Record a payment from a tenant

When you record receipt of money from a tenant, this will most likely relate to either rent or outstanding charges, but may be an overpayment or payment on account. 

Rent payments may also be received from a local authority in relation to housing benefit or Universal Credit. These are recorded via the same form, but this process is outlined in the article on receiving benefit payments from a local authority. This article focusses on payments received directly from the tenant. 

Payment of security deposits is recorded via a separate channel since these are treated in a different manner, as they will require protection and/or transfer to landlords or deposit schemes.

STEP-BY-STEP

1. Although there is only one form where you receive money from tenants, it is possible to get to this page from various locations within the system for your convenience.
2. From the top menu select Accounting > Rent & Charge Receipts and then choose the property. Alternatively click Select by Tenant to choose a tenant to proceed to the payment form. 
   
   
   
   
3. If you are currently viewing a tenant, property or tenancy, then click Record Receipt.
   
   
   
   
4. On the left side of the tenant receipt form, the tenant or property from which you clicked through will be automatically selected. The property with the current tenancy is selected by default, so if a tenant has a previous tenancy with rent arrears this will need to be selected from the property options. 
   
   
   
   
5. If you wish to record a receipt from a tenant other than that shown, simply click the Select Another Tenant link.
6. If you wish to change perspective and choose to record a receipt by property, click Select By Property. 
   
   
   
   
7. The tenant's current balance is shown, broken down by the amount owed to the landlord via the client account (typically rent or deposits) and that owed to the agency (typically fees).
   
   This may assist you when deciding how to allocate the receipt between charges and rent, and indeed which account you may need to lodge the money into.
   
   
   
   
8. In the Payment Details section, choose the type of payment being received, i.e. from whom to whom. Typically this will be from the tenant to the agency, but it could be from the tenant to the landlord in which case the money does not enter the agency's bank account at all (obviously, only rent may be paid to the landlord, not agency fees).
   
   Housing benefit payments are dealt with in a separate set of articles.
   
   
   
9. If payment is being made to the agency, choose which bank account the money is being received into, and the payment medium used for lodgement (default is BACS). This will determine which charges may be paid directly.
   
   As you change the bank selection, the charges on the right-hand side will also change - see the next two steps below.
   
   
   
   
10. If you lodge money into the client account, you can only pay off outstanding rent directly. Any money intended for outstanding charges will have to be allocated separately since charges are actually due to the agency, and are therefore not fully settled until the associated funds are in the office or business account.
    
    
    
    
11. If you lodge money into the office account, you can only pay off outstanding charges directly. Any money intended for outstanding rent will have to be allocated separately since rent is actually due to the landlord, hence they are not fully settled until the relevant funds are in the client account.
    
    
12. In the Receipt Details section, specify the date on which the lodgement or receipt was actually made. This may determine which charges or rent was actually due on that date, if this is being recorded retrospectively. 
    
    
    
    
13. The receipt value will automatically be allocated to the oldest outstanding charge first, and then to later charges in turn until there is no more money to allocate. 
    
    
    
    
14. If you are receiving more money than is currently due, this may be either allocated to future rent automatically, or it can simply be recorded as an overpayment or payment on account. 
    
    
    
    
15. Automatic allocation of rent to future rent periods is addressed in a separate article.
    
    
    
    
16. Click Save.
17. The page will reload ready for recording another receipt, if appropriate.
    
    An acknowledgement message is displayed on the screen indicating that the receipt was successful. The message contains convenient links to view the tenant statement, view and print a receipt, or email a receipt to the tenant. 
    
    

Management fees

A management fee may be charged to the landlord when a tenant pays rent due on a tenancy. More details on applying management fees for collecting rent. 

A management fee will only be charged on the rent portion of money received from a tenant. If some money is allocated to pay charges then that will not be subject to a management fee.

RELATED ARTICLES

• Housing benefits or Universal Credit
• Record receipt of a security deposit