Those located in Asia-Pacific and Europe will use the terms Tenants and Tenancies, where customers located in North America will use the terms Lease and Leases. For more information on regional terminology, refer to this article or contact support.
If a tenancy has been set up with the incorrect start date in the rent template there are a few ways to resolve the problem. How long the tenancy has been running needs to be taken into consideration when deciding on the best method of correction.
If the tenancy is very new, and the owner still has the funds in their ledger:
- reverse all of the receipts;
- adjust the rent template to start from the correct date;
- void all of the incorrectly dated rent invoices;
- set an opening balance;
- receipt the tenants funds back against the new receipts.
If there are no funds in the owners ledger:
- adjust the rent template to start from the correct date;
- raise One-off Rent invoices to cover the periods up to the 'next invoice' that the system shows it will generate;
- unreconcile the previous receipts, reverse where there are enough funds, or unreconcile only if the ledger balance prevents reversals;
- match the deposits from the bank statements to the new correct invoices;
- reverse payments against incorrect invoices;
- void all incorrect invoices;
- check that there are no unpresented deposits on the trust account.
Before heading down the path of making many reversals, consider your local trust accounting legislation - it may be non-compliant to reverse a receipt which has been issued. If you absolutely must reverse all the receipts for an entire tenancy, we would suggest you make notes about it for your trust account auditor, and possibly seek their advice on compliance matters regarding your choice.
Another option is to adjust the billing going forwards and use credit notes and one-off rent invoices to make the corrections. In the event of a tribunal hearing, making a good description in your credit note and the absence of reversals should make it clear enough what has happened.
If the tenancy was started too late:
- adjust the start date of the rent template to what it should have been;
- check what the 'next' invoice date range will be;
- use the option to generate a one-off rent invoice to cover the missed period at the beginning of the tenancy;
- use another one off invoice to cover the gap between the previous invoice and the next invoice (the 2 invoices should add up to one rental period);
- match the tenants next payment to the two invoices.
Example:
Tenancy was invoiced from 10th Feb 19 but really started on 1st Feb 19, and has already been invoiced for February and March, 'next invoice' date shows 10th April. Adjust rent start date to 1st Feb, and the 'next invoice' date will move forwards to 1st May. Raise one-off rent invoices for 1-9 Feb & 10-30 April.
If the tenancy was started too early:
- adjust the start date of the rent template to what it should have been;
- check what the 'next' invoice date range will be;
- use the option to generate a one-off rent invoice to cover the gap between the previous rent invoice and the next rent invoice;
- raise an income credit note for the overcharged period at the beginning of the tenancy, make sure the description is very clear, the amount should match the invoice in the previous step, apply the credit note to the invoice.
Example:
Tenancy was invoiced from 1st Feb 19 but really started on 10th Feb 19, and has already been invoiced for February and March rent, 'next invoice' is showing as 1st April. Adjust rent start date to 10th Feb, and the 'next invoice' date will move forward to 10th April. Raise a one-off rent invoice for 1-9 April, and a credit note for 1-9 Feb, apply the credit note to the invoice.