A monthly rental billing checklist for property companies

A useful monthly billing routine starts before you send anything. Check the tenancy, record verified payments, review this month’s charges, and decide whether you need invoices, statements or both. The checklist below follows Albo’s administrator workflow and highlights the places where a quick check can prevent an incorrect balance or a repeated charge.

1. Check company and tenancy details

Review your company name, logo, contact details, banking details and billing due day. The banking details tell tenants which account to pay; check the account holder, number and branch information carefully. Your rental payment instructions are separate from Albo’s optional coffee contribution.

Then check the unit, tenant names, saved email addresses, lease dates and agreed rent. Where a renewal changes the rent, confirm the applicable lease period before billing. A saved email address can still be mistyped, so correct it before preparing messages.

2. Bring recorded payments up to date

Compare your bank records with each tenant’s account history. After verifying an EFT, open the account and choose Record EFT payment. Enter the actual amount, payment date and a useful reference. Check whether it has already been recorded before adding it.

A proof-of-payment message is a reason to investigate, rather than confirmation that the money appears in your bank account. Recording an EFT updates the account record; it does not transfer money or connect to an automatic bank reconciliation. Keeping this step current also helps you review any overdue balance accurately.

3. Choose the month and tenants

Open Monthly billing and choose the billing month. Check the displayed due date and the Posted billing runs section before preparing another run for that month.

Tick the tenants you intend to include, or use Check all and remove any exceptions. Both action buttons show the number selected: for example, Send invoices (4) and Send statements (4). This is the number of selected tenancies, not a count of individual email addresses. A joint tenancy may have more than one saved recipient.

4. Review rent and extra charges

Check the monthly rent on every selected row. Add only applicable extras, using a clear description and the correct amount. For a custom water charge, for example, “Water · September” explains the period more clearly than “Water”. Keep the supporting account or calculation available for queries.

The selected total helps you check the batch, but still inspect each tenant’s figures. If agreed overdue interest applies, check the interest shown in the invoice review too. Albo calculates daily interest on unpaid overdue balances and posts it when an invoice is issued; statements show the interest already posted.

5. Review and post invoices once

Choose Send invoices to open the review. Check the billing month, due date, selected names, rent, extras, interest and total. The final Post & send invoices action adds the charges to those tenant accounts and queues their invoice emails with PDF attachments.

If the month has already been billed, stop and establish what you need. The additional-billing override adds the reviewed charges again, including any rent left in the review. It does not replace the previous invoice. Use it only for intentional additional charges, with a reason; use Resend invoice from an existing invoice when you simply need another copy.

6. Record adjustments with a reason

If an agreed correction reduces the account, use Issue credit from the tenant’s account. Check the amount and date, then write a reason that explains the adjustment, such as a correction to an incorrectly billed water amount.

Keep payments and credits distinct. A credit records an adjustment to the amount owed; an EFT entry records a verified payment. Entering both for the same event would reduce the account twice. After the adjustment, check the account history and balance before preparing a fresh statement.

7. Send statements for the right period

Choose Send statements for the selected tenants, or Send statement from one tenant’s account. Select the from and to dates, load the statements and check the previews and saved recipients. Review the opening balance, entries and closing balance for that period.

Sending statements does not add the unposted rent or extras on the Monthly billing screen. If those are new charges you intend to bill, complete the invoice step first. A statement ending before a payment’s recorded date will exclude it. See rental invoices versus account statements for a worked example.

8. Check Email outbox and follow up

Confirm that the expected messages appear in Email outbox. Queued means waiting for processing. A sent status confirms the system’s send succeeded; it does not prove delivery to the inbox or that the tenant read the message. For failed or unsent messages, investigate the delivery status and recipient details before retrying.

If a tenant says an email is missing, check the outbox and ask them to check spam or junk folders. Review their portal account too. Avoid reposting charges as a delivery workaround: resend the existing document when needed.

Keep this routine handy alongside the billing feature overview. To familiarise yourself with the screens before working on actual accounts, open the admin and tenant demo.