invoices.
2. Click Options next to the invoice, then Make Payment.
3. Select the correct unapplied payment and click Save.

At the top of the Billing section, confirm the resident shows Outstanding Invoices $0.00 and Unapplied Payments $0.00.

Use SplitPay in ALIS Pay

Split Pay lets a payer’s recurring auto-payment draw from two bank accounts: a set amount or percentage from one, and the remaining balance from the other.

1. On the Resident Profile, scroll to Billing and select the Payers tab.
2. Click Options next to the Default Payer, then Edit Contact.
3. In the Contact Profile, scroll to Payment Methods and click Add Payment Method.
4. Click Bank Account and enter the second account’s details (nickname, account holder, routing #, account #, account type).
5. Confirm the Billing Address and click Add Payment Method.
6. With both accounts listed, click Manage Recurring Payment.
7. In Edit Monthly Recurring Payment, open the Account dropdown and select both accounts.
8. Choose the Split Method (Percentage or Dollar Amount).
9. Enter the amount to pull from the set account (the remainder defaults to the other), and optionally check Set amount as max. Click Submit.

⚠️ Important: Both accounts must carry the Recurring tag to be pulled during processing. After setup, the Payment Methods tiles show the split (for example, Split: $1,000.00 and Split: Remaining Balance).

Refunds & Voids

A refund returns an overpayment to the payer and can be recorded by any community. A void cancels an ALISPay gateway transaction on the same day it was made and is available only to communities using ALISPay. 

Refunds

When a payer overpays, commonly at move-out, the best practice is to create a prorated credit on the invoice for charges the payer is not responsible for, then refund the resulting unapplied payment balance. Refunding a credit directly is possible but should only be done if your company policy requires it.

Step 1 – Correct the Invoice

1. On the resident profile, open the Invoices bar in the Billing section, locate the invoice, and click Options → Edit.
2. In the Payments section of the invoice editor, click the Unapply button. (Unapplying before creating the credit reduces confusion when recording the refund.) 
3. Click CR on the charge amount(s) to credit. Consider which amounts to reduce (for example, a mid-month move-out reduces care to the days the resident actually stayed).
4. In the Apply Credit pane, set Amount Calculation to Prorated and set the Credit Service Period to the days the resident is not financially responsible for. The Issued On date defaults to today. 

5. Add an optional Description and Internal Note, then click Save.

Step 2 – Record or Process the Refund

Record a Refund: 

This documents the refund, for example a check mailed to the payer, and is available to all communities.

1. In the Billing section of the resident profile, expand the Refunds bar and click +Record a Refund.
2. Set the Issued On date to the date the refund is issued. Under Refund check sent?, click Yes if the check has been sent (also set Yes if you processed an ACH refund in CardPointe).
3. ALIS shows unapplied payments and credits. Check the box next to the balance to refund the exact amount overpaid.
4. Add an Internal Note (for example, where the check was mailed), then click Save.

⚠️Important: While the GL period is open and billing is unlocked, you can edit or delete the refund. Use Options to mark the check sent or to generate and send a receipt. Track refunds on the Refunds report (Reports → Billing). 

Process an ALISPay gateway refund: 

If your community uses ALISPay, you can electronically return ACH funds instead of recording a manual refund. 

1. Expand the Refunds bar and click +Process a Refund.
2. Select the unapplied gateway payment (adjust the amount for a partial refund), add a required Internal Note.
3. Click Submit. 

⚠️Important: Only ALISPay ACH payments that have been cleared by iStream, are unapplied, and less than 120 days old are eligible for refund. iStream integrations allow full or partial refunds, while legacy Fiserv integrations allow full refunds only. 

Refund Check Sent Status

Refund Processed and Check Sent are distinct GL export transactions. Creating a refund moves the balance from prepayments to refunds payable; marking Check Sent clears it from refunds payable for your accounting team to move to accounts payable (handled outside ALIS).

Voids

Voids apply only to ALISPay gateway payments and require iStream.

A void cancels an entire ALISPay transaction on the same day it was made. It cannot be undone and unapplies the payment from any associated invoices.

1. In the Payments bar of the Billing section, locate the gateway payment and click Options → Edit.
2. Review the void details and write a description in the required Internal Note.
3. Click x Void Payment.

⚠️Note: The payment shows as Void with the date and note; print or email the void receipt and view it on GL Txns. 

Legacy Fiserv users must void in the CardPointe portal (account.cardpointe.com) first, then contact the ALIS Pay Team (alispay@go-alis.com) delete the record.

Section 7: Resident Billing Changes

About Resident Billing Changes

When a resident’s situation changes mid-month, their billing must be adjusted right away. This section covers prorating and rebilling for room transfers and Level of Care (LOC) changes, and ending billing when a resident moves out.

How you process billing changes depends on whether your community uses the Impact Review and/or the Billing Center. For more information, see Appendix: Optional Features.

The below steps show processing mid-month events from the resident profile with the Impact Review enabled.

Mid-Month Room & Level of Care (LOC) Changes 

When a resident changes rooms or care level partway through the month, end the old recurring charge (creates a prorated credit) and add the new recurring charge (creates a prorated charge).

Step 1 – End the Old Charge

1. Go to the Recurring Charges section of the resident profile.
2. Click Options next to the charge you are ending, then click End Service.
3. In End Service, set the Service End field to the last date you plan to bill for this service. (Service ends after 11:59 PM on the end date.)
4. Click End Service. 

5. On the Impact Review, set the Action to Add Credit and choose where to apply the prorated credit in the To column (an unapplied credit or an existing unpaid invoice).
6. Click Submit.

Step 2 – Add the New Charge

1. On the Active & Future tab, click Add Recurring Charge.
2. Enter the Service Start (the day after the old charge ended) and the Price of the new service.
3. Review the calculated Amount and click Submit.
4. On the Impact Review, for the current-month row set Action to Add Charge and To to Create New Invoice. Set New Invoice Date to the new charge’s start date.
5. For the next-month row, set Action to Take No Action (the To column shows N/A), then click Submit.

⚠️Important: Choose Take No Action for next month for two reasons: next-month invoices generate automatically soon, and you do not want to add a next-month charge to a current-month-dated invoice.

💡 If next-month invoices have already generated, go to the Invoices tab, click Create New Invoice, select Recurring, and set the date to the first of the month. ALIS will generate an invoice for all recurring charges dated the first.

End Billing & Move Out a Resident

When a resident discharges, end all recurring charges as of their last paid day, then process the move-out so billing, medications, care, and room assignment all stop. 

