Owner payouts

Who this is for

Property managers paying owners. Payouts exist only in Property Manager mode. Only the account owner can create, approve, skip, cancel or mark a payout, or print, void or reprint a check. Team members can see payouts but not the payouts waiting for approval, and can print the test page.

Before you start

• Set how you pay each owner in Payout details on their profile: the Pay by method and its detail, such as a Venmo username or a bank account's last four digits. See Owners and who owns each property.
• Confirm the owner's opening balance, if they have one. A payout is refused until it is confirmed. See Opening balances.
• eSamaHomes doesn't move the money. It records the payout and takes it from the owner's balance; you send the ACH, check, wire, Zelle, Cash App, Venmo or Apple Cash payment yourself. Printing a check doesn't move money either. Pay from the account that holds the owner's money.
• To print checks, buy pre-printed voucher check stock from your bank or a check printer: letter-size laser sheets with the check at the top and two stubs below, often sold as "QuickBooks-compatible voucher checks", with your bank's details and the check numbers already on them. Wallet checks, three checks to a page, and stock with the check in the middle or at the bottom don't fit. eSamaHomes prints the date, the owner, the amount and the voucher onto it. It doesn't print on blank paper. The test page names the stock it was made for.
• Give each owner you pay by check a Mailing address on their profile. See Owners and who owns each property.

Steps

1. Open Money → Accounting and click the Owner Payouts tab.
2. Click New Payout and search for the owner. eSamaHomes shows their Available, Deposits held and Reserve held. Only available money can be paid out.
3. Check Total to take from balance. It starts at the available balance minus any fees owed.
4. Choose the Method: Check, ACH, Wire, Zelle, Cash App, Venmo, Apple Cash or Other. It starts at the owner's Pay by (ACH when that is Not set and an account ending is on file, else Check). When the owner's payout details are for this method, Paid to shows where the money goes, such as "Paid to: Venmo, @janedoe", and the payout keeps it. Only Check prints a check.
5. Optional: click Add deduction to take a flat or setup management fee out of this payout, with its property and month. It is recorded in the ledger. The breakdown shows what the owner receives. A management fee is the only deduction a payout takes. A repair is charged to the owner from its maintenance request: it shows in the payout's Since last payout and on the check stub.
6. Optional: add a Memo, then click Create Payout. The payout is Pending.
7. Send the money from your bank. Then click View on the payout (on a phone, under ⋯), click Mark complete, type the Bank reference and confirm. The payout is Settled.

To print a check:

1. The first time, line up your printer. On the Owner Payouts tab, the Checks card has Test page: print it on plain paper and hold it over a sheet of check stock. The shaded band at the bottom of the check is where the bank reads its numbers: nothing prints there, and no box may touch it. Most printers need no change. If the boxes are off, click Line up the printer, move them with Move right and Move down in 1/16 inch steps, click Save and print the test page again. Every check prints with what you saved.
2. On a Pending check payout, click Print check on the payout's page. To print several at once, tick their boxes in the Owner Payouts list and click Print N checks. Only Pending payouts by check with no printed check have a box.
3. Type the Number on the first check in the printer. The first time it is empty; after that eSamaHomes fills in the next number on that bank account. Several checks take the numbers in order, as shown.
4. Click Print check (or Print N checks). The checks open as a PDF in a new tab. Print it on the check stock. Each payout is now Processing with its check number, shown as "Check #1001".
5. Mail the check. When it clears your bank, open the payout and click Mark complete. You don't type a bank reference: the payout keeps its check number.

If the printer jams, click Print again on the payout's page. It prints the same check with the same number. If a check came out wrong or got lost, click Void check with a reason: the number is marked void and never used again, the payout goes back to Pending, and you print a new one. The owner's balance doesn't change.

To have payouts prepared every month, use the Automatic owner payouts card on the same tab: switch it on, choose the day of the month (1 to 28) and the smallest amount worth paying, and click Save payout settings. On that day eSamaHomes prepares one payout per owner under Payouts to approve. Check each one, add a management fee if needed, then click Approve, Skip or Approve all.

Example

Elena Park's tenant paid $1,800 rent this month. Her property has a $100 flat management fee, and a water heater replaced for $385 was charged to her when you closed the maintenance request. You create a payout by check.

