Operations October 28, 2010
BANKING PROCEDURES
All funds received should be processed daily. Payments that are not processed through OneSite
Payments should be taken to the bank daily; they should always be endorsed, or stamped immediately
upon receipt with the bank account number and “FOR DEPOSIT ONLY”. Each manually posted batch
should be listed on an individual deposit slip – one deposit slip per batch. The bank account information
should be stamped on the back of the check within 1 inch of the left edge of the check, per Federal
requirements. Payments for security deposits ONLY, cashier’s checks and money orders should be made
payable to the property, but not stamped on the back “For Deposit Only” until the application has been
approved. Payments taken to the bank should be entered in OneSite, the batch closed and printed and
the validated deposit slip attached. Prior to taking the manually posted checks to the bank all items in
the batch must be copied for reconciliation purposes. File the manually posted batches and the
corresponding copies of the checks in your batches binder. At month end, manual batches will be
reconciled with the Bank Deposit Summary.
Every property should have a lockable cash box or safe. Security deposits that are processed through
OneSite Payments should not be scanned until the application has been approved. Payments processed
through OneSite Payments should never be stamped on the back.
Remember: Each time a check is received from a prospective resident or a current resident, you must
verify that the numerical amount and the written amount in words match exactly.
Legally, the written amount in words is the correct amount and the bank will pay accordingly. If these
amounts differ, your staff must notify the individual of the error and request a new check be issued to
replace the incorrect check. If this is done prior to the check being deposited, it can save your property
and the individual time and the risk of additional charges.
Do not hold checks except in the case of a deposit where the application is pending approval. Do not
accept post-dated checks.
Payments processed through OneSite Payments should be processed as soon as they are received and
then stored in the property safe. After 14 days, personal checks should be shredded. Money Orders
should be stored for 4 months before shredding.
Note: Regarding starter checks (recommended we don’t accept them but the system will process them as
long as the routing and account information is at the bottom of the check)
If you have a check returned due to one of the following reasons “Unable to locate account” or “invalid
Account Number Structure”, rescan the check and verify the MICR account information is being read
correctly. If the scanner is reading the MICR account information correctly, process it as an IRD. Then
send an email to support@bpadv.com with the resident name, Unit number and the image of the
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Operations October 28, 2010
payment. Ask support in the body of your email to send this payment to Realpage to add to their MICR
database.
Every night at 8PM Central, the OneSite Payment system will automatically sweep any
transactions scanned for the day.
The scanned checks for the day should be placed in an envelope. Keep the checks/money orders
in the safe and note on the envelope the scanned and shred by date. Please read the next
section regarding Money Orders.
Disposal of scanned items after 14 days
After storing the scanned payments for 14 days in the property’s locked safe, remove those payments
and before you shred them, review your Today Alerts Snapshot for any Returned items due to Unable to
Locate Account or Invalid Account Number Structure. If you find any payments with this return reason,
you should rescan them, verify the MICR account numbers are being read correctly, select the payment
type IRD and submit them. Then send an email to Support@bpadv.com asking them to add these checks
to the Realpage MICR database. If you don’t see any payments returned due to this reason, you can
shred the 14 day old checks – on the 15th day. Money Orders should be shredded after 4 months.
Berkshire recommends to the properties that are using OneSite Payments that they try to sign
up applicants and current residents to pay their rent using the “Recurring Debit form” as a
convenient payment method or setup a recurring ACH payment through the resident portal. If
the resident chooses one of these methods of payment, they won’t have to bring a check to the
Leasing Office every month. Instead, their checking or savings account will be automatically
debit every month for their rent and automatically post to the OneSite Leasing & Rents
Resident’s Ledger. This option involves no additional “convenience fees” to the resident. These
forms must be filed in a binder by month the recurring payment expires. The binder should be
kept in a secure location since the residents banking information is listed on the form.
How to order deposit slips or replacement ink cartridges
Call Clarke-American at 877-202-8972 and tell them what you want and the bank account number on
the slips/deposit stamps. If you place your order before 10:00 AM Eastern time, you will receive the
replacement supplies the next day. The replacement ink cartridge for you scanner can be ordered
through the Ops Technology system.
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Using a safe
Only the District Manager, Property Manager and Assistant Property Manager should know the
combination to the safe. If there is an override key to open the safe, the PM and APM should
have a safe place where the key is kept.
When the Property Manager or Assistant Property Manager leave a property, the combination to
the safe should be changed to prevent access by former employees.
All paymentss that have not been scanned or taken to the bank should be kept in the safe until
the time you scan the checks or take them to the bank. Additionally, items such as Petty Cash
should be locked in the safe every night; if you do not have a safe on your property a locked
drawer is acceptable.
Additional OneSite Payment guidelines
All offices should have an outside and inside drop box in the leasing office. The outside drop slot should
be secure and an electronic payment notice should be posted by the outside slot. The inside drop box
should be located in a convenient place for the residents to drop off their payments. The decorative
drop box inside the leasing office should be placed in a location to prevent the box from being stolen. In
addition, the electronic payment notification should be posted in a nice frame near the drop box so the
resident can read the notice. The purpose of the drop box is to have the applicant/resident drop off the
payment and read the notice therefore, we should never physically accept a payment from a person but
instead direct them to drop their payment in the box and read the notice. Below is the notice that
should be posted.
