How to Prepare & Stamp Bills for Admin to Process

Typically the most common bill received and processed by a property manager is a utility bill. The admin staff sorts the mail, labels the mail with who it belongs to, and then puts the mail into your mail slot. Before giving the bills back to the Admin staff, you need to stamp and provide information for the entering of the bill into AppFolio. How to process the utility bill is first and then vendor bills below.

4. Filling out the stamp. MAKE SURE you fill in each line before giving the bill to the Admin staff.

1. 1. Address/Unit:

      1. The address you write in needs to match the address in AppFolio. It also needs to be the specific property that is being billed including the unit numbers/names if applicable. 

   2. Amount:

      1. The amount written is the total you want paid on the bill. Use the How to Check Previously Processed Bills training to check if a past due balance on the bill has already been paid.

      2. DO NOT enter the amount blindly without checking the previous bill if one exists. The first bill you receive after starting service won't have any previous bills to compare.

   3. GL Account

      1. Using the Most Used GL Account Codes sheet or the GL Accounts tab under Accounting in AppFolio, write in the GL Account based on the type of utility it is. 

   4. Categorizing Bills as BTO, BTT, and RUBS

      1. BTO - Bill to Owner

         1. If the bill is to be paid solely by the owner, circle BTO. An example would be utility bills for a vacant property. 

      2. BTT - Bill to Tenant

         1. If the bill is to be reimbursed by the tenant, circle BTT. All bills entered as BTT are paid with the owner's reserve balance first, and then reimbursed by the tenant through the tenant ledger. An example would be a utility bill

      3. RUBS - Ratio Utility Billing System

         1. This is used only for bills split between multiple units in the same building. Most commonly used for utility bills. A RUBS addendum signed by the tenant and agreed to in writing by the owner is required before using RUBS for a bill. The percentage paid by each party is determined before billing under RUBS. For more detailed information about how to enable RUBS and using the RUBS system, go to RUBS In Depth. The page also includes details about utility companies and billing addresses.

         2. When filling in the address portion of the stamp for a RUBS bill, include the units RUBS applies to.

TIP: When processing the bills to give to the Admin staff, use three manila folders labeled according to the stamp. One folder labeled BTO, one labeled folder BTT, and one labeled folder RUBS. Put the so labeled bill in the folder so they're organized and separated by type. That way when you go to put the bills in the Admin staff bins, you can take them out of the folder and directly into the bins. 

Vendor Bill

Below are the steps to take before giving the bill back to the Admin staff specifically for a vendor bill.

1. Stamp the bill anywhere with enough space on the bill. You don't want to put the stamp over any text because the information you write in the stamp will be impossible to read. See the example stamp to the right.

2. Filling out the stamp. MAKE SURE you fill in each line before giving the bill to the Admin staff.

   1. Address/Unit:

      1. The address you write in needs to match the address in AppFolio. It also needs to be the specific property that is being billed including the unit numbers/names if applicable. 

   2. Amount:

      1. The amount written is the total you want paid on the bill. Use the How to Check Previously Processed Bills training to check if a past due balance on the bill has already been paid.

      2. DO NOT enter the amount blindly without checking the previous bill, if one exists. The first bill you receive after starting service won't have any previous bills to compare.

   3. GL Account

      1. Using the Most Used GL Account Codes sheet or the GL Accounts tab under Accounting in AppFolio, write in the GL Account based on the type of utility it is. 

   4. Categorizing Bills as BTO, BTT, and RUBS

      1. In almost every vendor bill scenario, the billed will be BTO. The most common bill type behind BTO is BTT. If there is damage a tenant is responsible for and will be reimbursing the for, you would submit the bill BTT. RUBS would not be applicable for a vendor bill.

         1. BTO - Bill to Owner

         2. BTT - Bill to Tenant

         3. RUBS - Ratio Utility Billing System

3. Make sure the bill includes the correct vendor you want paid, or that the vendor's name is anywhere on the invoice. If the invoice doesn't include the vendor's name, write it on the invoice and then submit.