Before ending charges, confirm the resident’s last paid day (the final date they are financially responsible for each service). Your organization’s move-out policy determines this date; you will use it as the Service End Date on every recurring charge.

Step 1 – End Recurring Charges

1. Navigate to the Resident Profile and scroll to Recurring Charges.
2. Click Options next to the first recurring charge, then click End Service.
3. In Service End, enter the resident’s financial move-out date (their last paid day).
4. Click End Service.
5. On the Impact Review, ALIS calculates the prorated credit. Set Action to Add Credit and choose To: apply it to open invoices if there is an outstanding balance, or leave it as an Unapplied Credit if paid in full. 
6. Click Submit.

⚠️ Important: Repeat for every recurring charge — rent, care, and any other Billing Items. Any charge left active keeps generating invoices and will prevent you from locking billing.

Step 2 – Process the Move Out

1. Scroll to the top of the profile and click Move Out.
2. Complete the Move Out details: Physical Move Out Date, Physical Move Out Time, Move Out Reason, Move Out Destination, Destination Address, Destination County, and Financial Move Out Date.
3. Under Confirm Impact, check the boxes confirming that Medications, Care, and Room Assignment will end on the financial move-out date (room reservations are removed immediately).
4. Click Confirm Resident Move Out. The resident’s status will immediately change to Moved Out. 

⚠️If Hotel Rules are enabled, the date you enter will display one day later in occupancy reporting.

💡 If a refund is owed to the resident or family, follow the refund process provided by your home office. 

Step 3 – Lock Billing

To lock billing, you must drive the resident’s balance to $0.

1. Apply any credit to the resident’s final invoice (invoicing incidentals lets you apply the credit against them).
2. When the balance is $0, all recurring charges are ended, and any unapplied credits are applied or refunded, click Lock Billing at the top of the Billing section to close the account.

⚠️ Important: ALIS will not let you lock billing while a balance remains, and the resident will continue to appear on the Aging Report until billing is locked. Locking closes the account and prevents new charges; it can be undone if needed.

Section 8: Monthly Invoicing

About Monthly Invoicing

ALIS lets you generate invoices automatically or manually and manage payments for your accounts receivable. The recommended cycle moves through three stages each month: preparing for invoice generation, generating and distributing invoices, and entering payments afterward.

Configure Invoice Preferences

Community-level invoice preferences are managed in Billing Settings. Configure these preferences before your monthly cycle begins so that automatic generation, timing, and default messaging behave as expected. For full details on each field, refer to the Billing Settings guide.

Configuration options include:

1. Enable automatic invoice generation by payer type.
2. Set the Billing Day of the Month.
3. Set the Invoice Due Date.
4. Configure default invoice comments and other invoice settings.

Prepare for Invoice Generation

Whether invoices are generated manually or automatically, review charges and make adjustments before invoices run. Making adjustments after invoicing often creates additional accounting work, so prioritize corrections now. You can review the month's billing two ways:

• Billing Center (optimal, if enabled): Beyond showing the month's status, it lets you process service-change events and make real-time billing updates through the Impact Review. Click Process on the Prepare for Auto Invoice Generation task to verify recurring charges and reconcile move-outs, then View to open a flagged resident's profile. 
• Invoice Preview tab (available to every community): Go to Billing → Invoices → Invoice Preview → Overview. This is a read-only dashboard with billing details and links to open each underlying report. Set the Billing Year, Billing Month, and Payer Type filters and click Refresh. You can also generate watermarked invoice PDF previews from this tab before anything is finalized.

⚠️ Note: If you do not have access to the Billing Center, it may not be enabled for your company. Contact your Company Administrator for questions. 

Review Details

The Billing Center's Prepare for Auto Invoice Generation page includes totals and report links to help you review the month's billing before it generates:

• Uninvoiced Incidentals: total incidental charges scheduled to bill this month. Click View Uninvoiced Incidentals to audit them in the Incidental Charges (Uninvoiced) report.
• Unapplied Credits: credits issued but not yet applied. Click View Unapplied Credits to review lingering balances in the Credits report.
• Unapplied Payments: overpayments or unused payments. Click View Unapplied Payments to review balances in the Payments Summary report.
• Recurring Charges: all recurring charges scheduled to bill this month. Click View Recurring Charges to verify accuracy.
• Discounts: discounts scheduled for this month. Click View Discounts to review details.  

💡 Tip. The Invoice Preview → Overview tab surfaces many of the same details. It shows invoice status (Not Invoiced, Invoiced, Pending Incidentals, Pending Approvals), Service Changes (Move Ins, Move Outs, Room Changes, Leaves, Care Level Changes), and pending Approvals. 

Make Adjustments before Invoices Generate

Use the reports above to make billing corrections before invoices are generated. 

If you find an issue with a resident charge, go to the Resident Profile, open the appropriate Incidental Charges or Recurring Charges section, locate the charge, and click Options. To adjust a rate effective on a future date, click Add Rate Change. 

If an invoice has already been generated, remove recurring charges using Unapply or Delete (see Edit a Schedule a Rate Change and Edit a Rent Invoice in Section 5).

⚠️ Important: 

• Selecting Edit Charge on an existing recurring charge impacts historical recurring charge reports within the charge dates. However, it does not impact previously generated invoices.
• If your community uses a default Invoice Due Date in Billing Settings, review and adjust due dates as needed before invoices generate.

Generate Invoices (Automatic & Manual)

Auto-Generated Invoices 

If auto-generation is enabled, invoices generate automatically overnight on your community's configured Billing Day of the Month. The exact time of day your invoices generate on your billing day is based on the queue; they are typically ready by 7:00 AM CT/8:00 AM ET that morning. 

For questions about invoice generation timing, contact your ALIS Account Manager.

Generate Invoices Manually

Use this method if you are not using monthly auto-generation, or if you need to generate invoices on-demand.

1. Navigate to the Invoices page.
2. Open the Invoice Preview tab.
3. Go to the Not Invoiced section.
4. (Optional): Use the Preview Invoice PDFs tab to review watermarked invoice PDFs before generation.
5. Select invoices and click Generate Invoices.

💡 Tip: After invoices are distributed, prioritize entering payments into ALIS. See Section 6: Payments.

Final Verification of Invoice Accuracy

Navigate to the Invoices report under ALIS Reports → Billing. Scroll to the bottom of the report to view the Summary values.

⚠️ Note: Credits created during the period may differ from credits applied during the period. There may also be credits applied during this period that were created in previous periods.

