The Payments section of a resident's Billing profile shows every payment recorded for that resident and lets you record payments, collect ALIS Pay ACH payments, and match payments to invoices without leaving the profile.
Recording several payments at once, such as a full deposit of checks? Use the bulk workflows in the Payment Center (+Record Check or +Record ACH/CC) instead.
Enable & Access Resident Payments
To enable: Billing must be enabled for your community, and your security role needs permission to manage resident billing. Processing ACH payments also requires ALIS Pay. To set up either, contact your Account Manager or our ALIS Customer Support Team.
To access: Open the resident's profile, scroll to the Billing section, and expand Payments.
Tip: The top of the Billing section shows the resident's Outstanding Invoices and Unapplied Payments totals. Check these before and after any payment work.
How-To: Submit a Manual Payment
Use a manual payment to document money received outside of ALIS, such as a paper check or a card payment run on another system. Recording a manual payment does not move any funds.
A payment added from the Payments section is saved to the resident's account as unapplied. Apply it to an invoice after you save it (Step 3). If Automatically Apply Pre-Payments to Invoices is on in Billing Settings, unapplied payments are also applied automatically when monthly invoices generate.
Step 1: Start a new payment
- In the resident's Billing section, expand Payments.
- Click +Add Payment. The Create Payment pane opens on the right.
Step 2: Enter the payment and save
These fields fill in automatically:
- Payer Type: Private.
- Payer: the resident’s default payer.
- Received On: today.
- Method: your community’s first payment method.
Change them only if they don’t match the payment you received. Received On can’t be a future date.
- For checks, enter the Check #.
- Enter the Amount.
- (Optional) Select Exclude from Auto Apply to keep this payment out of automatic applying. It stays unapplied until you apply it by hand.
- Choose whether to Create Payment as a Deposit? The default comes from Default Create Single Payment as a Deposit in Billing Settings.
- Yes: Creates a single-payment deposit dated the Received On date. Select a Deposit Account if one is shown, and optionally Upload Deposit File.
- No: Sends the payment to Payment Center > Undeposited Payments to add to a deposit later.
- (Optional) Add a Description and Internal Note.
- Click Save.
Step 3: Apply the payment to an invoice
- In the resident’s Billing section, expand Invoices.
- Click Options > Make Payment on the invoice the payment should pay.
- In the Apply Payment pane, choose the payment from Existing Payments. The oldest unapplied payment is selected first, so confirm it’s the one you just added.
- Check the Amount, then click Save.
The payment's Balance lowers by the amount applied, and the invoice balance lowers by the same amount.
Tip: To record and apply a payment in one save, click Options > Make Payment on the invoice and create the new payment there. Any amount over the invoice balance stays unapplied.
How-To: Process an ACH Payment (ALIS Pay)
With ALIS Pay, you can withdraw an ACH payment from a payer's bank account directly from the resident profile. Credit card payments follow the same steps.
Before you start:
- ALIS Pay: Your community needs an active ALIS Pay merchant account for ACH (or Credit Card).
- Payment method: The payer needs a saved bank account under Payment Methods (Payers > Options > Edit Payer Details or Edit Contact). Payers without one don't appear in the list.
Step 1: Set up the payment
- In the resident’s Billing section, expand Payments.
- Click +Make ALIS Payment.
- Confirm the Payer. It defaults to the resident’s primary payer, and Payer Type is always Private.
- Select ACH as the Payment Method.
- Review the Balance Due as of date. It defaults to the 1st of the current month. Only invoices posted (or due) on or before this date are included.
- Select a Default Application Type:
- Oldest To Newest (default): pays the oldest open invoices first.
- Most Recent Invoice: pays the newest invoice.
- Custom Apply: lets you choose specific invoices and amounts.
- Do Not Apply: leaves the payment unapplied.
- Select an Amount option. Custom is the default and starts at $0, so type the amount, or choose Full Outstanding Balance.
- Click Next: Review.
Tip: Billing a mid-month invoice, such as a move-in? Move the Balance Due as of date forward so the invoice is included. Payers with no open balance as of this date don’t appear on the review page, so this flow can’t collect a prepayment.
Step 2: Review the payment
- Review each of the payer’s saved accounts and its amount. If the payer has Split Pay set up, the total is divided across their accounts.
- Adjust the amounts or invoice applications if needed. The payment date is always today.
Step 3: Submit the payment
- Click Submit Payments.
