Troubleshooting: Member Disputes a Late Fee on Their Invoice

Why This Happens (Root Cause)

Late fees in Yardi are automatically generated when an invoice remains unpaid ten days past the due date.
Even if the member has autopay enabled, late fees can appear when:

• The autopay was not fully configured (missing default method or unverified bank account).
• Autopay was turned off manually.
• The member has an unpaid invoice at a different property than their primary location.
• A payment (wire or check) was received but not yet applied to an invoice by CBRE.
• A partial payment was made via check or wire

Understanding which of these scenarios applies helps resolve member confusion quickly and ensures accurate billing behavior going forward.

Common Symptoms

• “Member says they got a late fee but already paid.”
• “Autopay didn’t process and they were charged a fee.”
• “Why was this member charged a late fee?”
• “Payment is showing but not matched to an invoice.”

How to Fix It (Action Steps)

Step 1 — Confirm autopay setup is complete

• Go to the member’s Company Record.
• Navigate to Billing > Payment Methods.
• Verify that:
  • A default payment method type is selected.
  • A specific account within that method type is set as default.
  • If using a bank account, the account is Verified (not Pending).
    Why: Autopay will not process without a valid default and verified payment method. Pending bank accounts stop all payments until verification is complete.

Step 2 — Confirm that autopay is enabled for the company

• On the Company Record, scroll down the Overview page to the General Information section.
• Check if Auto Pay is set to On or Off.
• If it is Off, and the member requests it to be turned back on:
  • Go to Billing > Billing Options.
  • Click the edit pencil and switch Auto Payments to On.

Important Reminder:
All companies are created with autopay On by default.
If it is now Off, someone manually turned it off (either the member or a team member).
Turning autopay back on will immediately bill any outstanding invoices, so confirm the member understands this before making the change.

Why: This check confirms whether the system was ever set to automatically pay invoices. Autopay off = member responsibility to pay manually.

Step 3 — Check for outstanding invoices or open balances

• Go to Billing > Invoices under the company record.
• Review all posted invoices.
• Look for invoices with a Status of Not Paid or Partially Paid.
• Note the Property field for each — the invoice might belong to a location other than the member’s primary property.

If there are unpaid invoices, direct the member to pay the open balance via the Studio App.

Tip:
Remind the member that invoices are tied to specific buildings.
If they made a booking or charge at another location (e.g., a day office or conference room), that invoice lives under that property’s invoice list, not their default one.

They can switch properties in the app by clicking the property name in the top header and selecting the alternate location.

Why: Many “missing payment” or “late fee” disputes stem from balances at secondary properties that members don’t realize they owe.

Step 4 — Check for un-applied wire or check payments

• Go to Billing > Payments in the company record.
• Look for any payments received via wire or check.
• Confirm whether those payments are linked to an invoice.

If you find a payment that is not applied to an invoice:

• Submit a “Missing Payment” support ticket.
  • This routes to your CBRE Controller, who will manually apply the payment to the correct invoice.

If the member was charged a late fee that should be waived:

• Submit a “Late Fee Removal” support ticket.
  • Include a short note explaining why the fee should be removed (e.g., “payment received before due date but not applied in time”).
  • The request will go to the Regional General Manager and Lease Admin Team for approval.

Why: Wire and check payments don’t automatically match invoices. Late fees often occur simply because payment was received but not yet posted correctly.

If the Issue Persists

• Confirm that all payments are visible under the correct company record.
• Double-check that property-level invoices match the correct entity.
• If autopay appears correctly configured but still fails to process, escalate to Yardi Support for a system-level autopay audit.

Quick Summary

• Root Cause: Late fee generated due to unpaid invoice, failed autopay, or un-applied manual payment.
• Fix: Verify autopay setup, confirm unpaid invoices, and check for un-applied payments.
• System Behavior: Yardi automatically issues late fees for unpaid invoices after the due date. Manual intervention is required to remove or apply payments post-facto.

Tags

late fee, invoice, autopay, bank verification, missing payment, wire or check payment, Yardi billing, cbre controller, billing dispute