Manage Payments After Invoicing

After invoices are distributed, enter payments as soon as they are received, but only after invoices have been generated. 

Whenever possible, enter payments in batches to reduce errors, organize batches by payment method, and enter payment batches as a Deposit to verify deposit totals before banking. 

For details, see Using the Payment Center (Section 6).

Section 9: Invoice Distribution

About Invoice Distribution

Invoice distribution sends monthly invoices to residents and responsible parties. Each payer has an Invoice Preference that determines whether they receive their invoice by email, mail, or hand delivery. This section covers emailing invoices and producing printed (hard-copy) invoices.

Email Invoices

Send invoices to all payers whose preference includes email.

1. From the Dashboard, click the Billing dropdown and select Invoices.
2. On the All Invoices tab, click the Invoice Preference dropdown.
3. Select all email options: Email, Email & Mail, and Email & Hand Deliver. Click Refresh to filter the list.

4. Click the header checkbox to select all invoices.
5. Click Email, then Email All.

6. On the Email Invoices page, review and enter any missing email addresses.
7. Click Email Invoices. The emails are sent immediately and you return to the Invoices page. 

Print (Hard-Copy) Invoices

Produce printed invoices for payers who receive mail or hand delivery.

1. On the Invoices page, click the Invoice Preference dropdown.
2. Select all hard-copy options: Email & Mail, Email & Hand Deliver, Hand Deliver, and Mail. Also include Unspecified.

💡Always include Unspecified so invoices for anyone without a set preference and email address are not missed.

3. Click Refresh.
4. Click the header checkbox to select all.
5. Click Print, then Print All.
   
   
6. A PDF containing all invoices will be downloaded. Print from the PDF viewer.

Section 10: Reports Reference

About Reports

ALIS reports give the Business Office a clear view of billing and occupancy across a community. Open Reports from the top navigation or use the Billing dropdown.  

Reports can be printed to PDF or exported to Excel.  

This section highlights the reports Business Office staff use most; some reports depend on enabled features or are primarily used by your accounting team. 

ALIS Billing Reports

Aging (Summary | Details | Details by Payer)           Rent Roll

Invoices                                                                      Billing Records (Resident | Community) 

Resident Ledger                                                         Transaction Details

Recurring Charges                                                     Payments (Receipts | Summary)

Discounts                                                                   Invoice Payments

Incidental Charges (Uninvoiced)                               Credits

Unapplied/Refunded Credits                                     Deposits

Security Deposits                                                       Invoice Credits

Refunds                                                                      Payers

Sales/Payments Receipts                                           Account Balances

Resident Charge Card                                                Concessions

Billing Program Claims                                              Billing Program Leaves

ALIS Pay Report

Other Reports: GL Transactions & Period Close,  Rent Roll, Occupancy Reports

Most Commonly Used Billing Reports

Aging (Summary | Details | Details by Payer)

Collections, outstanding balances, move-out lock billing checks

What it shows:
Outstanding balances grouped into aging buckets (0-30, 31-60, 61-90, 90+ Days) as of a chosen date, with each account's Unapplied Credits, Balance, and Unapplied Payments (net credits show as negatives). Three tabs add detail:

• Summary: community-level totals by bucket, plus a Totals by Payer breakdown (Private vs. Medicaid).
• Details: a resident-by-resident view with a payer-type summary at the bottom, including Unbilled AR and Pre-payments.
• Details By Payer: adds each payer's contact info and Invoice/Payment Preferences, with a Generate Mailing Labels option.

When/how to use:

• Collections: run regularly and focus on the 61-90 and 90+ buckets; use Details By Payer for mailing labels and statements.
• Move-out lock billing checks: confirm a $0 Balance before locking billing, since open balances keep a resident on this report (Section 7).
• Month-end: set the As of Date and Only Exported GL Transactions to tie AR to the GL, and review Unbilled AR and Pre-payments with accounting.
• Cleanup: apply anything sitting in Unapplied Credits/Payments (Section 6).

Invoices

Invoice totals and month-end verification

What it shows:
Every invoice for the selected Invoice Date range, listed by Invoice #, Resident, Room #, Product Type, Payer Type, and Payer, with Charges, Credits, Discounts, Total, and Balance (credits show as negatives). 

A Summary at the bottom totals the period: Total Charges, Total Credits, Total Discounts, Invoice Total, Balance, Total Credits Issued, Total Payments Received, and Invoice Count.

When/how to use:

• Month-end verification: after invoices generate, review the batch by date range and confirm the Invoice Count and Invoice Total match expectations before distributing (see Final Verification, Section 8).
• Reconciliation: use the Summary totals to tie charges, credits, discounts, and payments out to your GL for the period.
• Find and check invoices: filter by Resident, Payer Type, or Payment Status to locate unpaid invoices or verify a specific charge; click the invoice number to open it.

Resident Ledger 

Full account history for one resident

What it shows:
A running, chronological account history for one resident over a date range: every charge, discount, credit, and payment with a running Balance, starting from an opening balance and ending with the current balance. 

Shows current Unapplied Payments, Unapplied Credits, and Outstanding Balance. Invoice numbers link to the source invoice.

When/how to use:

• Answer payer questions and disputes: walk a resident or family through exactly what was charged and paid, and when, to explain a balance.
• Research a balance: trace how the current balance built up (charges vs. payments and credits), especially before a move-out or when reconciling a disputed account.
• Audit payments: see which payments applied to which invoices, using the linked invoice numbers.

Payers 

Verify payer setup, generate mailing labels, ACH pull prep (Section 6)

What it shows:
A community-wide list of payers with each payer's tags (Resident, Default, or relationship such as "Daughter"), Address, Email, Phone, and Invoice/Payment Preferences. Residents with more than one payer appear on a row per payer. 

Use Options to edit a payer, and Print, Generate Mailing Labels, or Export to Excel. Narrow the list with the Payer Status (Enabled/Disabled), Payer Tag, and Invoice/Payment Preference filters.

When/how to use:

• Verify payer setup: confirm each resident has a Default payer and that contact info and Invoice/Payment Preferences are correct before invoicing.
• ACH pull prep (Section 6): confirm default payers and payment preferences before running the monthly ACH pull.
• Statements and outreach: use Generate Mailing Labels for statements or collections letters.
• Spot gaps: find blank emails or phones and Unspecified preferences to fix.

Recurring Charges 

Pre-generation verification (Section 8)

What it shows:
Every recurring charge across the community, by Resident, Room #, Payer, Billing Item, Status, Service Start/End, Qty, and monthly Amount (each rent or care charge is its own row, so a resident appears multiple times). 

