How to track tenant balance correctly with security deposit?

Tenant paid both first month’s rent and security deposit ($1600) on 12/1 and both appeared correctly in the tenant ledger. On 1/1, recurring rent of $800 was charged, but it used the security deposit and set the balance to $0. When tenant logged on to pay rent, the balance said $0 and the one-time payment button was disabled so they’re not able to pay.

Should I have manually set a starting balance after they paid the security deposit? Or what’s the usual process to have Stessa know that security deposits aren’t used for recurring rent payments?

TIA

I also have the security deposit listed but it shows in tenant transactions creating a negative balance. Where should the security deposit be listed if not in the lease set up?

@r_rhomeleasing I was actually able to figure this out to a degree. To keep a complete accounting, be sure to add any transactions to the tenant ledger that record everything even if it was done outside of Stessa (i.e. if they’ve paid the deposit, add a positive transaction for the amount so the charge is covered). You also want to be sure to categorize the transaction correctly as Security Deposit so that it’s not considered as an amount that can be deducted for rent.

I’m having the same problem, I have the deposit as money in, so to the tenant it looks like they have a negative balance (they have not moved in or paid first months rent yet), so do I need to add a “money out” transaction to cover this? Even though the money is still in my bank account?