Record rent that arrives outside the app

Not every resident can or will pay in the app. Some pay cash, some send an e-transfer, some still write cheques, and some have banking restrictions that rule out pre-authorized debit. Those payments can now be recorded rather than left unaccounted for.

Where to find it

Open Residents, pick a resident, go to the Financial tab and choose Manage ledger, then Record a payment. You capture the amount, how it arrived (cash, e-transfer, cheque, money order or other), the date the money changed hands, an optional reference such as an e-transfer confirmation or cheque number, and a description.

Why it matters

The entry reduces the balance owing exactly like any other payment. Without it, a resident who genuinely paid keeps accruing arrears, keeps being chased automatically for money already handed over, and stays flagged on the Overview page. Because the balance comes from the ledger, recording the payment also stops late fees being calculated on it and stops autopay charging it again. A partial payment correctly leaves only the remainder for autopay to collect.

A recorded payment is never presented as a verified one

A payment the processor handled is confirmed by the processor. A cash payment is asserted by whoever typed it in. Both reduce what is owed, but only one is verifiable, which matters at a tenancy board hearing or in a bookkeeper's reconciliation. So the ledger names the method on the row, the payments statement carries a Source column separating app payments from recorded ones, and the entry permanently records which staff member entered it.

Corrections

Mistakes are fixed by reversing an entry, not by deleting it. The entry is marked reversed with a reason and the person who reversed it, and stops counting toward the balance, while the original stays visible. A payment that went through the app cannot be reversed this way, because money that genuinely moved needs a refund rather than a ledger note.

The resident sees it too

In the app the entry names the method and confirms you recorded it as received on a given date. It produces a receipt showing what it was paid by, the date the money changed hands, and the reference the payer can check against their own records. A resident paying cash has historically had no proof at all that their landlord wrote it down.

A tenancy can also carry a payment arrangement on the Financial tab: a usual method plus a plain-language note such as "pays cash in the first week of the month". That is a note for your team and nothing more. It charges nobody and moves no balance.