Use the Item Status filter to show Active vs. ended charges, and filter by Billing Item or Service Start/End dates. 

When/how to use:

• Pre-generation verification (Section 8): before invoices run, confirm each billable resident has the correct recurring charges (rent and care) at the right amounts and service-start dates.
• Catch setup gaps: spot residents missing a rent or care charge, incorrect amounts, or wrong service dates before invoicing.
• Rate/care-change audit: filter by Billing Item or date to review charges affected by a rate change or level-of-care change.
• Revenue snapshot: export to Excel to total expected recurring revenue for the period.

Incidental Charges (Uninvoiced) 

Audit incidentals before invoicing (Section 8)

What it shows:
All incidental charges that have been added but not yet invoiced (queued for the next monthly invoice) in a date range, by Resident, Room #, Billing Item, Payer, Incurred On date, and Amount. 

A Summary totals the uninvoiced incidentals by community and payer type. 

When/how to use:

• Audit before invoicing (Section 8): review queued incidentals for accuracy before the monthly invoice generates, confirming amounts and that they are on the right residents and payers.
• Catch errors: spot duplicate, missing, or mis-assigned incidental charges before they land on invoices.
• Forecast: use the Summary to see the total incidental revenue coming on the next invoices.

Credits & Unapplied/Refunded Credits (two separate reports)

Review lingering/unapplied credits

What it shows:

• Credits Report: every credit issued in a date range, by Resident, Payer, Description (item and service period), GL Account #, original Amount, and remaining Balance (a $0 balance means the credit is fully applied). A Summary totals credits by GL account.
• Unapplied/Refunded Credits Report: credits still unapplied or refunded as of a chosen As Of Date, i.e., the lingering credit balances sitting on accounts, with the same columns plus a Details column and a GL-account Summary.

When/how to use:

• Clean up lingering credits: run Unapplied/Refunded Credits at month-end to find credits sitting on accounts that should be applied to an invoice or refunded, especially before locking a move-out (Sections 5 and 6).
• Audit credit activity: use the Credits Report to review what credits were issued in a period and why (Description), and whether they were applied (Balance $0) or are still open.
• Accounting tie-out: use the GL Account # summaries on both to reconcile credits to the GL.

Payments (Receipts | Summary) 

Unapplied payments and payment history

What it shows:

Every payment received in a date range, by Resident, Payer, Method (Check or ACH, with a GATEWAY tag and Txn # for ALISPay payments), Check #, Received On, and Amount Applied vs. Amount Unapplied, plus Fees, Total Amount, and Balance. Filter by Status and Payment Gateway Payment (gateway vs. manual), and see period totals by payer type in the Summary.

When/how to use:

• Find unapplied payments: use the Amount Unapplied column to spot money received but not applied to an invoice, then apply it (Section 6).
• Research payment history: look up when and how a payer paid (method, check #, gateway Txn) to answer questions or trace a payment.
• Reconciliation: filter by Received On date and gateway vs. manual to tie payments to deposits and the GL, using the Summary totals.

Deposits 

Deposit-batch reconciliation (Section 6)

What it shows:

• Summary tab: a list of deposit batches for a date range, each with Deposit Date, Batch/Deposit Name, Completed On/By, # Payments, and Total Amount. Click the grid icon on a row to open that batch in the Report tab.
• Report tab: the detail of a single deposit batch, including header totals, links to the Check Slip PDF(s), View Deposit and GL Txns buttons, and each payment in the batch (Received On, Resident, Payer, the invoice it applied to, and Amount). Search here by Deposit Date and Batch/Deposit Name.

When/how to use:

• Deposit-batch reconciliation (Section 6): match a batch's Total Amount and payment count to your bank deposit; open the Report tab to verify each payment and where it applied.
• Print deposit slips: open a batch to access the Check Slip PDF(s) for the bank.
• Look up a deposit: use the grid icon from Summary, or search directly in the Report tab.
• GL tie-out: use GL Txns from a batch to trace entries to the ledger.

Refunds 

Track refunds issued vs. check sent (Section 6)

What it shows:
Every refund in a date range, by Issued On, Resident, Payer Type, and Refund Amount, with its status (Issued vs. Check Sent) in the Internal Note column and the specific Payments (P) or Credits (C) that were refunded. 

A Summary totals refunds by payer type, split into Total Issued vs. Total Sent. Filter by Status (Issued, Sent, or Both).

When/how to use:

• Track refund status (Section 6): find refunds still in Issued status that need a check sent, then confirm they move to Sent. The Issued-vs-Sent split maps to the GL (refunds payable vs. cleared).
• Month-end review: verify all refunds for the period are accurate and mailed, catching any issued but not yet sent.
• Audit: trace which payments or credits a given refund came from.

ALIS Pay Report

Gateway transactions, voids, refunds (ALISPay users only; Section 6)

What it shows:
Every ALISPay gateway transaction (ACH, card, or check scan) with its Txn #, Received date and source, Amount, Fees, Gateway Status (for example, Processed), any Gateway Notification, the masked account Last 4, and the Resident, Payer, and Community. 

Filter by Gateway Status/Notification, Received Date, Amount, and Gateway/Funded Batch #. An Error Codes Help link explains failures.

When/how to use:

• Track gateway batches (Section 6): after an ACH pull or check-scan batch, confirm transactions show Processed, and spot any failed or flagged ones to re-run or correct.
• Reconcile funding: use Gateway/Funded Batch # to tie transactions to bank funding, and review Fees.
• Locate a transaction, void, or refund: look it up by Txn #, resident, or date to check status.
• Troubleshoot failures: use Gateway Status/Notification with Error Codes Help to diagnose declined or failed payments.

Additional Billing Reports (use as needed)

Discounts

Review discounts scheduled/applied

• What it shows: Discounts by resident, with Start/End dates, what they are Applied To (billing item), the Amount (flat or per-day), a Description, and the invoices they have applied to (Status). 
• When/how to use: Verify discounts before invoicing (catch missing or expiring ones), audit promotions and concessions, and confirm each applied to the correct invoice and resident.

Concessions

Combined view of discounts, credits, and subsidies

• What it shows: All concession transactions (Discount, Credit, and Subsidy) for a period, by resident, with the Txn Type, Description, GL Account #, Amount, and Balance. Filter by Transaction Type, GL Account #, and date.
• When/how to use: Get a single view of everything reducing a resident's charges; break concessions out by type or GL account to audit that discounts, credits, and subsidies post to the correct accounts (useful for accounting tie-out). 

