Invoice Processing: Paying Invoices

The Pay Invoices page (Accounting > Pay Invoices) is where approved invoices advance for final payment processing in Vantaca. Invoices appear in one of three tabs — Pay Now, Warning, or Future — based on available funds and due dates. Understanding the available payment types and tab logic helps ensure payments are processed correctly and bank balances are maintained.

Contents

• AP Payment Types
• Pay Invoices Page
• Pay Now Tab
• Warning Tab
• Future Tab
• Paying an Invoice
• Troubleshooting

AP Payment Types

The following payment types are available when paying an invoice:

• Check: Processes payment by printing a physical check.
• Auto Draft: Records the payment in the system but does not remit funds electronically.
• ACH: Pushes funds electronically to the vendor based on the ACH information on the Vendors > Payment Method screen.
• In-Office Check: Produces a physical check, but marks it as In-Office in the Mailroom > Check Queue so it can be identified and printed separately.

Note: If you pay an invoice by ACH and catch a mistake within one hour, you can void the payment on the bank register and the funds will not move. After the one-hour window, the transaction is queued in the daily ACH file and cannot be modified. The daily ACH file sends on banking days, typically early afternoon.

Pay Invoices Page

To view the Pay Invoices page, navigate to Accounting > Pay Invoices. 

The page contains the following three tabs which shows a number to indicate how many invoices it contains: 

• Pay Now
• Warning
• Future

Invoices appear on the Pay Invoices page after they have been approved and advanced to the Ready for Payment step. This step allows you to verify that bank accounts have sufficient funds before issuing payment.

Pay Now Tab

The Pay Now tab contains invoices that have adequate funds available and a due date within the range defined by the Future Pay Duration setting (Association > Settings).

This page makes it easy to confirm that you have the necessary funds before paying that invoiceas well as who approved your invoice and when. 

From the Pay Now tab, you can:

• Click the paperclip icon to view the invoice attachment.
• Click the caret next to each invoice to expand its details, including:
  • Pay Detail: Displays the bank balance, book balance, and amount to be paid.
  • GL Detail: Displays the GL information for the selected invoice.
  • Messages: Displays the full history of the invoice from receipt through all approval steps.
• Add columns (e.g., DBA Name, Check Name, Bank Account) to refine the view.

Note: If an invoice splits between funds that pay out of different bank accounts, it cannot be processed via ACH. In that case, the payment defaults to check.

Warning Tab

The Warning tab contains a combination of invoices that, if paid together, would cause the bank account to fall below a balance threshold for that association. If the total amount of all of your invoices in the Ready for Payment step exceed the minimum amount defined on the bank account, then all of those invoices will fall under the Warning tab so that you can determine which invoices need to be paid first. (To see you bank account minimum balance thresholds, go to the Association > Bank Accounts page, click Edit and see the Minimum Alert amount.)

Invoices can still be paid from the Warning tab. The tab alerts you to prioritize certain invoices — for example, an insurance payment over a landscaping invoice. If funds are insufficient, a transfer to the bank account may be needed before payment can proceed.

Future Tab

The Future tab contains invoices with a due date beyond the threshold set in the Future Pay Duration setting (Association > Settings), or invoices with a future invoice date. Invoices can still be paid from this tab. When the due date falls within the Future Pay Duration threshold and the invoice date is the current date or earlier, the invoice moves automatically to the Pay Now or Warning tab based on available funds and minimum balance thresholds.

Paying Invoices

To pay one or more invoices:

1. Navigate to Accounting > Pay Invoices.
2. Select the tab that contains the invoices you want to pay: Pay Now, Warning, or Future.
3. Review invoice details as needed by clicking the caret to expand the Pay Detail, GL Detail, and Messages tabs.
4. Select the invoices you want to pay.
5. Click Pay Selected Invoices.

Note: When paying multiple invoices to the same vendor in a batch, the system sends one consolidated remittance email per batch. Each invoice retains its own action item note for tracking, but vendors receive a single summary email.

Troubleshooting

Q: A payment is stuck in Send Payment status and will not process.

A: The invoice was stepped forward without being properly approved. To resolve this:

1. Step the invoice back to Approve Invoice status.
2. Navigate to Accounting > Approve Invoices.
3. Select the invoice and click Approve.

The invoice will advance correctly through the workflow and become available for payment.

Q: An invoice has been paid but steps back to Ready for Payment and shows the error "Error inserting ACH record."

A: This error typically indicates that the ACH ID on the bank account has been entered incorrectly. To resolve this:

1. Navigate to Association > Bank Accounts.
2. Locate the bank account and click Edit.
3. Correct the ACH ID field. 
   The default format is ten digits with no dashes or spaces — typically "1" followed by the association's nine-digit Tax ID, unless your bank specifies otherwise.
4. Click Update.
5. Navigate to Accounting > Pay Invoices and process the payment again.

This error can also be caused by incorrect banking information on the vendor record. Navigate to Vendors > Payment Method to verify. For more information, see the "Setting up Vendor Payment Methods" article and the "Automated Clearing House (ACH) IDs" article.

Q: I received the error "Payment amount must be greater than zero. Received: 0.0000."

A: This error occurs when an applied vendor credit equals the full invoice amount, resulting in a $0 payment that the system cannot process. The invoice temporarily disappears from the Pay Invoices screen, then returns as unpaid with the credit unapplied.

Two methods are available to resolve this:

Method 1: Negative GL Entry (Recommended)

1. During invoice coding, enter the invoice total normally.
2. Add your standard GL entries totaling to the invoice amount.
3. Add an additional GL line using the same expense GL account and enter a negative amount equal to the credit being applied (e.g., -$150.00).
4. Navigate to Accounting > Approve Invoices and approve the invoice. 
   Note: Manager Complete Data Entry does not allow approval with negative GL entries. Use a standard approval workflow.
5. Navigate to Accounting > Pay Invoices. 
   The negative GL amount displays in the Applied Credit column.
6. Process the payment as usual.

For detailed instructions, see the "Negative GLs as Invoice Credits" article.

Method 2: Change Payment Type

If the invoice is set to ACH or VendorPay, change the payment type to Auto Draft before processing. The system marks the invoice as paid without attempting a $0 electronic payment.

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