Attention all Residents!
By dropping off your paper check or money order in this box, you are authorizing
Apartment Name to convert your payment into an electronic item for ACH processing.
If you have any questions, or choose not to have your item processed electronically,
please contact our office at XXX-XXX-XXX.
Thank you
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If the resident asks for an explanation of this process please tell them that your payment will be
scanned, the image and the amount of the payment will be electronically sent in a secured file to the
Federal Reserve every night at 8:00 PM Central time. Then the Federal Reserve will electronically
request funds from your bank the next day. The process of taking your payment to the bank will no
longer be necessary for us.
If the resident chooses to not have their payment electronically processed and they have requested to
not have their check electronically scanned, please put the check in an envelope and mark the envelope
“Do Not Scan, take to bank”. Then inform the resident to put their check going forward when they
bring their check to us and do not drop in the inside or outside drop box. The resident must inform us
with each payment every month that they don’t wish to have their check processed electronically.
Payment Authorization Form
As an added convenience for our residents, we can offer an automatic monthly recurring payment
option that will debit their checking or savings account for a fixed set amount or they can specify a “not
to exceed” amount which is an approximate amount of their rent and fluctuating utility bill due. If the
total due exceeds the “not to exceed” amount, the system will only pull up to the “not to exceed
amount”. To take advantage of this convenient payment program, the resident would fill out the
“OneSite Payments 3.1 Preauthorized Payment form” with their account number, routing number,
payment amount, the day of each month they wish to have their rent payment to be taken out of their
account. Note: it is recommended the payment be scheduled to be taken out the day before the late
day so the resident balance reflects the utility bills in Onesite. The recurring payment should expire in
the last full month of the lease term and a new recurring form fill out once the renewal lease is signed
and the new renewal rate is approved by the resident.
DISABLING A RECURRING DEBIT FORM
It is important to understand that the timing of when the payment is pulled is based on the true
calendar date not the date OneSite is on. So, if the recurring payment is scheduled to pull on a
weekend and the resident is moving out the following Monday, you would need to disable the
recurring payment before the weekend. The date in Onesite has nothing to do with when a payment
is debited from a person’s account.
Example: A resident has a recurring payment setup that expires June 30th. The Resident gives notice
that they’ll be moving out Friday May 31st. They turn in their keys late on Friday through the night
slot. Their recurring payment is schedule to occur the 2nd of each month. If you don’t move them
out before the calendar date Sunday June 2nd or disable the recurring payment before June 2nd, their
account will be debited. It doesn’t matter if you don’t advance your OneSite date to the 2nd because
the automatic payment will be withdrawn on the true calendar date.
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Resident Portal payment Procedure
Note: credit or debit cards can only be used in the resident portal.
As an added convenience for our residents, a resident portal is available for rental payments. They can
make payments using credit cards, debit cards, checking accounts or savings account. A resident can
choose one of the two payment methods listed below:
One-time payment - Logging into the portal each month to make their payment. They can
make their payment using their credit cards, debit cards, checking account or savings account
using this method. If they select this method, a processing fee of $10 will be charged each time.
Scheduled payments – A resident can setup a recurring payment either for a fixed amount or
for an amount “Not to Exceed”. They can apply their payments to either their checking or
savings account. Credit or debit cards are not available using this method. The processing fee
of $10 per month will not be charged.
A resident will be issued a username and temporary password during the “Apply Now” process. An
employee can create a username and password for a current resident by following the steps below:
1. Pull up the current resident account in OneSite and click the “edit” link to the left of the
resident’s name in the contact section.
2. Click the “Resident profile” tab.
3. Enter the resident’s email address. Note: without an email address, the resident cannot be
issued a username to access the portal. (The system requires this).
4. Then click the “Resident Profile” tab and click the suggestion button so the system will issue the
username. When you click “Save” the system will automatically send the resident’s username
and temporary password to their email address. See screen shot below.
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Operations October 28, 2010
Disabling a Resident’s Portal access
Under certain circumstances a resident can lose their privileges to make payments through the portal.
Below are circumstances where a resident’s access to make “Online Payments” should be disabled:
If a resident’s credit card payment transaction has been declined with the following circumstances,
their access to make online payments will need to be disabled:
Two (2) attempts in the same month resulting in declined status and the credit cards are
not in the resident’s name.
Credit card transaction declined with a status #043 which means (Lost or stolen credit
card).
Credit card transaction declined with a status #04 which means (Pick up card, issuer of
the credit card has closed the account).
How to disable access to make online payments through the portal
1. Pull up the current resident and click the “edit” link to the left of the resident’s name.
2. Click the “Resident profile” tab.
3. Click the “Online Rent Payment” box to uncheck the box, click save.
When a resident’s access is disabled, you will need to send to them the OneSite letter “Portal access
disabled” to notify them that their privileges to make a payment online have been removed. If they wish
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to discuss/dispute the disablement of their payment access they can visit with the Property Manager or
Assistant Manager.
Referenced Forms
(Available in the Forms Table of Contents)
OneSite Payment 3.1 Preauthorized Payment Form
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