Account Balances

GL account balances and activity

• What it shows: Each GL account's Opening Balance, Debit, Credit, Net, and Ending Balance for a period (Summary tab); click the grid icon on a row to open the Report tab, which lists the individual transactions behind that account (GL Date, Resident, Action, Description, GL Account #, Debit/Credit, running Balance, and a GL Txns link), with a warning on transactions whose GL date and created date fall in different periods. 
• When/how to use: Primarily an accounting/finance view (BOMs can see it) to reconcile GL account balances by period and drill from an account into its underlying transactions to research a balance or a period-timing difference. 

Transaction Details

Line-item billing activity

• What it shows: Every individual transaction (charge, credit, discount) in a date range, by resident and invoice, with the Billing Item, Txn Type, GL Account #, Incurred/Applied Date, Qty, Price, and Amount. A summary at the bottom totals Charges, Discounts, and Credits by GL Account #.
• When/how to use: The most granular view of billing activity. Filter by Billing Item, Transaction Type, or GL Account # to research a specific charge or credit, or to reconcile line-item detail to the GL by account. 

Billing Records (Resident | Community)

Chronological billing ledger, accrual or cash basis

• What it shows: A chronological ledger of all billing transactions (recurring and incidental charges, discounts, credits, payments, refunds) with GL Account #, Amount, and a running Balance, viewable on an Accrual or Cash basis (View By toggle). The Resident version covers one resident (with a move-in/out and balance header); the Community version covers every resident in the community.
• When/how to use: Review complete billing activity for a resident or the whole community, switch between Accrual and Cash to match your accounting basis, and reconcile transactions to the GL by period. (More accounting-oriented than the Resident Ledger, which is the quick per-resident view for payer questions.)

Invoice Payments

Payments matched to invoices

• What it shows: Payments applied to invoices in a date range, showing the Resident, Payer, Method, Check #, Received On, Invoice Date, the linked Invoice, and Amount. A Summary splits amounts applied by whether the payment was received within or outside the invoice date range (an asterisk flags out-of-range payments).
• When/how to use: See which payments applied to which invoices and confirm timing (payment received within the invoice period vs. outside it), which helps with cash-application review and reconciliation.

Invoice Credits

Credits matched to invoices

• What it shows: Credits applied to invoices in a date range, showing the Resident, Payer, what the credit is Credit For (billing item), Issued On, Invoice Date, the linked Invoice, and Amount. A Summary splits amounts by whether the credit was issued within or outside the invoice date range (an asterisk flags out-of-range credits).
• When/how to use: See which credits applied to which invoices and confirm timing (issued within the invoice period vs. outside it) for credit-application review and reconciliation. (The invoice-side counterpart to Invoice Payments.)

Security Deposits

Deposits held and remaining balances

• What it shows: Security deposits by resident, with Deposit Date, Payer, Method, Amount, remaining Balance, and room assignment. Filter by Deposit Type, Remaining Balance, and Deposit Date (defaults to the current month).
• When/how to use: Track which residents have a security deposit on file and how much remains, and use the Remaining Balance filter to find deposits still held, for example to return or apply at move-out.

Sales/Payment Receipts

Monthly activity grouped by transaction category

• What it shows: A monthly summary of all billing activity grouped into expandable categories, each with a total: Charges, Credits, Declines, Discounts, Subsidies, Payments, NSFs, Refunds, and Voids. Expand any category to see the underlying transactions (invoice, resident, payer, GL account, amount). Filter by Year and Month.
• When/how to use: A month-end, one-page overview of everything that happened financially in the community. Expand any category to drill into the detail, and use the category totals to reconcile the month to the GL.

Resident Charge Card

Unit-by-unit billing snapshot for a month

• What it shows: A month-at-a-glance grid of every unit with its Resident (flagged for Move In or Room Change, and Vacant units shown), Product Type, Care Level, Room Type/Category, Market Rate vs. All Charges, and $/% Discounts, plus a Manage Billing button per unit. Filter by Payer/Product Type, Resident, and Month/Year, and select Exclude Applicants.
• When/how to use: Quickly confirm every occupied unit has charges set up, and compare Market Rate against All Charges to spot under-billing or missing charges. Vacant and move-in/room-change flags help verify occupancy against billing; use Manage Billing to jump straight into a resident's billing.

Billing Program Reports (two separate reports)

For residents on a Medicaid or other billing program

• What it shows: Resident leaves under a billing program (Leaves tab: Days Off/On Premise, Leave Start, Scheduled/Actual End, Reason, Destination, Status, with Add/Verify/Unverify options), and the monthly claim data used to bill the program (Claims tab: LTC Medicaid #, DOB, Dx Code, Billing Mod, Dates, Num Units, Amount to Bill, and totals). 
• When/how to use: Only relevant to communities running a Medicaid or similar billing program. Use Leaves to track and verify leave days that affect program billing, and Claims to review the monthly claim details before submitting them to the payer.

GL Transactions & Period Close

At period-end, posted transactions are exported from GL Transactions so the period can be reconciled and closed. This is typically handled by your accounting or finance team. The standard Business Office role can view accounting periods but does not close them, since closing a period and Restricted Close require elevated permissions.

If exporting transactions is part of your responsibilities:

1. From the Billing menu, open GL Transactions and locate the period (each shows its status: Open or Restricted Close).
2. Click GL Txns on that period's row.
3. On the View Transactions/Payments page, select all transactions (use the filters to narrow first if needed), then click Export Transactions.
4. Click Go Back. Once exported, the period shows "There are no transactions."

⚠️Note: Closing a GL period is likely handled by your accounting or finance team.

Rent Roll

The Rent Roll is a detailed, customizable billing report used to review community- and resident-level billing data, compare metrics across a portfolio, and tie totals out to the General Ledger (GL). Business Office staff can typically view it, but it is primarily used by accounting or finance to reconcile against the GL. 

Access the Rent Roll

There are two ways to access the Rent Roll:

1. Click Reports at the top of your Dashboard, scroll to the Billing section, and then select Rent Roll.
2. Alternatively, use the Billing dropdown menu, click +Reports, and then select Rent Roll.

Customization Options

The Rent Roll can be tailored to your reporting needs. Use the Columns button to show or hide data points, then sort, filter, reorder (drag and drop headers), resize, and freeze columns or rows directly in the grid. Click Save As to store a per-viewer configuration (for example, "Month-End Audit") and restore it later from the View dropdown.

