Rent reminders
What OneView sends automatically when rent is late, through which channels, and how to send a reminder yourself.
Before you start
OneView chases late payments for you. When an invoice goes unpaid after its due date, the tenant gets a reminder without you lifting a finger. You can also nudge a tenant yourself at any time. This article covers both.
- Automatic reminders need nothing from you. There is no setting to switch on, and no way to change the schedule or the wording.
- Only Owners and Administrators can send a reminder by hand.
- A reminder is about an invoice. It always quotes the invoice number, the amount still owed and the due date.
1. Know what is sent automatically
Every morning at 8:00 am (Cameroon time), OneView looks for invoices that are overdue by exactly 1 day or exactly 7 days. For each one that still has a balance, the tenant gets a reminder. That makes two automatic reminders per invoice: the day after the due date, and a week after it.
There is no reminder before the due date. The tenant already received the invoice itself when it was issued.
If an invoice was issued after its due date, for example because you added a charge with a past due date, the 1 and 7 days are counted from the day it was issued instead.
These invoices are skipped:
- Invoices that are paid, or where nothing is owed.
- Invoices with a payment Under review. A tenant who has just paid isn't chased while you check the proof.
- Leases that are not active. The one exception is a terminated lease's final settlement invoice, which is chased like any other.
When an invoice is partly paid, the reminder quotes what is still owed, not the original total.
2. Know how the tenant is reached
A reminder goes out on the channels the tenant has available:
- Email, to the address on their account. The invoice PDF is attached when your organization's billing identity is complete. See How invoices work.
- WhatsApp, when the tenant has a phone number on their account and has not switched WhatsApp notices off.
A tenant who switched a channel off in their account doesn't get messages on it. A tenant you added with only a phone number gets WhatsApp and no email.
3. Send a reminder yourself
In the menu, select Invoices and find the invoice. On its row:
- An overdue invoice has Send reminder. It sends the same overdue reminder the automatic job sends.
- An invoice not yet due has Resend. It sends the original invoice notice again.
Select the button. You see "Invoice notification sent to the tenant." It goes out on the same channels as above. You can use it as often as you need.
What happens next
The tenant opens the invoice in their account and pays, or sends proof of a payment made outside the app. You then record and approve the payment. Once the invoice is paid, no more reminders go out.
Common problems
I don't see the Send reminder button
It shows only for Owners and Administrators, and only on an issued invoice. It is hidden while a payment on the invoice is under review, and when the tenant has no email address on file. A paid or superseded invoice never has it.
The tenant says they got no reminder
Check the tenant's contact details. Email needs an address on their account, WhatsApp needs a phone number, and either channel can be switched off by the tenant. Also check the date: automatic reminders only go out 1 and 7 days after the due date.
A tenant who paid got a reminder
Until you approve the payment, the invoice still shows a balance. A payment that is waiting for approval pauses the reminders. If it was never recorded, record it. See Record a payment.
Can I change when reminders go out, or what they say?
No. The two reminders at 1 and 7 days, and their wording, are fixed. Use Send reminder for any extra nudge.
Can I remind a tenant before the due date?
Not automatically. Before the due date you can send the invoice again with Resend.