Set clearance periods for various payment methods

Depending on the method of payment, it may take several working days for the funds received to clear and become available on the recipient's account.

STEP-BY-STEP

1. Click on the Settings menu.
   
   
   
   
2. Click the Agency tab.
   
   
   
   
3. Choose the Clearance Periods option within the Financial category. 
4. Update clearance periods via Options > Update. You may set a clearance period between 0 (immediate) and 10 days. 

By default all payment methods are set to clear immediately (zero days). However, for example, you may wish to change the clearance period for cheques to 5 days.

Impact on statements and balances

The payer's account will reflect the payment on the date of the transaction, i.e. the day they made the payment. The recipient's account will reflect the payment received on the clearance date. 

Example 1:

A tenant pays rent of £1000 by cheque on Monday 1st August, with the clearance date for cheques set to 4 days. The tenant's statement will show receipt of the rent on 1st August, but the funds will not be reflected on the landlord's account until Friday 5th August. If management fees are configured to be applied immediately on rent receipt, the management fee will be charged on 5th August when the money is received by the landlord account.

Example 2:

A tenant pays rent of £1000 by cheque on Wednesday 3rd August, with the clearance date for cheques set to 4 days. The tenant's statement will show receipt of the rent on 1st August, but the funds will not be reflected on the landlord's account until Tuesday 9th August. If management fees are configured to be applied immediately on rent receipt, the management fee will be charged on 9th August when the money is received by the landlord account.

Bank holidays

When setting up your agency bank accounts, you have to provide information about which region the accounts are located in. This is to allow clearance periods to take into consideration any bank holidays in that region. These bank holidays are maintained within Elevate and are not editable by users.  

Example 3:

A tenant pays rent of £1000 by cheque on Wednesday 24th December, with the clearance date for cheques set to 4 working days. Thursday 25th and Friday 26th December are bank holidays, so the 4 working days start on Monday 29th December. Thursday 1st January is also a bank holiday so funds will not clear to the landlord account until Friday 2nd January.