Report Tabs

• Summary tab: a high-level, month-filterable overview for comparing metrics across your portfolio, and where you manage custom export templates. Click the grid icon on a row to open that community's Report tab.
• Report tab: a customizable, granular view for the selected community. ALIS offers a New Version (drag-and-drop customization) and a Legacy Version (V1, static layout, no longer updated).
• Report Configuration tab: groups GL account numbers into readable columns (such as "Rent" or "Care") using Set Income Columns and Set Concession Columns, and copies configurations to other communities with Copy To.

⚠️ Note: Figures in the Total column should match your GL billed totals. A mismatch usually indicates incomplete Billing Item settings in ALIS or data not yet exported to your accounting software. For Rent Roll setup or GL tie-out questions, contact your accounting or finance team.

Occupancy Reports

Occupancy reports show how many units (beds) are occupied in a community, which helps confirm your billing picture matches actual occupancy. Occupancy is based on resident room-assignment dates and can be affected by your Hotel Rules setting.

• Unit Occupancy Report: shows exactly how many beds are occupied by day for a selected date range, plus a breakdown of move-ins, move-outs, and room changes. Use it to see current occupancy and check it against billing. Access it from Communities, or Reports → Occupancy and Census Reports.
• Weekly Occupancy Report: a high-level portfolio snapshot with move-in/out trends, month-to-date figures, budget and variance, and current occupancy percentage. Access it from Communities → Weekly Occupancy Report.

💡Tip: If your community counts shared rooms as half a unit (.5), check the Weekly Occupancy Report in ALIS and/or ALIS HQ for the accurate count.

Section 11: Staff Administration

About Staff Administration

With the appropriate permissions, Business Office staff can keep the community’s staff roster current by adding new staff and discharging staff who have left.

⚠️Adding and discharging staff is a permissions-based action. If you do not see these options and need access, contact your Company Administrator.

Add a New Staff Profile

1. From the Dashboard, click Staff in the top navigation menu.
2. Click All Staff.
3. On the All Staff page, click + Add New Staff.
4. In the Add Staff panel, enter the First Name, Last Name, and Hire Date.
5. Select the Security Role.  This determines the staff member’s permission level in ALIS. 
6. Complete the remaining data (for example, Job Role, Email, Cell Phone).
7. Leave Login Status to Enabled so the user can login once setup is complete.

8. Select the Set Password checkbox, and choose from the following:
   • Automatically - sends a secure, auto-generated password via email and/or SMS text.
   • Manually - allows you to create the staff's first password, which is typically recommended for first-time login. 

9. Scroll down and click Add Staff to save and remain on the All Staff page; click Add Staff and Go To to navigate to the new profile.

⚠️ Note: There may be specialty features enabled, such as Lock by IP. Verify the login security features with your Company Administrator and how to handle them. 

Discharge a Staff Member

1. In the All Staff list, click the name of the person you are removing.
2. On the Staff Profile, click Discharge (the red button in the top-right corner).
3. In the Discharge Staff dialog, set the Discharge Date and click Discharge. 

⚠️Note: Discharged staff lose login access to ALIS immediately, and any Alerts assigned to this staff member are stopped.   

Revert a Discharge 

To revert a discharge (or re-hire) a staff profile:

1. On the All Staff page, set the Status filter to Discharged.
2. Locate and click on the profile.
3. Click Rehire in the top right corner.
4. Verify the Hire Date, and click Hire. This adds the profile back to the current staff list. 

Appendix: Optional Features

About Optional Features 

These optional features are specialty tools that extend your ALIS billing workflows. Some are entitlement-based and must be enabled by the ALIS team, and some require additional configuration before use, so availability varies by community. 

If you have questions about whether a feature is enabled, or need help with one of these workflows, contact your Company Administrator or ALIS Account Manager. 

Impact Review 

The Impact Review is an optional feature used for showing how a mid-cycle billing change affects invoicing before it posts. When a change occurs, it displays the suggested prorated charges and credits and lets you review, adjust, and confirm where each is applied. 

This prevents billing errors when services are added, updated, or ended partway through a billing period.

Where It Appears and What Triggers It

Impact Review opens automatically when a billing change affects an active billing period. It appears in both the resident profile and the Billing Center (if enabled).

• Resident profile: it is triggered by manual billing updates: adding a recurring charge, changing the rate of an existing recurring charge, or ending a service.
• Billing Center: it is also triggered by billing events such as Service Plan Completed (care level change), Room Assignment or Room Change (rent adjustment), Move In and Move Out, and resident leave events.

Enable the Impact Review

The legacy Impact Review is enabled in Settings → Billing Settings → General Settings, where you can enable the review for each trigger. A newer version is available upon request. Contact your ALIS Account Manager for more information.

💡Tip: For accurate results, Billing Items must have the correct Type and Category. Ensure Care Levels and Room Types are linked to billing items, and confirm recurring charges are accurate before enabling automation.

Impact Review: Apply Charges and Credits

Each suggested adjustment appears as its own line showing the Billing Item, the amount, the service dates (including any prorated period), whether the line is a charge or a credit, and the invoice destination ALIS proposes. 

Set the Action for each line (for example, Add Charge or Add Credit), then in the To column choose where it applies:

• Next Generated Invoice: applies the item to the next invoice scheduled to generate (not one already generated). The invoice date is based on the Invoice Date in Billing Settings.
• Create New Invoice: creates a new invoice immediately; you select the Invoice Date with the calendar picker.
• Unpaid Invoice: applies the item to an existing open, unpaid invoice. The invoice's balance appears beneath the dropdown and updates as you apply charges or credits.
• Unapplied Credits: leaves the credit on the account; it moves to Unapplied Credits on submission and applies automatically the next time an invoice generates.

⚠️ Note: The Billing Day of the Month (when invoices generate), set in Billing Settings, determines which destinations appear and which one ALIS proposes. The timing of your change relative to that day drives the options available.

Billing Center

The Billing Center is a centralized location where your billing team tracks billing and invoicing tasks. Events that populate its task list can relate to resident occupancy changes, level-of-care changes, and upcoming invoice dates. 

Its main purpose is to let you process those events and make real-time billing updates as they are triggered, though not every event requires a billing change. 

About Billing Center Settings

The Billing Center is configured in Settings → Billing Center, typically during onboarding by your Company Administrator or the ALIS team rather than by Business Office staff. You generally will not manage these settings yourself, but knowing what should be enabled helps you understand the events that appear in your task list. 

