Importing Homeowner Charge Tags + Troubleshooting Tips

Summary: This article will demonstrate what a Charge Tag is, and how it is applied to a Homeowner's account. The import screen is a powerful tool and can help accomplish many different tasks in Vantaca. 

If you manage an association that utilizes a variety of different Assessment or charge amounts, you can use Homeowner Charge Tags to quickly associate specific owner accounts with their appropriate billing rate. A good example for the use of Homeowner Charge Tags would be an association that bills different rates for 2 bedroom or 3 bedroom units.

Before importing Homeowner Charge Tags, we must first create the Assessment and the Assessment rule that we can use to tie the Homeowner Charge Tags to specific amounts and GL codes. To do this, we go to the Association > Assessments and either create a New Assessment or create a New Rule under an existing Assessment.

Once the charge is created, drill into the charge and press the New Rule button. You would set up the rule as normal, with a Fixed rate at any frequency. If the frequency is monthly, you would press the New Date button once per Tag type. If you are doing this for semi-annual or quarterly, you will need to press New Date for each Tag being created.

Annual Example:

Once the tags are set up, you can then run the Homeowner Charge Tag import to tag certain owners in those tags you just created, which can be done using the attached file "Charge Tag Import".

Below are some notes on this import. To import you would go to Settings > Import and create a New Import for the Homeowner Charge Tags type and select your file.

Once the file is committed, you will then want to go back to the rule you created on the assessment, open the rule and press Update once more to then refresh the tags and complete the setup. You should then have numbers in the count column for each tag for the amount of owners on your import. 

There are three columns of data required in order to successfully complete this import:

1. Account (or OldAccount)
2. Tag (you can include multiple tags i.e. 2 Bedroom or 3 Bedroom as mentioned in the example, on one import file)
3. AssocCode

Important Notes

• This import can be used across multiple associations (This may take more time to do because the information is normally pulled per association. It is recommended to do one import per association. That way it is easier to review and could cause fewer mistakes than one mass spreadsheet.)
• This import can be used to import multiple different tags at the same time
• Prior to running your import, a Rule must first be setup on the Assessment screen with the tag(s) you are using in your import
• You MUST go back to rules and click Update to refresh after the import in order for the changes to show
• Run HO Charge Tag Report to see if it works or check the rule setup
• If there is an empty tag and a tag, then the empty will show the total even though it should be less the number in the tag. Just name both and the problem goes away
• If the end date on the assessment rule is in the past, the charge tag will not be available as an option to add to homeowner's accounts

Troubleshooting Import Tips with Example:

Let's say we have our assessment built out to charge Single Family and Townhome owners $100 and $200 respectively. 

Upload the filled out template with the owners corresponding assessments.

Our three homeowners are all set up, now we can upload them into the import tool in Vantaca:

Because we used the template, our format is correct and we show 3 valid records and no errors. When we click Commit, we should be able to see all 3 owners attached to their assessment amount. 

Why is the import only showing the one townhome owner, and not the two Single Family owners?

Well, the tag that we set up in the rule must match the tag column in the template EXACTLY. Because our Rule is set up as "Single Family" and our template is set up as "Single-Family" the system did not recognize the match. Once the fix is made, the excel sheet can be reimported as a "replace" type to correct the original import. "Replace" can also be used to fix mistakes or try to correct if the count is not correct/what you expect it to be.

FAQ

Q: Why does a charge remain in Next Assessment after I manually unselected the charge tag on an owner's account?

A: After unselecting a charge tag on an owner's account via Homeowners > Homeowner Profile > Tags, you must regenerate the upcoming charge to reflect the change.

To remove the charge from Next Assessment:

1. Navigate to Association > Assessments
2. Locate the charge
3. Click the caret (arrow) to the left of the charge name
4. Select Generations
5. Find the upcoming charge by its date
6. Click Generate to regenerate the charge

This updates the charge to reflect the omission of the owner whose tag was unselected. The charge will then be removed from the owner's Next Assessment as intended.

Q: Why isn't an owner receiving a charge even though it appears in Next Assessment and they have the correct charge tag?

A: This happens when the owner has a Billing Start Date set to a future date.

To check this, go to Homeowners > Homeowner Profile > Payment Method > click + Enroll and review the Billing Start Date field. Remove the date and click Update. Once the date has been removed, go back to the charge in question on Association > Assessments, click the caret to the left of the charge name and then click the Generations tab. Locate the charge date in question and click Generate.

Note: The Next Assessment section will still display upcoming charges, but when charges are posted, the system will skip any account with a Billing Start Date that hasn't been reached yet.

For more information, see the How do I stop billing on an owner's account until a specific date? article.