AppFolio Tutorials - Ep. 11 Tenant Payments

Hello everyone, and welcome to APM Academy. In today’s video, we’ll cover tenant payments, includingrent and security deposit processing, for tenants who do not use their online portal.

Step 1 – Online Portal Overview

• Most tenants opt to use theonline portal to pay rent and security deposits.
• Payment methods include:
  • Debit card
  • Credit card
  • Bank account

If a tenant has not set up their portal, you will manually record their payment in AppFolio.

Step 2 – Entering a Tenant Payment

1. Navigate to Tasks → Enter Receipt.
2. Record the payment according tohow it was physically received:
   • Tenants may write one check for both first month’s rent and security deposit.
   • Alternatively, they may sendtwo separate checks.

Example

• Tenant: Thorne
• Payment: One physical check for $5,000
  • Remarks: First Month’s Rent + Deposit
  • Reference: Tenant’s check number (e.g., 1234)
  • Cash Account: 1150 (property cash account)
  • Payment Type: Check, Money Order, Cashier’s Check, Direct Deposit, etc.

Fill in any remaining fields as appropriate.

Step 3 – Security Deposit Transfer

1. In most setups, thesecurity deposit account is offset to1160 (or your designated security deposit cash account).
2. After saving the receipt, a“Security Deposit Transfer Ready” prompt appears.
3. Click the prompt, thenMark Transfer as Complete.
4. Physically transfer the security deposit portion (e.g., $2,000) from your rents account to thesecurity deposit account.

Once complete, your cash balances will reflect the correct allocation between rent and security deposits.

Summary

This is how you record tenant receipts in AppFolio when tenants do not use the online portal:

1. Enter the receipt.
2. Allocate funds according to actual check details.
3. Transfer security deposits to the correct account.

Following this workflow ensuresaccurate accounting and compliance with trust requirements.

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