Configuration spans four areas:

• Communities: the Billing Center is turned on per community, and the Event Types that generate tasks are selected. Recommended events include Service Plan Completed, Applicant Moved In, Resident Moved Out, Resident Transferred Out, Assign or Unassign Room, Room Change, and Prepare for Auto Invoice Generation (5 Days Prior).
• Map Care to Billing: each Care Level and Care Package is linked to a Billing Item so a care level change proposes the correct charge. This depends on the Service Plan Completed event and Billing Items categorized as Care.
• Map Floor Plan to Billing: each Room Type is linked to a Billing Item so a room assignment or change proposes the correct rent. This depends on the Assign or Unassign Room and Room Change events.
• Event Rules: custom rules automate billing adjustments for Leave of Absence (LOA) events.

⚠️ Note: These settings determine how events translate into billing, and some depend on others (room events rely on Map Floor Plan to Billing, care events on Map Care to Billing, and the Auto Invoice event on Billing Settings). 

Billing Center: Work the Task List

The Billing Center defaults to the Needs Attention tab, which shows the total number of events that are Pending and In Progress for your community. Use the filters at the top to narrow the list, click any column header to sort, and use Print or Export to Excel as needed. For each event, take one of the following actions:

1. Process: click the blue Process button to review the event and update the resident’s billing. The page shows resident and Event Details, and the lower half mirrors the Billing section of the resident’s profile, including the Impact Review if enabled and applicable for that event type. When finished, scroll up and click the green Complete Task button.
2. Set in Progress: click the down arrow next to Process and select Set in Progress to show you are working an event (helpful when multiple staff share the list).
3. Reset Status: revert an in-progress event back to Pending.
4. Dismiss: dismiss an event that is irrelevant and requires no billing change; it moves to the History tab with the status Dismissed.

💡 Tip: You can Set in Progress, Reset Status, or Dismiss events in bulk by selecting the left-hand checkboxes and clicking the matching button at the top of the table. Repeat until there are no more events in the Billing Center.

ALIS Pay 

ALISPay is the integrated payment gateway within the Payment Center. It automates transaction processing, invoice reconciliation, deposit recordkeeping, and reporting. It integrates with iStream (ACH pulls and check scanning) and Fiserv (credit cards). 

The gateway does not run payments automatically; each payment is completed in ALIS by staff, or by payers through ALIS Connect. ALISPay processes three payment types: ACH pulls, check scanning, and credit card payments. 

ALIS Pay Check Scanning

Check Scanning uses iStream remote deposit capture within ALISPay. The ALIS team enables the feature and helps configure your scanner. 

A supported scanner is required: 

• CheXpress CX35 (feeds one check at a time)
• TellerScan TS250 (holds up to 100 checks)

⚠️Note: The ALISPay feature will not be enabled if your team processes payments outside of ALIS. 

ALIS Connect 

ALIS Connect is a communication portal that keeps residents' contacts informed and engaged, updating automatically from your daily work in ALIS. It spans four areas:  

• Social Platform (posts, photos, and Activity and Menu calendars)
• Connect Messaging (secure chat with families)
• Clinical Insights (Facesheet, latest evaluation and service plan, and active medications), and
• Billing Platform (view invoices, statements, and payment records, and pay bills online when ALISPay is enabled) 

This feature is included at no extra cost for ALIS Billing subscribers; non-Billing subscribers pay a small additional charge. 

Set Up ALIS Connect

Enabling ALIS Connect and creating User Profiles requires specific security-role permissions and is usually handled by an administrator, not Business Office staff (Settings → ALIS Connect). Profiles control what each contact can see, so a financial contact can be given a billing-only view. 

Give a Payer Access

The Business Office most often uses ALIS Connect to give a resident's financial contact access to billing.

• Grant access: from the Connect Center → Access tab (or a Resident Profile → Contacts → Connect Access), click Manage, then Send Invite, choose the User Profile (for example, a billing-only profile), confirm authorization, and send. Invitations expire in 30 days; status moves from Invited to Connected.
• Manage existing users: use Options to Edit Profile, Disable Access, Reset Password, Send Login Link, or Resend Invite.
• Audit access: Connect Center → Access → Export to Excel for a full list of users and their profiles.

The Connect Center

The Connect Center (Dashboard icon or Residents menu) manages portal content and users: Messages, Engagement (social posts), Bulletin (calendar PDFs), and Access (users and invites). The content tabs are typically handled by other staff; the Business Office mainly uses Access. 

Residents & Families: Pay Bills Online

When ALISPay is enabled, ALIS Connect users can pay resident bills online. 

1. Users log in at alisconnect.com. 

2. Add a payment method (Billing icon → My Payment Methods → +Add Payment Method, then a bank account for ACH or a card).

    

3. Pay from the Invoices tab (Pay Outstanding or Pay Invoice), choosing the full balance or specific invoices and confirming. They can download a receipt.

⚠️Note: For adding a payment method, have users mark it as Default if your community pulls recurring payments. Users only see invoices addressed to them.

Collections Center 

The Collections Center is a centralized place to view overdue balances and track follow-up across your communities. Access it from the Dashboard icon or the Billing dropdown (with the right permission). From the main page you can act in bulk on selected residents:

• Record Action (log a collections action with date and notes)
• Bulk Email Invoices or Statements 

You can also Export to Excel this page to share with a collections agency if needed.

Two ways to work an individual account:

• Resident Collections Details: click Details on a resident to review their payer info and outstanding invoices (click an invoice number for the PDF) and to log follow-up with +Add Action.
• Flag for Collections: any unpaid invoice appears here automatically, but you can also manually flag one from the resident profile (Billing → Invoices → Options → Flag for Collections) to add a yellow visual tag that prompts follow-up. Remove it with Options → Unflag for Collections.

⚠️ Note: Collection Action Types are customized in Company Settings (Emailed Invoice and Emailed Statement cannot be disabled).

Approval Center 

The Approval Center adds a review step to sensitive billing actions (credits, discounts, refunds, recurring charges, and incidental charges) so they must be approved before they finalize. Access it from Billing → Approval Center or the Dashboard icon. 

Administrators configure which actions require approval, who can approve, and whether a one- or two-tier workflow is used (Settings → Approval Center). 

Approval tiers: 

• Tier 1 (primary) approvers create or edit an entry and give the first approval
• Tier 2 (secondary) approvers give the final approval that finalizes the action

Three tabs organize the work: 

• Needs Your Approval (requests awaiting action)
• Open Approval Requests (still pending, for example waiting on Tier 2)
• Completed Approvals (an audit log of Approved and Denied requests)

A Tier 1 approval moves it to Open Approval Requests until Tier 2 approves; a Tier 2 approval finalizes it. Denied requests can be Resubmit for Approval.

