How to Make an Outbound Lease Refund

We first need to complete the following configurations to have the ability to make an outbound refund. These configurations are in addition to signing the agreement with our payment provider Dream, and having the Vista team enable the transfers from the back end. Please contact your Customer Success representative for more details about Outbound Transactions.

  1. Register a bank account for outbound transactions. Please see this article here How to Register a Bank Account for Outbound Transfers
  2. Enable a tenant for the refund (see below)
  3. Enable tenant refunds from the Outbound Transfers Policy (see below)

 

Enable Tenant for Outbound Refund

Prior to making an outbound refund, we first need to enable the tenant for outbound refunds. Find the required tenant from the Tenants & Leases tab > Tenants grid. Click on the tenant, then click on the Outbound Refund Contact tab. Click on the pencil icon beside the tenant name to edit the values on the tab.

  1. Check the Enable Outbound Contact box
  2. Enter all name, email, phone, and address details accurately. There values will be used by the system
    • Email - The tenant profile with Dream will be created based on the email address, so this email should not be used for other tenants. If there is a case when a tenant changes their email address, you should immediately update it here. When an email is changed, Dream will inactivate the existing profile for the tenant and create a new one. The tenant will still be able to retrieve any transfers related to the original email through the portal. Original portal access will be disabled after the last transfer is completed and any new transfers sent will be received from the new profile. 
    • Address – It is very important to enter the correct address because the CRM will use this address to send a cheque to, if the tenant chooses to receive the funds as the cheque payment method. If the tenant does not take any action after being sent the transfer, system will automatically send a cheque to the address after 10 business days.
    • Phone – The phone number entered will be used by the Dream portal to send the MFA code to the tenant so they can securely access the portal upon sign in. 
  3. Click Save after all values have been entered

 

After saving, click on the Actions button on the top right corner and click on Register for Outbound Refunds. At this point, system will register the tenant with Dream and show a confirmation message. The Registered for Outbound Transfers box will be checked and the Integration ID will display a unique value.

 

Now we will move on to enabling the policy

 

Enable Tenant Refunds from the Outbound Transfers Policy

To enable the policy, you need to have administrator rights. Access the admin menu from the gear icon on the top right corner of the system. Go to Policies > Finance > Outbound Transfers and click on the Tenant Refunds tab. Click on the pencil icon to edit the page.

 

Checking the Enable Outbound Refunds box will enable the feature. From this page we can also control how the tenant is able to receive the funds. If only the EFT option is selected, the tenant will only have the option to receive the funds as an EFT. If all are selected, the tenant will be able to choose how to receive the funds.

  1. Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) - to accept funds by EFT the tenant has to enter their bank information so a direct link can be created between Dream and the bank. This type of transfer takes 1-3 business days to complete due to the nature of the payment and banking system
  2. Virtual Credit Card - A tenant can accept payments as a virtual credit card without the need to enter any bank account information. This is the fastest method to accept funds, consisting of only a few mins. If tenant chooses this option, Dream will generate a virtual credit card for the tenant within a few mins, and allow the tenant to access it from the portal. The card can be used online as a regular credit card is commonly used, however the tenant will not receive a physical card.
  3. Cheque - A tenant can accept the payment by cheque if they choose to. This is the slowest method to receive funds where it might take from 5-10 business days. No additional action needs to be taken by the sender, Dream will cut and send the cheque to the tenant.

Making the Outbound Refund

We are now finally ready to make the refund. For more details on how to make a refund please review this article Refunds on a Lease.

Initially the refund starts just like all other refunds. Open the required lease and go to the Refunds tab. Create a new refund and submit it. Move on to the Finance > Refunds tab to finalize the refund. Open the refund you just created, review for accuracy, and from the Actions button, click Approve. Click Yes to the confirmation request. On the following Select Refund window, scroll down and select the Outbound option. Click OK to confirm.

 

For refunds of type Outbound, we have updated the refund page:

  • Refund Type: A new type is introduced as Outbound. This type is searchable on the Refunds grid
  • Refund Status: The status will remain in Pending Transfer up until the transfer has completed
  • Transfer ID: A unique value assigned to each transaction
  • Transfer Date: The date when the transfer was initiated
  • Transfer Status: The status of the transfer
  • Payment Received Dates: The date/time when the funds are actually received from the tenant
  • Transfer Method Type: One of three as mentioned above; EFT, Virtual CC, Cheque

Only when the Refund Status turns to complete will the system create the final journal entry of crediting Cash and debiting Refund (GL 2600)

 

 

 

 

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