- In the Confirm Bulk Payment window, click Submit.
After payment submission
You are taken to the Payment Center, where each payment processes in the background. Track results in the Payment Gateway Txns tab.
- Approved: The payment appears in the resident’s Payments list with its Txn number, applied according to your application type.
- Declined: The payment is removed, the decline reason is shown, and a Payment Gateway failed alert is raised.
- Funding: The payment stays in Undeposited Payments until the processor reports the funds, typically 2 to 3 business days after the payment date. ALIS then creates a locked deposit, dated the funding date, overnight.
- Returns and NSFs: A return notification, such as for Non-Sufficient Funds (NSF), is generally processed 5 to 7 business days after the payment date. ALIS checks for returns automatically overnight, for up to 60 days.
Important:
ACH payments typically fund in 2 to 3 business days, and returns such as NSF arrive 5 to 7 business days after the payment date.
iStream payments can be voided until 8pm CT on the day they’re submitted. Payments submitted after 8pm CT can be voided until 8pm CT the next day. Fiserv payments cannot be voided or refunded in ALIS. See ALIS Pay: Refunds and Voids.
How-To: Review a Resident's Payments
The Payments section shows all of the resident’s payments, both manual and ALIS Pay. The newest appear first.
- In the resident’s Billing section, expand Payments.
- Review each row:
| Column | What it shows |
|---|---|
| Received On | The payment date. ALIS Pay payments also show a Txn number. Click it for the gateway transaction details. |
| Payer | The payer’s name (or “Unspecified”) and payer type. |
| Method | The payment method, the last digits of the account or card, and any check number. ALIS Pay payments show a Gateway tag. |
| Amount | The total received, including any card convenience fee. |
| Balance | The part of the payment not yet applied to an invoice. |
| Description | The description and any internal note. Opening-balance payments show an OPENING tag. |
| Details | The invoices the payment was applied to, plus any refunds, fees, transfers, or status such as NSF, Chargeback, Declined, or Void. |
- Click Options on a payment to see what you can do with it. Only actions that apply to that payment appear.
Everyday actions:
- Edit: Change the payment’s details. Once a payment is applied, deposited, refunded, or NSF’d, or its accounting period closes, only the Payer, Description, and Internal Note can be changed. ALIS Pay payments allow only Description and Internal Note.
- Delete: Remove a manual payment. A reason is required.
- Transfer: Move the payment’s unapplied balance to another resident, applicant, or moved-out resident in the same community.
- Receipt: Email a payment receipt.
Reversals:
- Void: Cancel a same-day ALIS Pay ACH payment (iStream only).
- NSF: Mark a deposited payment as returned for insufficient funds.
- Chargeback (credit card) or Decline (ACH or card): Record a reversal on a deposited payment.
- Reverse NSF / Reverse Chargeback / Reverse Decline: Undo one of those statuses.
Tip: The Unapplied Payments total in the summary at the top of the Billing section is money that has been recorded but not yet applied to an invoice. Apply it using the steps below.
How-To: Unapply or Apply a Payment
Unapplying removes a payment from an invoice but keeps it on the resident’s account. Applying matches a payment’s unapplied balance to an open invoice. Both are done from the Invoices section.
Unapply a payment from an invoice
Unapply first when you need to transfer, refund, or reapply a payment. Only a payment’s unapplied balance can be transferred or refunded, for both manual and ALIS Pay payments.
- Click Options > Edit on the invoice. The invoice opens on its own page.
- In the invoice’s Payments section, click Unapply on the payment.
- Enter a Reason, then click Unapply Payment.
The invoice balance goes back up, and the amount returns to the payment’s Balance and the resident’s Unapplied Payments total.
Tip: To apply less of a payment instead of removing it completely, click Edit next to the payment in the same section.
Apply an unapplied payment to an invoice
- In the resident’s Billing section, expand Invoices.
- Click Options > Make Payment on the invoice. This option only appears on invoices that aren’t fully paid.
- In the Apply Payment pane, choose the payment from Existing Payments. The oldest payment with an unapplied balance and the same payer type as the invoice is listed first.
- Check the Amount. It defaults to the smaller of the payment’s balance and the invoice’s balance.
- Click Save.
What to Expect
Applied payments lower the invoice balance and appear under Details on the payment’s row in the Payments list.
When everything is matched, the summary at the top of the Billing section shows Outstanding Invoices $0.00, Unapplied Payments $0.00, and Unapplied Credits $0.00.