⚠️ Note: Items awaiting approval show a Pending status across ALIS, and approvers get a red badge on the Dashboard icon (plus optional SMS/email alerts). 

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Login Issues

I cannot log in to ALIS. What should I do?

Verify your login URL follows the format companyid.alisonline.com. If you still cannot log in, contact your Company Administrator, who can reset your credentials.

My login was disabled. What happened, and how do I fix it?

For security, ALIS disables a login after 8 incorrect password attempts. Contact your Community Administrator or the ALIS Customer Support Team to restore access.

General System Questions

I am seeing information for the wrong community. What should I do?

Check the Community Name dropdown in the upper-right corner of any ALIS page and select the correct community before entering or reviewing any billing information.

I can’t find a feature described in this guide. What should I do?

Feature availability depends on your Security Role and enabled features. If you believe you should have access, contact your Company Administrator.

Resident Billing Setup

When adding a recurring charge, do I enter the prorated amount or the full monthly amount?

Always enter the full monthly amount in the Price field. ALIS calculates the proration automatically on the Impact Review.

How do I know which residents still need recurring charges?

On the Invoices page, open the Invoice Preview tab. Any resident flagged No Recurring Charges will not receive an invoice this period until charges are set up.

Billing Adjustments

What’s the difference between a discount and a credit?

A Discount spans a period of time and must be tied to a resident’s billable item. A Credit is a one-time concession that sits on the account until applied. See “Discounts vs. Credits” in Section 5.

My discount isn’t showing up on the invoice. Why?

A discount must be tied to the billable item it reduces. If you selected a generic item (such as “Base Rent Discount”) instead of the actual billed item, the discount will not populate. Re-add it against the correct billing item.

Can I edit an invoice after it’s been sent?

Only edit an invoice if it has not been distributed. If invoices have already gone out, use a credit or contact your home office for guidance.

Payments

A resident has a payment on file but still shows a balance. What should I do?

The payment is likely unapplied. Open the invoice’s Options menu, click Make Payment, select the unapplied payment, and click Save.

A resident wants their auto-payment split between two bank accounts. Is that possible?

Yes. Use SplitPay in ALISPay (Section 6). Both accounts must carry the Recurring tag to be pulled during payment processing.

Resident Billing Changes

A resident transferred rooms mid-month. How do I rebill them?

End the old recurring charge (creating a prorated credit) and add the new charge (creating a prorated charge). For the next-month row on the Impact Review, choose Take No Action. See Section 7.

A resident is moving out. What do I do about billing?

End all recurring charges as of the resident’s financial move-out date, then process the Move Out to stop medications, care, and room assignment. See Section 7.

Invoice Distribution

Some invoices didn’t print. What did I miss?

When filtering by Invoice Preference for hard copies, be sure to include Unspecified so payers without a set preference are not skipped.

Staff Administration

I don’t see the option to add or discharge staff. Why?

Adding and discharging staff is permissions-based. If the options are missing, your Security Role does not include them. Contact your Company Administrator.

Glossary

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

A

ACH (Automated Clearing House)

An electronic bank-to-bank payment method used in ALISPay to draw a payer’s payment directly from a bank account.

ALISPay

The optional integrated payment feature in ALIS used to process electronic payments.

B

Billing Center

A tool in ALIS used to manage bulk billing changes. Several procedures in this guide are performed outside the Billing Center.

Billing Item

A defined charge (such as rent or a care level fee) that can be added to a resident’s recurring charges or invoices.

C

Community Fee

A one-time fee charged to a resident, often at move-in, that can be billed on its own separate invoice.

Credit

A one-time concession applied to a resident’s account. A credit does not need to be tied to a billed item and remains on the account until applied to an invoice.

D

Default Payer

The primary contact that is financially responsible for a resident’s invoices. Uninvoiced incidental charges follow the Default Financially Responsible party.

Discount

A rate reduction that spans a period of time and must be tied to a resident’s billable item so it applies to that item on the invoice.

E

Exports

A tab in GL Transactions where exported transaction files are stored for reconciliation.

F

Financial Move Out Date

The last date a resident is billed. Recurring charges are ended as of this date.

G

GL Account (General Ledger Account)

The accounting code a charge, discount, or credit maps to for financial reporting.

GL Period

An accounting period (typically a month) in ALIS that is reconciled and hard-closed once all transactions are exported.

GL Transactions

The area of ALIS used to view, export, and close transactions by GL period.

H

Hard Close

The action of permanently closing a GL period. A period cannot be hard-closed until all transactions are exported. 

Hotel Rules

A community-level setting (in the Floor Plan) that, when enabled, counts a resident's room as occupied through the day after the Financial Move Out date. 

I

Impact Review

A confirmation screen that appears when adding or ending charges, showing the prorated financial impact and letting you choose the action and target invoice.

Invoice Preference

The setting that determines how a payer receives invoices (for example, Email, Mail, Email & Mail, Hand Deliver, or Unspecified).

L

Level of Care (LOC)

A resident’s assigned care level, which determines certain recurring charges. LOC changes may require mid-month proration.

M

Move Out

The process of discharging a resident, which ends billing, medications, care, and room assignment as of the financial move-out date.

My Account

A section in ALIS where staff manage their personal profile, login settings, password updates, and compliance forms.

P

Payer

The contact responsible for paying a resident’s invoices. A resident can have more than one payer, with one marked as Default.

Payment Preference

The method by which a payer’s payments are collected (for example, ACH).

Proration

The automatic calculation ALIS performs to charge or credit a partial period when a charge starts or ends mid-month.

R

Recurring Charge

A monthly charge (such as rent or a care fee) that generates a resident’s invoice each billing period.

Recurring (tag)

A tag on a payment method indicating it is used for auto-payments. Accounts must carry this tag to be pulled during payment processing, including SplitPay.

S

Security Role

A permission set assigned to a staff member that determines what they can view and do in ALIS.

Single Sign-On (SSO)

A login method that allows staff to access ALIS using their organization’s existing login credentials, often through Microsoft authentication.

SplitPay

An ALISPay feature that splits a payer’s recurring payment across two bank accounts by dollar amount or percentage.

Statement

A summary of a resident’s account activity and balance across invoices and payments.

T

Two-Factor Authentication (2FA)

A security feature requiring a verification code in addition to a username and password when logging into ALIS.

U

Unapplied Payment / Unapplied Credit

A payment or credit recorded on a resident’s account that has not yet been matched to a specific invoice.