🎓 Utilizing prepayments for unit rentals
In this video, you'll learn:
- How to add prepayment balances to unit rental accounts in Storeganise.
- Collecting prepayments either through the "Collect rent prepayment" option or by adding it to a draft invoice.
- Generating invoices for prepayments and applying discounts, if necessary.
- Understanding how prepayment balances are applied to future rental invoices, moving funds from the prepayment account to the revenue account.
- Handling payments manually or through an integrated payment processor and tracking prepayment balances.
By the end of this video, you'll know how to efficiently manage and utilize prepayments for unit rentals in Storeganise.
Congratulations! You've reached the end of the Invoicing & Payments module.
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View the transcript
Storganize allows you to add prepayment balances to rental accounts. When Storganize generates the customer’s rental-period invoice, the system will first look at the prepayment account. This will move the invoiced amount from the prepayment account to the revenue account.To add prepayment, let's first navigate to an active unit rental. On the unit rental page, you’ll find the "Prepayment" account in the left-side menu.
In this example, the prepayment balance is currently $0.
To add a prepayment, there are two options. The first option is to click on the three dots in the upper right corner and select "Collect rent prepayment." This will prompt you to enter the number of months of prepayment you’d like to collect and whether you'd like to apply a discount. In this example, we’ll add three months of prepayment.
After entering the information, an invoice is generated with a line item for three months of prepayment, at $100 per month—this customer’s rental rate. If there are accounting codes set for prepayments, they will automatically be applied to the invoice.
Now that the prepayment invoice is generated, you can either charge the customer using a payment processor or add a manual payment. For this example, we’ll add a manual payment.
Once the invoice is paid, we can check the updated prepayment balance by returning to the unit rental page and reviewing the prepayment account. The balance is now $300. You’ll also notice the "Billed until" date for this rental has been extended by three months.
The second option for collecting prepayment is to add it directly to a draft invoice. To do this, navigate to the "Invoices" section and create a new draft invoice. Click the plus icon in the top right corner and select "Collect prepayment." Just like before, enter the number of months and any promotion. In this case, we’ll add another three months.
We can also add prepayment that is less than or otherwise not equal to a full month’s amount by adding a custom charge to the draft invoice. Just be sure to set the "Type" to "Prepayment."
Once the invoice is paid, we can go back to the unit rental page. You’ll now see the "Billed until" date extended by an additional three months, as the customer has a total of six months of prepayment on their account.
On the next invoice date, instead of charging the customer, the system will automatically move the invoiced amount from prepayment to revenue. If there is a remaining balance on the invoice, it will follow the logic of your "Billing trigger" setting - either sending the invoice via email or charging the customer through your integrated payment processor. If the prepayment covers the entire invoiced amount, a paid invoice will still be generated to reflect the realized revenue.