Record an expense each time a vendor bills you. The expense is posted to the property's books, and can be paid now or later and passed through to tenants.

Note

Recording expenses needs permission to create bills. The vendor needs an account at the property — if it doesn't have one, you can add it from the form (see Add a vendor while you record).

Open the form

Do one of the following:

  • In Expenses, click Record expense. The form opens on the right.
  • On a property's Expenses tab, click Record expense. The property is filled in and can't be changed. See The property Expenses tab.
  • On a vendor's page, click ⋯ › Record expense, or Record expense on its Overview tab.

The Record an expense form
Recording an expense from Expenses

Fill in the expense

  1. Property — the property the bill belongs to.
  2. Vendor · account — start typing the vendor's name and pick the vendor account. The list shows each vendor with its account number. Picking an account fills in its bank account, its category and, for a single-line expense, the amount of the last expense on that account. Change any of them if they are wrong.
  3. Expense date — the date on the vendor's invoice. If the property's books are closed for that date, a hint tells you.
  4. The category line — choose a Category, and optionally enter a Description and the vendor's Invoice #. Enter the amount. To split the bill across several categories, click Add line; see Split an expense across categories.
  5. Memo — optional internal note.
  6. Set the flags if they apply:
    • Operating — marks the expense as an operating expense. It is set from the category's default; the property Expenses tab can show operating expenses only, for example to prepare CAM reconciliation.
    • Prepayment — for an expense that covers a period, such as an insurance premium. Enter Prepayment from and Prepayment to. CAM reconciliation uses this period, so a premium that covers part of two years is counted in each year appropriately.

The Total amount at the top and Expense total at the bottom update as you type.

If the same bill may already be on the books, an amber note appears under the category lines. Two checks, each named so you can disagree:

  • Invoice # filled in — same property, same vendor, same number.
  • Invoice # blank — same property, same vendor account, same amount, with expense dates within 90 days of each other.

The note is a warning. You can still record the expense. The expense number opens the match in a new tab.

How it is paid

Under Payment, the switch on the right says how the bill is paid:

  • Paid — it was paid outside UnitConnect (a check you wrote, bank bill pay, a card, auto-debit). Enter the Bank account, how it was Paid by (Check, Bank transfer, Card or Auto-debit; it starts with the vendor account's payment method), the Check # (or Reference # for anything but a check), the Due date and the Paid date. The paid date starts at today.
  • Unpaid — you pay it later. Enter the Bank account and the Due date. Pay it later from the expense; see Pay an expense and print checks.
  • ACH — UnitConnect sends the payment to the vendor's bank. Pick the account it comes From, the Due date and the day to Send on. The line under the fields says where the money goes, when it should arrive and who gets the payment notice. If ACH can't go to this vendor from this account, the ACH choice shows a dot and the form says why. See Pay vendors by ACH.
Note

ACH appears only when vendor payments by ACH are on for your company and you may send them. When editing an expense, the switch offers only Paid and Unpaid: an ACH payment is sent from the expense with Pay expense.

Attach the invoice

Under Attachments, click Upload or drop files onto the box. The files are saved with the expense when you record it. (Attaching needs permission to manage expense documents.)

Pass it through (optional)

To re-bill the expense to tenants, turn on Pass through to tenants. See Pass an expense through to tenants.

Save

Click the save button. Its label says what saving does:

  • Record expense — an unpaid expense.
  • Record & Pay expense — a paid one.
  • Record & send $… by ACH (or Record & schedule $… by ACH for a later send date) — saves the expense and sends the payment.
  • Record & request approval to send $… — your company requires approval for this ACH payment: the expense is saved and the payment waits for an approver. See Approve payments.

If a required field is missing, it is highlighted and Complete the highlighted fields appears next to the button.

When the expense is saved you can Open expense or Record another expense.

Add a vendor while you record

If the vendor or its account doesn't exist yet, you don't have to leave the form. Choose a property first, then open Vendor · account:

New vendor and New account at the top of the list
New vendor and New account are at the top of the list

  • New vendor — creates a vendor and its first account at this property. Enter the Vendor name, Vendor type and Default GL account, then the account settings (account number, bank account and so on). Click Create vendor.
  • New account — adds an account at this property for an existing vendor. Pick the Vendor, fill in the account settings and click Add account.

The new account is selected in the form when you finish.