Connect Stripe so tenants can pay online

Who this is for

Landlords and property managers who want tenants to pay rent online. Only the account holder, the person who opened the account, can connect, finish setting up or disconnect Stripe. Other team members, Owners included, see its status. See Add your team.

Before you start

• A Stripe account, or the details to create one: your business, your ID and the bank account Stripe pays out to.
• Bank accounts in eSamaHomes: an Operating account for rent, and a Security Deposit account if you collect deposits. Without them an online payment is refused. One of your operating accounts must be the bank your Stripe account pays out to. See Security deposits.
• Tenants pay from their bank account only. eSamaHomes takes no card payments for rent.
• The money goes straight into your own Stripe account, and Stripe pays it out to your bank.
• eSamaHomes takes no fee on rent. Stripe takes its own bank payment fee, set by Stripe, from your Stripe balance.

Steps

1. Open Integrations under Setup in the menu. The dashboard's Enable online payments step opens the same page.
2. On the Deposit account card, click Connect deposit account.
3. Stripe opens. Sign in to your Stripe account, or create one, and approve the connection.
4. Back in eSamaHomes, if Stripe still needs details, the card shows Setup incomplete and lists them under "Stripe still needs:". Click Finish with Stripe and complete them.
5. In your Stripe dashboard, open Settings → Payment methods, turn on ACH Direct Debit, and wait until Stripe shows it as Active. eSamaHomes can't turn it on for you.
6. Back on Integrations, the card shows Ready.
7. Under Bank Stripe pays into on the same card, choose the bank your Stripe account pays out to and click Save. With only one operating account, eSamaHomes uses it until you choose another. With two or more, tenants can't pay online until you choose. Only the account holder can change it; other Owners see which bank it is.
8. Check it: in the tenant portal, a tenant's open invoice now has a way to pay from a bank account.

Example

Ana connects her Stripe account on Monday. The card shows Setup incomplete: Stripe still needs her payout bank account. She adds it in Stripe with Finish with Stripe, then turns on ACH Direct Debit in her Stripe dashboard. The card shows Ready, and the dashboard's Enable online payments step is ticked off.

On October 14 Maria pays her $1,800.00 rent from her bank. The full $1,800.00 goes to Ana's Stripe account; eSamaHomes takes $0.00 of it. See Bank payments, processing, failed and returned.

What happens next

• Stripe pays every online payment into one bank, so eSamaHomes records online money in the account you chose under Bank Stripe pays into. Rent paid online lands there, and your books match your bank statement. A new choice applies to payments from then on; payments already recorded keep their bank.
• A security deposit paid online lands in that operating bank too, although it belongs in your deposit account. Deposits lists it under Money held for another account: held in your operating account, belongs in your deposit account, and the amount to move. eSamaHomes doesn't move money between your banks: make the transfer at your bank, then click Move money and Record transfer. If your deposit account is held in that operating account under a surety bond, there is nothing to move.

• While Stripe needs details, every admin page shows a banner with Finish with Stripe or, when payouts are on hold, Resolve with Stripe.
• A payment is recorded only when Stripe confirms it, a few business days after the tenant pays.
• The card's status can take up to 15 minutes to catch up with Stripe.
• You don't set up webhooks, API keys or developer settings.

If something looks wrong

• Tenants see "Online payments aren't available yet". Stripe is not connected, its setup is not finished, or it was disconnected. Open Integrations and finish it.
• Setup incomplete with nothing left to fill in. ACH Direct Debit is probably off. Turn it on in your Stripe dashboard; Finish with Stripe doesn't turn it on.
• "The landlord has not connected a Stripe account or charges are not enabled". A tenant saw this when paying: check ACH Direct Debit in Stripe and the banner on your dashboard.
• Tenants see "Online payment isn't set up yet. Contact your landlord." You have no operating account, or two or more and none chosen. The card shows a yellow note: add an operating account on Accounting, or choose the bank under Bank Stripe pays into. Auto-pay doesn't run either, and each Owner gets a notice.
• "Setup wasn't completed." Nothing was saved. Click Try again.
• "Only the account holder, (their name), can change this." You're an Owner, but connecting, finishing and disconnecting Stripe are for the account holder only. The card shows this instead of its buttons, and a Connect deposit account button elsewhere gives the same message. Ask the account holder to do it.
• Disconnecting. Disconnect on the card, then Yes, Disconnect, stops online payments until you connect again.
• Refunds. Refund any payment, online or recorded yourself, with Refund on Rent & Payments. Don't refund an online payment in your Stripe dashboard: the tenant gets the money back, but eSamaHomes doesn't know, so the invoice still shows paid and your books are wrong. See Refund a payment.