• Her first payout says Since the first entry (no payout yet) where a later one says Since last payout. It shows Rent collected $1,800.00, Management fees −$100.00 and Repairs −$385.00. eSamaHomes fills in $1,315 as the total.
• You click Print check and type 1001, the number on the top sheet of your check stock. The check prints for $1,315, the payout is Processing and shows "Check #1001".
• The stub reads Rent collected $1,800.00, Management fees −$100.00, Repairs −$385.00, Available $1,315.00, Payout before deductions $1,315.00, Net paid $1,315.00.
• You mail it. When it clears, you mark the payout complete. Her available balance is now $0.

What happens next

What the check stub shows: both stubs carry the payout's statement, in lines that add up from the owner's balance to the check. A line that is $0.00 isn't printed, except Rent collected and the totals in bold.

The payout's page shows the same figures in its breakdown. A payout for two or more properties prints a statement page after the check, with the same lines for each property that had money in or out (a property whose lines are all $0.00 is left off), and the stubs end "Full statement attached". When the lines don't fit on a stub, it shows only the bold totals.

What each status means:

A prepared monthly payout waits under Payouts to approve until you approve it (it becomes Pending) or skip it. A skipped payout takes nothing from the balance and isn't listed with the others. In the owner portal, owners see Pending, Processing, Settled, Failed or Canceled, and a failed payout that was given back shows Reversed.

• The owner's balance goes down by the payout when you create or approve it, not when you mark it complete.
• The payout's page shows Paid to, such as "Paid to: Zelle, (561) 555-0142", when the owner's payout details were for its method, and the owner sees the same line in the owner portal. It is copied when you create or approve the payout, so changing the owner's details later doesn't change it. A check, or a payout by a method the owner has no details for, shows no Paid to.
• A prepared monthly payout is for the owner's whole available balance after fees owed, by the owner's Pay by method. An owner whose available balance is at or below your minimum gets no payout that month. A payout you leave unapproved carries into the next month at the new balance and keeps its deductions.
• A printed check is listed on the payout's page under Check, with its number, whether it is printed or void, and how many times it was printed again. In the owner portal, the owner sees the check number and the address it was mailed to. When the payout's newest check is void (you voided it, or the payout was canceled or failed), the payout pages and lists show its number as "Check #1001 (void)".
• Every payout list, here and in the owner portal, shows the net paid: the payout less its deductions. A $14,530.00 payout with a $50.00 management fee shows $14,480.00.
• Printing a check posts nothing to the ledger. The money left the balance when the payout was created.
• When payouts are prepared, the account owner gets an in-app notice. Every payout appears in the Payout History on the owner's profile.

If something looks wrong

• The money came back or the transfer failed. Open the payout, click Mark failed and say what happened. The whole amount, deductions included, goes back to the owner's balance. Fees owed that were collected stay collected. A printed check on it is voided.
• You created a payout by mistake. Open it and click Cancel payout with a reason of at least 3 characters. The whole amount goes back to the owner's balance. A printed check on it is voided. A payout that is already Settled can't be canceled.
• "This owner has no mailing address, so the check can't be printed." Click Add the address and fill in the owner's Mailing address, then come back.
• "Check number … was already used on this bank account." That number was printed or voided before. Type the number on the next blank check.
• "Print checks from one bank account at a time." The payouts you ticked are paid from different bank accounts. Print each account's checks on their own.
• The print lands in the wrong place on the check. Print the Test page and move the boxes with Line up the printer, as in step 1 of printing a check.
• There's no Print check button. It shows only to the account owner, on a Pending payout by check with no printed check. A payout by ACH or Wire isn't printed.
• "More than the $… available after fees owed." The total is higher than the owner can be paid. Lower it.
• "Only a management fee can be taken on a payout." A payout or a prepared payout has a Repair or Other deduction, added before repairs moved to maintenance requests. Remove that line and charge the repair from its maintenance request. A payout that already has one keeps it, and it is given back if the payout is canceled or fails.
• A prepared payout can't be approved and shows a reason. The owner's opening balance isn't confirmed yet. Follow Go to Reconciliation, then confirm the balance as described in Opening balances.
• The payouts list has Mark Processing and Mark Settled, not one Mark complete. On a Pending payout the list's button is Mark Processing, which marks it sent; on a Processing payout it is Mark Settled, which records it with the reference MANUAL (on a phone, both are under ⋯). To type the bank reference, use Mark complete on the payout's page, which does both.