Set Up an ACH Payment Plan

An ACH payment plan drafts a set amount from a homeowner's bank account on a scheduled basis, either as a single one-time draft or across a series of monthly drafts. Use a payment plan to collect a special assessment, draft a homeowner who enrolled after your monthly ACH cut-off, or let a homeowner pay off a past-due balance over time. This article covers how to set up a payment plan for a homeowner who is already enrolled in ACH Draft and for one who is not.

Important: Always enter a Payment End Date. Payment plans override Block Payments settings and continue drafting until the end date, so a plan with no end date drafts indefinitely.

Contents

• Before You Start
• Option 1: Homeowner Enrolled in ACH Draft
• Option 2: Homeowner Not Enrolled in ACH Draft
• Payment Plan Behavior to Know
• FAQ

Before You Start

• Payment Method screen: Set up every payment plan from Homeowners > Homeowner Profile > Payment Method.
• Choose your option: If the homeowner already drafts their assessments through ACH, follow Option 1. If the homeowner is not on ACH Draft, or does not want ongoing auto-draft, follow Option 2.
• One-time vs. recurring: To draft once, set the Payment Start Date and Payment End Date to the same date. To draft over several months, set the end date to the final draft month.

Option 1: Homeowner Enrolled in ACH Draft

If the homeowner already drafts their assessments through ACH, add the payment plan to their existing enrollment. The plan amount drafts in addition to their regular assessment draft, as a separate item.

1. Navigate to Homeowners > Homeowner Profile > Payment Method.
2. Click Edit on the homeowner's existing ACH enrollment.
   The Edit Enrollment screen opens.
   
   
   
3. Select Payment Plan.
   The Payment Start Date, Payment End Date, and Payment Amount fields display.
4. Enter the payment plan details:
   • Payment Start Date (required): The first date the amount drafts.
   • Payment End Date (required): The last date the amount drafts. For a single draft, enter the same date as the start date.
   • Payment Amount (required): The amount to draft on each scheduled date.
5. Click Update.

Note: The ACH Start Date is already populated from the existing enrollment. Leave it as is.

Option 2: Homeowner Not Enrolled in ACH Draft

If the homeowner is not set up for ACH, you can still draft a payment plan without enrolling them in ongoing auto-draft. Keep their Payment Method set to Manual so their regular assessments are unaffected, and the plan amount still drafts from the bank account you enter.

1. Navigate to Homeowners > Homeowner Profile > Payment Method.
2. Click +Enroll.
   The enrollment screen opens.
   
   
   
3. Keep Payment Method for Homeowner set to Manual and select Payment Plan. Do not enter a Billing Start Date or ACH Start Date. Click Update.
   Additional fields display.
   
   
   
4. Enter the bank and payment plan details:
   • ABA (Bank Routing #) (required): The homeowner's bank routing number.
   • Bank Account # (required): The homeowner's bank account number.
   • Is Savings Account (optional): Select only if the account is a savings account.
   • Payment Start Date (required): The first date the amount drafts.
   • Payment End Date (required): The last date the amount drafts. For a single draft, enter the same date as the start date.
   • Payment Amount (required): The amount to draft on each scheduled date.
   
   
   
5. Click Update.

Notes:

• If the homeowner has multiple properties and wants the plan applied to all of them, click +Enroll/Update All Accounts.
• To enroll the homeowner in ongoing ACH auto-draft at the same time, set Payment Method for Homeowner to ACH Draft instead of Manual, then select Payment Plan. Their assessments draft automatically and the plan amount drafts in addition.

Payment Plan Behavior to Know

• Separate from assessments: The payment plan amount drafts in addition to any regular assessment ACH draft set under Association > Settings, as a separate item.
• The draft date is the date you enter: The Payment Start and End Dates do not correlate with the association's ACH draft day. The plan drafts on the day-of-month of the Payment Start Date, between the start and end dates.
• Always set an end date: Payment plans override Block Payments settings and continue drafting until the Payment End Date. A plan without an end date drafts indefinitely.
• Previous owners and resales: When a homeowner becomes a previous owner, the system disables the regular assessment draft automatically, but the payment plan continues drafting until the end date. You must manually disable the payment plan as part of the resale process.
• Stopping a payment plan: Click Edit and clear Payment Plan. To also end ongoing ACH auto-draft, change Payment Method for Homeowner from ACH Draft to Manual.

FAQ

Q: How do I enter a one-time ACH payment?

A: Follow Option 1 or Option 2, depending on whether the homeowner is already on ACH Draft, and set the Payment Start Date and Payment End Date to the same date. The amount drafts once on that date.

Q: Will the payment plan replace the homeowner's regular assessment draft?

A: No. The payment plan amount drafts in addition to the regular assessment draft, as a separate item. In Option 2, the homeowner is not enrolled in ongoing auto-draft at all, so they continue to pay their assessments as usual.

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